Since 2001, pinas have cohabitated with pizzas and other Italian dishes that can be enjoyed in restaurants. They have many similarities, but from taste to shape, they have important differences. Pizza lovers number in the millions around the world, and that doesn’t seem to be changing. They are now joined by lovers of the pina, who defend its crispy dough and its flavor. Do you like pizza and are you curious to know more about pina? You are reading the ideal article for you.
What is a pin?
The cousin was born in 2001, hand in hand with a smart businessman. It looks like a pizza, but its dough is a mixture of wheat flour, soy, and rice. In the preparation of this dough, more water and less yeast are used than in pizza. This creates a very light and crispy batter. Its shape is elongated, not round, and practically oval. Like pizza, its dough is cooked with all kinds of ingredients, and it is very common to add tomatoes and burrata. However, it does not require special ovens, unlike pizza. The fact that dome ovens are not needed to cook it is a great advantage for places that serve it, which has also contributed to its popularity. Its advocates emphasize the flavor of the dough and its texture over that of pizza. In just over 20 years, it has become fashionable in Rome, where there are schools to perfect its production technique. Cities like Madrid already boast great thinkers (cocineros de pinsas), whose fame continues to expand.
what is a pizza
Pizza is one of the most popular culinary creations in the world. It basically consists of a dough made from flour to which various ingredients are added, which is then bakedat high temperatures in cupolas. This dough is usually made from wheat flour, water, yeast, olive oil and salt. All kinds of the most varied ingredients are added to it, but the classic base is usually with tomato and some type of cheese. Pizza — whose name derives from Latin think just like the word cousin, which means to press or crush – has a clear antecedents in the first Mediterranean bread doughs, which are part of the gastronomic culture of this part of the world. It has long been white, more akin to a current focaccia, since the tomato arrived in Europe in the 16th century after the conquest of America. Naples created the modern recipe as we know it, and Italian immigrants took it upon themselves to popularize it wherever they went, for example in New York, where it became a gastronomic emblem.
Differences between pina and pizza
The differences between the pina and the pizza are four very specific ones: the ingredients of the dough, the shape, the times and the cooking process and the origin of each. Pinsa and pizza use different types of flour to make their dough, and this is undoubtedly their main difference. The shape of both, one oval and the other round, is the characteristic that distinguishes them at first glance. Fermentation also plays a fundamental role here. And finally, the origin of the two is also different, although of course they are closely related. You want to know more? Let’s take a closer look at the differences that make them unique.
Different types of flour, the main difference
The masses of traditional pizzas are made with wheat flour. Needless to say, it should be of the highest possible quality, and in this sense it is best to use washed wheat. Another important concept to keep in mind is flour strength, which is measured by the letter “w”. At higher strength, more protein and more gluten, this allows for longer fermentations. The ideal strength of a flour for pizza dough is between 260w and 320w. To give us an idea, some cookies can be made with flour up to 170w.
At the table of a pina, on the other hand, contains a mixture of soy, rice and wheat flour. On the other hand, its hydration level is higher and the strength of the flour used is around 350w, above a common pizza. It is also common to add less yeast to pina dough than to pizza and sourdough. As we will see later, this added to its cooking method makes the pinas more digestible.
Fermentation and cooking methods, the secret to better digestion
The masses of the pinas ferment between 2 and 3 days. This long fermentation brings more air to the dough, an element that contributes to good digestion and brings a spongy texture and a more important flavor. A first cold fermentation of 48 to 72 hours of the whole mass is carried out. Then the buns are formed and left to stand for another 2-3 hours. This dough is light, crispy and easy to eat. It does not need cooking in special ovens, it can be cooked in electric ovens at temperatures of around 300 degrees, which makes it less labor intensive in restaurants. Pizza, on the other hand, rarely reaches a 48-hour fermentation. and requires wood-fired or gas-fired dome ovens, which reach high temperatures (approximately between 450 and 480 degrees).
The shape of pinas and pizzas, error-free at a glance
the pizza is round. Everyone knows it. There are pizzas with other shapes, but the common thing is to make round doughs for pizzas, which are then cut into triangles. Pinsas do not have this shape: they are oval and cut into square pieces. In this sense they are again reminiscent of a focaccia, although the dough of the two is very different. The pina has a history in the sliced pizza Roman, which is rectangular and cut by weight.
Historical origin, all roads lead to Rome
Pizza is made from flatbreads which have been made in the Mediterranean and the Middle East since before the Roman Empire, but the Roman Empire laid the foundation for today’s bakery. These baked goods were cooked with herbs and other ingredients and sold in specialty stores. The ancient Romans had street food outlets, where a precursor to fast food was sold to passers-by, called thermopolies. In them it was customary to offer flatbreads with olives. Then, in the 16th and 17th centuries, there are references to the existence of pizza as a dish extremely similar to the current one and to the specialty stores that sold it. The discovery of the tomato, after the conquest of the American continent, made it possible at that time to already incorporate this ingredient in the dish. But it wasn’t until the late 18th century that modern pizza, as we know it today, appears dated: Neapolitan pizza. In fact, in Naples, the first recognized pizzeria in the world was established in 1738, Antica Port’Alba, which still survives today.
The pina has a much closer origin in time. Born in 2001 in Rome. Some place it in the Roman Empire as well, but it’s easy to see why that’s nonsense: because something that contains soy flour and rice can’t have that birthplace. A named contractor Corrado di Marco invented it by adding rice flour to a formula with which he had worked since 1991, a mixture of soy and wheat flour. By adding rice flour, he obtained what he was looking for: a well-hydrated dough, with a lighter and more digestible texture. His marketing skills made the rest of his popularity.