Spices

Curries might have a primary ingredient of meat, seafood, lentils, vegetables or even fruit, but surely what defines this style of cooking in the eyes of many is the combination of spices.

For those just getting into curry-making, know that you're going to have to buy many spices. Of course, you should only buy spices as you encounter recipes that ask for those specific spices. Buy small packets until you know what spices you like and what spices you most frequently use. For instance, I go through large amounts of both coriander seeds and cumin seeds. It makes sense for me to buy large bags of them. Conversely, I rarely use nigella, so I only have a small packet sitting in the cupboard. Large packets are cheaper, yes, but spices don't have an unlimited shelf life. They lose flavour and pungency over time. It's no good saving a few cents on a bag of spice if, by the time you get around to finishing it, it has long since lost its potency.

I buy most of my spices at an Indian grocer. What I can't get there I'll get at either an oriental grocer, a Middle Eastern grocer or an Ethiopian grocer. The latter I've only had to use for some really obscure spices. I don't call for these in my recipes, though, so don't worry too much if you don't have the faintest idea where the nearest Ethiopian grocer is. Incidentally, if you live in Melbourne, you can find a number of Ethiopian grocers in Footscray. An increasing number of Ethiopian and Sudanese grocers are opening in the south eastern suburbs, too. But I digress. I've found Indian grocers to have the best place to shop. Their prices are usually reasonable and their turnover is high. Classy food stores like The Essential Ingredient and Simon Johnson also stock a good range of spices, although expect to may significantly more than you would at the local South Asian place.

Always buy your spices whole. Chilli powder is okay, but about everything else--from pepper to cardamom to cumin--should be bought whole. Sure, with pre-ground spices you save a little bit of time, but the flavour and aroma is inferior. Too, whole spices have a longer shelf life. They're also easier to identify by sight. This is especially relevant in my pantry where a good half of my spice collection is unlabelled.

To maximise the flavour and aroma of spices, you should roast them before grinding them. To do this, heat a small, non-stick fry pan over a low flame. Don't use any oil or ghee. Add the whole spices. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent them from burning. You'll know the spices are roasted when a strong and pleasant aroma fills your kitchen. Working with spices is all about using your senses.

Many recipes that use curry powder--not a spice in itself, but a blend of spices--often call for you to roast curry powder. If they don't ask you to do it, do it anyway. If the recipe calls for you to fry up some onions, add the curry powder just as the onions begin to soften and roast for a few minutes before adding the next ingredient. If you're supposed to add the curry powder to a liquid, you can roast it on its own in a small fry pan.

To grind spices, use either a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder. I use the former. If a recipe calls for you to grind fresh garlic, ginger or chillies, add a little coarse sea salt to the mortar (the bowl). The salt acts as an abrasive, making your job significantly easier. Too, if a recipe calls for many spices to blended together, grind them all in one go. They'll combine as you grind.

When using a mortar and pestle, there's absolutely no need to be forceful. With a granite mortar and pestle like the one I use, the pestle is quite heavy. If you're too forceful, light, round spices such as peppercorns and coriander seeds are liable to bounce out of the mortar and make a mess.

Get to know the properties of the spices in your collection. Try and reach a point where you can recognise them by sight and smell and taste. A good reference book is Ian Hemphill's Spice Notes and Recipes--it's very extensive, although I have a few spices that aren't mentioned in it. Some curry books feature decent appendices on spices. But book or no book, you should learn the properties of spices for yourself. Some spices have a strong flavour or aroma and could, if used carelessly, overpower everything else in your dish. Others you can be more generous with. Understand that not all spices are hot. Some are used to add colour to a dish. Some are sweet. Some are sour. In Indian cuisine, different curries employ different combinations of spices. Some curries are hot. Some curries are sour.

Remember that dried spices often taste different to the fresh ingredients from which they are derived. Dried chilli has a different flavour to fresh chilli. Dried garlic tastes different to fresh garlic. Dried ginger is quite distinct from fresh ginger. If you substitute the fresh for the dry or the other way round, expect a different end result.

How you store your spices is very important. Mistreat your spices and they will lose pungency and flavour. Keep them somewhere cool, dry and dark. Store them in jars or tins or thick zip-lock bags. Some South Asian grocers already sell them in the latter.

