I make a lot of different kinds of pizza at my house. In fact I build social events around big pizza nights when I prepare old favorites and new experiments, (THIS WILL BE OBVIOUS BY THE COPIOUS AMOUNT OF COMMENTS THAT MY GRATEFUL FRIENDS AND FAMILY WILL LEAVE BELOW IF THEY EVER WANT TO BE AT A PIZZA NIGHT AGAIN!). Summer squash and black pepper, Coney Island hot dog, BBQ chicken, CHOURICO, roasted red pepper, shrimp scampi and buffalo chicken are a few of the more popular kinds that come out of the oven on those nights. I'm even thinking about a potato pizza and a mussel and linguica arrabiata pizza next time out. Keep an open mind people!

Traditionally, I try to always start pizza night with pizza Margherita. It's a purist's pizza and if you use the freshest and best ingredients, and you combine them perfectly, eating it is almost a religious experience. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of its ingredients and preparation, this is a transcendent food experience if it is done right.

I'll get into the magical ingredients and the mystical preparation of Pizza Margherita below, but before that allow me to address four primary ingredients to every pizza that all but guarantees that you can make pizza at home that is as good or better than the average local shop. Get used to seeing these important "ingredients" because I am going to add them to every pizza recipe I write on Chop Onions, Boil Water. They are critical to your success.

For years I didn't know how to spell the title of the recipe below. Sure, I may have eaten it my entire life and even pronounced its French name near perfectly at a young age, but I never knew how to spell it. Apparently, neither did the commercial manufacturers of the stuff in my region. The closest they ever got was "gorton" which while kind of phonetic is wrong nonetheless. In fact I walked on God's green earth for about 40 years before I happened upon the correct spelling.

I was sitting in a popular Montreal breakfast diner one morning with several friends. Most were new to the city so those among us that had been before were helping with the items on the menu pointing out favorites, etc. Then someone came across "creton" and we were all stymied. We puzzled over it for a few moments and then took the next logical step and asked the waitress.

"What is this?" I asked pointing to the word in the menu.
"It is creton" she answered "a kind of pork paté."
"AH!" we all answered after hearing it in French. "We know creton!"

In 2003 my wife and I were invited by our friend Sherri to travel with her and her family to Sao Miguel, Azores-Portugal. We were to stay with her grandmother and aunts in the tiny village of Lomba de Sao Pedro. I jumped at the chance because my great grandmother was from the same island, and growing up in Fall River, Massachusetts you hear so much about the Azores. How could I not go?

Upon arrival, we were introduced to Sherri's grandmother Maria Elvira and her aunts and then directed to the cozy room we would be staying in. Once settled we made our way to the kitchen which was located at the center of the house. The whole family was there smiling and catching up and we were brought into the conversation. Many times our host inquired whether or not we were hungry or thirsty. At one point sensing our polite protestations Maria Elvira offered in Portuguese: "A casa pequena, mas o cora grande." They are all Portuguese words I knew but I had never heard the phrase before. It means "The house is small, but the heart is big." If this was a promise it was surely kept for I never had such a gracious and generous host. She prepared breakfast and dinner for us on most days, and often encouraged us to take cheese sandwiches with us on our daily trips around the island.

Pimenta salgada are the lynch pin in Portuguese-style steak sandwiches and other dishes. For me and many others, if they are not in there, you're just having a mildly spicy steak sandwich that you can get anywhere. They have a salty and unique flavor that makes the dish what it is. Because of that unique flavor I also use them in several other Portuguese recipes and I am sure they will infiltrate more.

Here in the good old South Coast of Massachusetts city of Fall River, we have a large Azorean-Portuguese community. It is so large in fact that many Azoreans consider Fall River to be the tenth island in the Azores chain! Because of that large Portuguese population we have immediate access to a great deal of good Portuguese food and ingredients. From staples like the spicy chourico and linguica sausages and bolos levedos sweet buns to more exotic things like fresh Azorean seafoods and hard-to-find spices.

One of the harder to find items is pimenta salgada. You won't find it in most local grocers. Only the most "Portuguese" of the Portuguese stores carry it. I don't think that is because it is rare or unpopular but instead, I think it is because most people who use it in their cooking prefer to make it themselves. One of those people is my friend Karen (family name: Lima) who learned how to make it from her mother. When I asked her for instructions on how to prepare it she didn't hesitate to offer them up.