The owner of the Kiss Pizzeria & Restaurant in Kapuvár, Hungary, told us without any powder about our surprising eating habits, real pizza and trust.
It is rare that an interview can start immediately. Without preparation or consultation, these are the most exciting conversations. Balázs Kiss, owner and chef of the Pizzeria, and his wife, are confident that more and more people will appreciate quality. They only believe in real ingredients, real food.
Balázs Kiss, chef, owner: „The biggest shortage of good food in the country is raw material, and in the procurement of labour. At least in our gastronomy. I've seen it all, a chef who can't make breadcrumbs, and a chef without tomatoes. tomato saucein the kitchens. But I refuse to cook bad food for myself or my guests. Everything should be expensive, but at least of good quality. Good pizza, I only make good pasta with good Italian flour, and I do it patiently. „
The chef was outraged to learn that many places make fake pizza and spoiled pasta dishes, but the secret is very simple:
Balázs Kiss: „The hairs on the back of my neck stand up when they say ’oven pizza’. And meanwhile they put it in the electric oven, which has a kind of oven shape. The formula is very simple. You have to use a proper oven, proper flour, and a pizza dough will rise in a fridge for at least 24 hours. I know, being a chef is almost priceless if you do it right. That's why it's not worth it, only for those who love it. For me, it's my life, my team, my family, but it comes at a price. However, my customers eat well at my place, I guarantee it.”
A passionate cook always sees the solution in the details. It doesn't matter what kind of tomatoes he uses, because he is making ’acid’ for his guests. It doesn't matter how fresh the tomatoes are. meat, because the flavours are not predominant. We Hungarians still love fried meat with chops, big portions, well-stuffed pizzas, in other words, we like to eat well. But the chef says:
I often say, less is sometimes more when you have a good pizzaor pasta. It doesn't have to look like a drum cake. Lots of layers, stacked on top of each other, piled on top of each other. It's not cooked through properly, you can't enjoy the best part: the pastry. Yes, no stage of a good pizza dough should be messed up (ingredients, kneading, rising, shaping, stretching, baking), otherwise it goes in the bin in our house.”
Another great love: BBQ
Balázs Kiss committed himself years ago to the bbq in addition. He sees it as a challenge, which is essential for a chef. He is constantly learning and improving, reading literature at dawn when he can't sleep. He learned the art of bbq from Máriusz Adorjáni, whom he has called his master ever since. At festivals and small events they often go out, already with a bbq cart, from which they get out delicious porcettas. He said he goes through a lot of processes to make a brisket, a duck, an from, until it's cooked to perfection, but the alpha and omega is the very fresh cut of meat and the good bbq sauces that you cook yourself.
It is a way of life
The chefs treat each other like family. The majority of successful restaurants can say this about themselves, that they are not just collegial, but work on a basis of trust. They think and brainstorm together, just as they do in events. That's how one of their most successful series of events, or you could call it a tradition, has evolved into a ’BBQ ESTET’ on Thursdays. They prepare days in advance, reservations fill up in advance, and tables change several times in one evening. Apparently, it's not just the chefs who have fallen in love with the art of bbq and the carefully prepared food.