My bookshelf

I have a decent collection of cookbooks a wide variety of topics. That being said, I don't buy just any cookbook. I'm quite choosey. To me, a good cookbook is one that inspires me to come up with my own recipes. I like books that explain in great detail the theory behind a style of cooking, the history of a technique, the properties of an ingredient. Some of my favourite books have few, if any, illustrations. A large number of glossy photographs is not an indicator of brilliance with a cookbook. To be sure, some of the best cookbooks do have good illustrations, but similarly there are awe-inspiring cooks with none. It's the text that counts.

'If you kill an animal, it's only polite to eat the whole thing' says British chef Fergus Henderson. I couldn't agree more. Henderson, chef at British restaurant St. John, advocates working with the cheaper cuts and the offal. His two books The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating and Beyond Nose to Tail: More Omnivorous Recipes for the Adventurous Cook are both excellent. Anyone who reckons the British can't cook should read these books. That being said, I rarely follow the man's recipes. I find them more interesting as inspirational material. My quail recipes, for instance, are all based on his roast quail recipe.

Next up is Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking. Again, this is another inspiring book. I really like Anthony Bourdain's style--sharp writing and accessible recipes for bistro classics ranging from steak with a green peppercorn sauce to steamed mussels. While I've enjoyed most of his other works, I'm disappointed he hasn't written another cookbook.

50 Great Curries of India, Tenth Anniversary Edition is probably my favourite book on curries. I rarely follow the recipes, but use them as a basis for something of my own. The author explains the techniques essential to curry-making in a way that is accessible, but not dumbed down to the point of being useless. You'll come away from this book able to create curries that are actually respectable.

The Oxford Companion to Food 2nd Ed isn't a cookbook, as you might've guessed. It's a reference book. An encyclopaedia. It doesn't have an entry for everything you'll ever look up, but then again, no cooking encyclopaedia does. That being said, this is my favourite cooking encyclopaedia as it's all reference material. I don't buy cooking encyclopaedias to get recipes. This book is great for those of us who have a habit of picking up meat, game, poultry, seafood, vegetables and spices we happen to come across without first knowing what they are and what can be done with them.

The South African Illustrated Cookbook is my favourite, but shortest, of three South African cookbooks I own. The illustrations--yes, illustrations as opposed to photographs--are magnificent and so are the recipes. This simple, slim volume neatly sums up the diversity of South African cooking.

Pork and Sons is like a holy text to me. The pig is a noble animal. A divine beast. I'm not the first to express that sentiment and I surely won't be the last. This book, with its cute illustrations and extensive collection of recipes for every part of the pig from the loin to the foot to the blood, celebrates all that is wonderful about pig. Which is everything, of course. Has a few recipes for boar, too.

Another fascinating book is The South American Table: The Flavor and Soul of Authentic Home Cooking from Patagonia to Rio de Janeiro, with 450 Recipes. I must admit, I rarely cook the recipes in this book, but I often turn to it for ideas and because it has so much history and detail.

A word on game and 'exotic' meats

You've noticed, probably, that a good many of my recipes are for game and 'exotic' meats. And that, too, when I cook with rabbit, I have a preference for wild-shot as opposed to farmed.

Now, I'm no hunter. I have nothing against hunting. Indeed, it's something I'd take up if I had the means. But I do have a certain fondness for game and, of course, for trying new things.

So where does once source all of this stuff? Obviously, with game, if you hunt or know someone who hunts, you have an obvious way of sourcing that's going to be significantly cheaper than what I'm suggesting. Too, what do they taste like?

Boar

Boar has a taste that's similar to pork, but much, much, much stronger. Boar is one of my favourite meats. Your best bet is a stew, casserole or curry.

Be warned: to buy boar is an expensive exercise. A butcher and poultry store me order it in upon request from Wangara Poultry & Game. There are probably other suppliers, though. One of the poultry stores at Queen Victoria Market occasionally stocks boar sausages that are, in my experience, just okay, but realistically you're going to have to order this a week in advance. A good butcher or poultry store should have no problems sourcing boar.

Buffalo

Buffalo really surprised me. I thought it'd be just like beef but it's not. Yes, it's similar to beef, but it's distinct enough to make it worth ordering in once in a while. Buffalo is nowhere near as strong-flavoured as kangaroo or venison, although I admit my experience with it is limited. I've only ever bought the sausages. A local butcher and poultry store can order one kilogram packs of them in through Wangara Poultry & Game. There are probably other suppliers, though. Buffalo works well with dry rubs and bold-flavoured dipping sauces. It's a lean meat, so take care to avoid overcooking it.

