I didn’t expect pizza from 500 years ago to look anything like this.
In this video, I react to a historical recipe recreated by Max Miller from Tasting History and compare it to what we call pizza today. As a chef, it’s fascinating to see how ingredients, technique, and expectations have changed over time.
Let me know: would you eat it?
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36 Comments
Can't believe this is how they used to pizza! What do you think about this? Would you try it and call it pizza?
there something lack here. where my favorite italian? he will deligh to see this with you
hey bro, love the video its very educational. can we see more of your reactions to max videos in the future? i love seeing two people who know their stuff bounce off of each other in a way
Glad you finally checked out his channel! Max is a fantastic historian and cook. Some of his recipes are crazy and it's really cool to see where this came from. Great video as always James.
So this is one of those places where I would definitely call it pizza in front of people just to make the point that I am technically correct, which is the best kind of correct for messing with people.
Max does another video replicating "pizza" from Ancient Rome – or what seems to be pizza (or at least flatbread with cheese and other toppings on it), based upon one of the murals from the excavations at Pompeii. Would really love to see more reactions and chefly commentary on his videos!
this video reminded me(I don't know why) of an Australian film called "Dirty Deeds" which is about a Australian Vietnam Vet trying to find(and understand) pizza in Australia during the late 1960's. (Apparently the first Australian pizzeria was opened in Melbourne in 1961)
Man, crazy how far my favourite cheat meal has come!
Also, how dare u watch this without Vincenzo?! I must put my leg down from chair, even though I'm lying down in bed…
I watch some of his videos.. I mean as a chef it's interesting but for contemporary tastes, most of the recipes seem godawful xD
if you think sushi pizza or bagel pizza was bad…
you haven't seen pizza with durian or matcha pizza on these areas
If you are willing, I would recommend Red Baron Brick Oven Pizza, specifically cheese. For a frozen pizza, it's pretty darn good.
To quote a comment on Max's video, this recipe just reads like "take butter, add butter, while waiting for your butter to cook, eat some butter, rub butter on your butter, then on yourself, then on your butter again. Throw a bit of dough in there somewhere. Serve hot."
If I called it sweet bread my friend might say boll@x.
😂😂😂 That Bishop found the best way of getting tasty stuff to eat.
The guy that wants to use your mill has to pay you in baked goods. Brilliant.
This was really interesting. Thank you, Chef 😊
Edit: If you like these old recipe recreations, Ann Reardon from "How to Cook that" here on youtube has some videos where she recreates different recipes that are really old. Some from a hundred year old cook book, one from a french chef (I think), and if memory serves there's at least talk about something from Pompeii.
In one video she recreates a feast for a wealthy family. Fascinating stuff
I've been watching Tasting History for ages, an excellent and fascinating channel! I'm amazed you're exploring this clip, but we're sharing the same reactions! 😂
Edit added – I had put the real pizza beginning at the birth of the Margherita. 😲
LOL it amazing how old recipes use words we now associate with different recipes, that Pizza looked more like a white brioche with rosewater
Yes the translation is correct
please find that old french book. there are recipes in that for sure with some forgotten vegies, youngsters these days don't even know about. I remember my aunt having a book like that many years ago.when I stayed there after school, was always looking in it, while she was cooking. those old cooking recipes are the best. they sure knew how to use butter. man even kitchen smelled 10 times better back then, because of that fresh unsalted butter overload 😅by all means, I"m no chef. but that book gave me the foundation in loving to cook.
Sort out your thumbnails.
As a chef I can't understand how disgusting is good.
To be clear, the reason tomatoes were considered poisonous was not irrational. At the time, most people ate off of pewter plates. The acid in the tomato leeches out the toxins of the pewter plates. If you eat tomatoes like this then you may as well consider tomatoes to be toxic.
lots of young pro food people that claim tradition in dishes don't seem to look that far in the past…post ww2 is already stone age times for lots off them,pre 20th century cooking might ass well be millenia ago…
This pizza sounds and probably taste better than the one you had on the airline 😂
a nightshade variety that was considered poisenous apparantly never was,and mistaken for a different variety?
I have to admit, I was offended when you said Margherita pizza was bland, until I realised you meant from places that sold pineapple as a topping.
19:17 even Chef Ranveer said the same story in his pizza video as well.
For "retro" recipes you could watch/try dylonHollis videos or compilations
I'm like Max, but it was Red Barron French bread pizza
I grew up in Argentina eating pizza with tomato sauce and anchovies, no cheese. It's delicious.
This is a cake disguised as pizza.
Aw man, that's Space Balls. It's a piece of culture. Everyone needs to know about this movie 😀
We had Space Balls parodying StarWars and we had Galaxy Quest Parodying StarTrek. They're both great.
Your Cousin Vinny needs to see this
Yes we need more of Tasting History, I love his videos.
Hi Chef James, You and Max are two of my favorite food youtubers. I'm an amateur language buff so let's analyze Pizzeria De Pietro e Basta Cosi. perhaps Spanish will help. Pizzeria De Pedro y Basta Asi. Cosi is the funny word here. Basta Cosi can be and that's Enough, and That's It!. Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart Opera) They all do likewise (or they are all like that, those Women!) Max always has people helping him with all the scholarly details. Be Well James. JP Es Gibt Basta is an Austrian German phrase meaning "That's Quite Enough"
So from now on, I will not accept any modern day pizza that doesn't look like that, because it's not "traditional"
I think emmer wheat flour and wheat can be harder and coarse to work with. Butter or oil soften it but mom usually makes thick crust like a bread and in a air fryer it won't cook evenly and after that she cooks on double decked iron skillet on top of non stick on low flame.
I usually flatten the things in air fryer otherwise the timing will be off and cheese/toppings burn off. Anyway the charred onion slices and cheese are tasty
Ah yes Naples, Italy. Good food, interesting historical sites and wine. Everything else sucks.