Meet Andrew H. Mancini - @mancinifood
Meet Andrew H. Mancini aka @mancinifood on Instagram. He’s been making pizza at home in Boston, MA since 2011.
How did you get into pizza making?
I love great quality food. But Boston wasn’t a great pizza city at the time. I was also interested because it helped me connect with my ancestors and bright back traditions lost since their arrival from Napili in 1920. I was into wine making before I got into pizza, and that’s another tradition I’ve been trying to recover.
What style do you like making the most?
I make Neapolitan because it’s considered the hardest style to make even though it’s the simplest. In my opinion, pizza should be simple. It’s the food of the poor (cucina povera) but simple things come together to be so dynamic. I also like NY style because it works well in lower heat.
What’s one piece of pizza making gear you can’t live without?
I don’t think it’s about one piece of equipment. There are so many variables and pizza making requires a combination of equipment. I can’t live without my Baking Steel but without a good convection oven it wouldn’t work very well. Maybe my answer here is a nice wooden peel.
What advice do you have for aspiring home pizza makers?
Take what we (pizza makers) do and make it your own to make it better!
Who or what inspires you to make better pizza?
My family, my friends, and my superiors like Tony Gemignani, Anthony Mangieri, Davide Cavitello, the Sorbillo brothers, Pizzeria Da Michele… the list goes on and on!
What do you do when you’re not making pizza?
I am a dentist and I love my profession. If I wasn’t a dentist, I’d be a chef. I also love playing electric blues guitar.
Anything advice for new pizza makers?
Strive for the best ingredients. Try everything. The best to me isn’t always the best to you. Go out there and try everything and try every combination. Take what I have done and build, make it better. Buy and study the Pizza Bible, spend hours online and on YouTube. Enjoy it. It takes years and it’s really a great passion people around you will enjoy. Start a sourdough today. Learn pizza’s history. Make friends with distributors - you’ll find more products there than at a grocery store. Keep learning. It’s ever evolving. Enjoy it and Buona pizza a tutti!