Camel

Yes, camel. A lot of people, right now, are probably revolted, but hang on. Camel is lovely. Forget what the beast looks like. Please. It'll be worth it. But yeah, camel. Camel tastes a bit like mutton--that is, strong-flavoured lamb--only with a very unique, sweet aftertaste. It's the sweet aftertaste that makes camel a pain to pair with sauces. Mustard doesn't work. I tried. Yoghurt-based sauces, however, are brilliant. You notice the sweet aftertaste with the steaks more than you do with the sausages. Camel curry would be lovely, but take care with your use of spices. You want spices that compliment, rather than hide, camel's unique flavour.

Camel can be bought in some butchers in the Northern Territory, I believe. I know that the butchers and poultry stores in some fresh produce markets, including Queen Victoria, sell it frozen. If you don't have any luck finding it, though, a good butcher or poultry store will be able to order it in.

Crocodile

Crocodile has a very mild flavour--somewhere between chicken and white-fleshed fish. To be honest, the taste of crocodile is a bit weak to stand up on its own. Try it in curries or as a topping on pizza.

You'll find this in the freezer section of some butchers, fishmongers and poultry stores. It can be pretty expensive. The cheapest place to buy it, usually, oriental-run fishmongers--particularly those that specialise in frozen produce. So far as I know, crocodile is only sold frozen. Unless instructed otherwise, cook from partly frozen. All the liquid you lose if you thaw it prior to cooking it is flavour.

Duck


Duck is rich and flavoursome. Fatty, yes. But that's not a problem unless you're eating it every day or are on a very strict diet. A lot of people won't cook duck because they're paranoid they'll trash it. In reality, cooking duck isn't too hard. If you're roasting it, your best bet is to roast low and slow for a while, then crank up the heat towards the end of the cooking time. If you're pan frying the breasts, you should only pan fry for a few minutes on each side and let the breasts rest on a plate, covered in al foil, in a warm place. The residual heat will cook them all the way through. It's okay to eat duck a little rare. If you're making a Thai-style curry or a stir fry with the breasts or thighs, slice them really thin so they cook quickly.

Sourcing duck is easy. Many poultry stores stock it, some supermarkets have it in their frozen produce aisle and you'll find it at many markets. Chinese supermarkets and Chinese-run butchers often sell it too. That said, I'd advise against the cheap, boiler ducks Chinese supermarkets and butchers sometimes sell. They're probably okay for a soup, but for anything else I'd spend a little more.

There are a few kinds of ducks available, from Muscovy to what's sold as Peking duck.

Emu

Emu has a strong, meaty flavour and stands up well to pretty much any sauce you'd see put with a steak--from green peppercorn sauce to red wine sauce.

Emu can be ordered from good butchers and poultry stores. It's not a cheap meat.

Goat

Tastes like lamb, pretty much. Indeed, you can use goat in most lamb recipes and vice versa. Butchers that stock goat tend to sell it as whole legs, whole shoulders or 'diced' goat, which contains a lot of bones. Sometimes you'll see chops. If you want boneless pieces, ask your butcher to chop up a shoulder. I haven't seen anyone display goat mince, but you can certainly have some goat minced up for you at any butcher that stocks it. Goat works well in curries and roasts.

Goat, thankfully, is a cheap meat. Usually, anyway. Your best bet for finding it is a butcher run by and frequented by South Asians and/or Middle Easterners. As a rule, anywhere that sells halal meat will sell goat.

Kangaroo

Depending on how you cook it, kangaroo can have a very strong, meaty flavour. If you've had a bad experience with kangaroo in the past, I urge you to try it again. Consider cooking it low and slow in a curry or pasta. Slow-cooking kangaroo dampens the smell and flavour somewhat. It still tastes stronger than beef, but it's not as overpowering as a steak that's been pan-fried or barbecued can be to the newcomer. Kangaroo is 98% fat free, making it a very healthy meat. Too, kangaroo is quite cheap. Certainly, it's gone up in recent years and some would argue that much of its appeal is lost now that you can get beef at a similar price, but remember that cheap beef is usually pretty bad.

Kangaroo is the only game meat I've seen at a regular supermarket. It's distributed by a company called Macro Meats and is sold by both Coles and Woolworth's supermarkets. You'll also find it in some independent supermarkets, butchers, fresh produce markets and poultry stores. Butchers, fresh produce markets and poultry stores will sometimes have kangaroo from other suppliers. Macro Meats' kangaroo is the cheapest, in my experience, but they don't seem to have as great a range of cuts as some of the other suppliers.

Quail

Quail has quite a flavour that's quite unique. It's certainly not a strong flavour, but by no means is it mild. And no, quail doesn't taste like chicken. Quail is a bit expensive, but it's nice to have as a treat. Quail can be partially de-boned and barbecued or broiled, or it can be roasted. It can also be cooked in stews and curries. I encourage you to do a lot of experimenting with quail. Quail can withstand a bit of punishment at the hands of the novice cook, but do try and stick to the golden rule of not overcooking stuff.

Quail can be purchased at many butchers and poultry stores.

Rabbit

Both farmed rabbit and wild-shot rabbit can be had from many butchers and poultry stores. It varies considerably in price. Don't pay what seems like a ridiculous sum for it. As a rule, wild-shot rabbit costs less per kilogram (rabbits can be sold on a per kilogram or per unit basis--it depends on the outlet), but have less meat on them and are slightly less tender than farmed rabbits. Wild-shot rabbit tastes superior to farmed rabbit, in my opinion, as it has a noticeably stronger flavour. Farmed rabbit has a chickeny taste. It doesn't taste exactly the same as chicken, but it is quite similar. Rabbit is very versatile. You can roast it or stew it, barbecue or curry it, broil or pan fry it.

Venison

Venison is a lovely meat--lean and full of flavour. When I first had it, it reminded me of very good kangaroo, although the flavour certainly wasn't as strong as kangaroo's. Because of its flavour, venison stands up well to marinades and sauces. Like emu and kangaroo, you can pair venison with about any steak sauce you care to name--from the classics to something you've invented yourself.

Now, the bad news. Venison is usually expensive. I say usually because I've found that, if I'm lucky--if the planets are properly aligned and all, if I've earned some good karma during the previous month--I can get it for a reasonable price at some oriental-run butchers. That's not to say it's as cheap as beef--although the price difference between it and good quality beef isn't significant--but it's nowhere near as bad as the prices butchers will charge you to order it in. If luck isn't on your side, you'll most likely have to order it through a butcher or poultry store. Many cuts of venison are available and you can do many things with them, from roasts to curries to stews to steaks to warm salads.

Fishy smells and slime - a buyer's guide

Looking at my StatCounter page, I'm surprised at the amount of people Googling for things like, 'My steamed crab tastes like ammonia. That's okay, yeah?'

So. Some tips. Raw seafood should smell like the ocean. Fish, prawns, crabs and their brethren should look as if they've just been taken from the water. You've been fishing, right? Freshly caught fish don't smell overly 'fishy', do they? Fish bought at the shops shouldn't either. And they certainly shouldn't smell like cleaning products. Fish shouldn't be slimy, either.

I don't know about where you live, but I live close to a few fishmongers. If I ever walk in to a place and instantly feel my stomach turn because the place reeks to high heaven, I turn around and leave. Forget what the sales assistant says. If the seafood that's on display has a really strong smell, it's not fresh. Don't waste your money. Find another fishmonger.

In the case of crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans, try and find a fishmonger that sells them live. When crabs and lobsters die, they rapidly decompose. Something you kill immediately before or during the cooking process will taste better. Too, when you buy something live, you know it's fresh. When buying live crabs and lobsters, look for the ones that are really feisty. If they're just sulking at the bottom of the tank, pick another. Lobster and crab aren't cheap, generally, so be fussy. If a fishmonger is only selling rubbish, he doesn't deserve your money. Don't be so fixated on the idea of having lobster for dinner that you ignore the tell-tale signs of poor quality.

With prawns, buy whole, uncooked prawns. Buy whole fish in generally, really. It's easier to see if it's fresh. The eyes should be clear. And yeah, as I said, the fish should look as if it's just been pulled from the water. Note that some fishmongers will sell live fish--'live' as in they'll kill it to order. That's maybe the best way, aside from catching the fish yourself, of ensuring what you're buying is fresh.

With oysters, only buy them if you see them being shucked on site. Oysters will keep for about a week in the fridge, but they're better when they're freshly shucked. In the ideal world, you'd buy an oyster knife and learn to shuck them yourself.

Too, if you live in an area with a lot of oriental immigrants, consider yourself blessed. The Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese eat a lot of seafood. There should be a lot of places catering to that market. Pay attention to what the grandmothers buy. If you see a few old biddies take one look at the snapper and walk away, shaking their heads in disgust, it's probably best to follow their lead and avoid the snapper.

There are too many terrible fishmongers around, foisting rubbish onto unsuspecting and ignorant customers. Whether you're intending on buying cheap, 'trash' fish like skate or premium stuff like lobsters and mud crabs, you must be fussy. Don't accept rubbish. If you get burnt by a business, don't give them a second chance. Surely someone else is more willing to provide you with quality produce.

Unless you're buying frozen seafood, when you buy is important. Never buy seafood on a Sunday, Monday or the day after a public holiday. Fishermen work from Monday to Friday. Friday's catch arrives in stores on Saturday morning. Therefore, what you buy on Monday arrived in store on Saturday morning. Yes, I know, some seafood--mussels, say--lasts 'a while' in the fridge, but the quality quickly deteriorates. As a rule, buy fresh seafood only on the day you're intending on using it.

When it comes to handling seafood, perhaps the most important thing to remember is to not wet the seafood. The last time fish should come into contact with water, unless you're poaching, is when they're taken out of the river or the sea. When filleting and gutting a fish, you should do it dry. Cleaning a fish the dry way is a slower process, but it produces better results. Washing out the gut cavity gets rid of all the natural oils in the fish's flesh. And those oils are flavour. Be wary of fishmongers who, when asked to clean a fish, hold the poor thing under running water while they work.

When pin boning fish fillets or cutlets, it's important to use tweezers. Your fingers will simply make a mess of the job. Dedicate a pair of tweezers to the task or buy a specialist pin boning tool. Some fish mongers may take care of this task for you.

Don't write off seafood that's frozen or somehow preserved. Crocodile, while arguably more game meat than seafood, is always sold frozen. Scampi is generally sold frozen. And it's fine. Really. Too, put aside your experiences with the canned seafood you've picked up in supermarkets in the past, as canned tuna from Spain is very good and works well as a filling in savoury pastries. Indeed, this is the same canned tuna used in tapas bars in Spain. That being said, most canned seafood is rubbish.

The secret to really good home made pizza

Pizza has to be one of the world's favourite street foods. Has to be. Trouble is, most pizza you buy, it's pretty bad. Especially the pizzas from the big chains. Making your own should be more satisfying, but usually it isn't. That's because getting it right is hard.

The base

Perfecting the base in a domestic oven is quite difficult. Sure, there are other ways. Flat bread, for instance, which to me always seems like a cop out. There are those pre-made bases as well, but they're as expensive as they are terrible. No, the lazy options for pizza bases are universally rubbish.

Luckily, I know how to make the perfect pizza base. And it's dead simple. The following quantity makes enough for two medium-sized pizzas.

Ingredients:

2 cups strong self-raising flour (with some brands, it'll even say 'suitable for pizza' on the packaging), plus extra to dust
200 mL warm water
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp caster sugar
7 g sachet yeast
pinch of salt

In a bowl, combine the self-raising flour, caster sugar, yeast and salt. Form a well with your hands and then pour in the warm water and the olive oil. Bring everything together with your hands. Once you have a rough dough, pick it up and work it in your hands. Pass it from one hand to the other. Stretch it. Squash it. Play with it for a good five minutes. Once it has been kneaded, place it in a second bowl. This one should be clean and lightly greased with a little olive oil. Cover this second bowl with a clean tea towel and place somewhere warm for a hour. If it's a cool day, be creative. Place the bowl in the bathroom, turn on the heat lamp and close the door.

Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 230*C. If you have a ceramic or stone slab, place it in the oven now to heat up. If not, find a large, thick oven tray--just don't expect the results to be as good as they would with a slab. Many kitchenware stores now sell dedicated pizza slabs. I picked up one on sale after Christmas for a very reasonable price. Essentially, the theory behind the pizza slabs is this--domestic ovens provide uneven heat. A stone that's been pre-heated, though, it provides a constant, level source of heat. It also absorbs any moisture that leaks from the pizza. An oven tray, whether it's a cheap one from the supermarket or an expensive non-stick one, won't do the first job as well as a stone slab and won't do the second job at all. It's important to pre-heat the stone slab for 15-20 minutes before cooking your pizza. Just before you get ready to cook, though, drop the oven temperature down to 200*C.

Anyway, back to the dough. Remove the tea towel from the bowl. Punch the dough a couple of times to get the air out, then separate the dough into two evenly-sized lumps. Pick up one of the lumps and have a good feel. Is it sticky? If so, sprinkle a little more flour on it. Play with it some more. Keep on adding flour, a little at a time, until it's no longer sticky. When the ball of dough feels okay, plonk it down in the middle of the stone slab or oven tray and begin rolling. To ensure it rolls evenly, change direction frequently. I have a large rolling pin, but I've found my house mate's tiny roti pin is more effective. Roll quickly. Don't worry about making the base a perfect circle. It doesn't matter. Really. The important thing is to make sure the base isn't too thick or thin. If it's too thin, it just won't work properly. After much experimentation, I've found something in the realm of 7 millimetres to be perfect. By the way, you've probably figured this already--if you only have one stone slab, you're going to have to cook the pizzas one at a time.

The sauce

Now, the sauce. A lot of people use tomato paste and wonder why the end result is bad. Tomato paste isn't suited for this purpose. What you're supposed to use is sugo. Sugo, sometimes sold as tomato passata, is pretty much just a tomato puree. For the two bases, a total of 150 mL will be enough. The secret of pizza bases is to not roll them too thin or too thick. And, too, obviously by now, to use one of that stone slabs or at the very least the thickest oven tray you can find.

Basic ingredients:

150 mL tomato passata (aka sugo)
5 balls of boccocini (a mild-flavoured cheese that comes in the form of small balls floating in liquid and is sold in little tubs in delis and supermarkets), cut into slices

To jazz things up a bit, you can add any of the following:

A good pinch of fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
A couple of garlic cloves, finely diced
A splash of Tabasco or similar chilli sauce
A splash of Worcester or other 'barbecue'-type sauce

The base stays the same, but the rest obviously varies based on what you're doing with your pizza. Want to have a fiery pizza coated in hot salami? A few drops of Tabasco mixed in with the sauce would be a nice idea. Want to have a barbecue chicken pizza? You could do the same with Worcester sauce. Remember that if you're making two different pizzas, you might want to divide the 150 mL of sugo into two 75 mL portions, which you can fiddle with separately. Anyway, smear the sugo all over the base. Don't let it get too thick, but ensure the whole base is covered.

The toppings

And here is where I leave you to think for yourself. Coming up with your own combinations of toppings is the fun part, the part that has no rules to it. Wait, there is one rule--don't put too much stuff. Really, 3 or 4 things should be enough. Oh and too, if you're using chicken or beef or bacon or anything like that, you'll have to pre-cook it. If you're specially cooking the meat and not just using leftovers, remember you can and maybe should marinate it in something. Want to do a spicy chicken pizza? Maybe whip up a simple marinade with some freshly ground black pepper and your favourite chilli sauce. Prawns and squid will be okay placed on raw, though.

Some ideas for ingredients:

Alfalfa sprouts
Anchovies
Artichoke hearts
Asparagus
Avocado
Bacon
Bamboo shoots
Barbecue sauce
Bean sprouts
Beef
Blood sausage
Boar
Broccoli
Buffalo
Calamari
Camel
Capers
Capsicum
Carrot
Caviar
Chicken
Chilli
Chilli sauce
Clams
Coriander
Crabmeat
Crayfish
Crocodile
Duck
Egg
Eggplant
Emu
Fish
Goat
Ham
Kangaroo
Lamb
Leek
Lettuce
Liver
Lobster
Morten Bay bugs
Mushroom
Mussels
Nuts
Olives
Onion
Ostrich
Oysters
Panchetta
Prosciutto
Parsley
Peanuts
Pineapple (‘marinated’ in a little brown sugar first)
Pork
Potato
Prawns
Rocket
Rosemary or other fresh herbs
Salami
Salmon (including the smoked variety)
Satay sauce
Sausage
Scallops
Scampi
Shallot
Speck
Spring onion
Sun-dried tomatoes
Tomato
Tuna
Turkey (including smoked breast)
Venison
Yabbies
Zucchini

Remember--don't use too much stuff.

The cooking process

Cook pizzas in the oven at 200*C or until the base is golden and crisp. So long as your dough was floured enough before you rolled it, you should have no problem with the pizza sticking to the base. If you're worried, you can dust the base with a little corn flour or use some baking paper.

Dressing

To finish a pizza, you can 'dress' it with a little sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil, chilli sauce, barbecue sauce or fresh herbs. You could even, if you wanted to be all fancy and if your toppings were appropriate, use some truffle-infused oil. Be sparing with your dressings, particularly the liquid ones. Don't spoil your lovely pizza with oil.