The Growth Of Gourmet: Think About Adding These Cheeses To Your Pizza Toppings

KEY INSIGHTS

• Pizzamakers are experimenting with new flavour combinations by adding different cheese types
• Start with a good quality base cheese which has a subtle as opposed to overpowering flavour and minimal oil-off
  
• You can then add stronger cheeses with higher fat content to enhance your pizza’s overall flavour
  
• Some cheeses work well blended with your base cheese while others can be added as a post-cooking garnish
  

The growth of the gourmet pizza market is driving a new trend of pizzamakers experimenting with new flavour and texture combinations, blending cheese types to create distinctive signature toppings. This is a fantastic way to make your pizzas stand out from the everyday and set your menu apart from the competition.

“When it comes to pizza toppings, it’s all a question of balance to create the best blend of complementary flavours,” says Perfect Italiano Executive Chef Mark Normoyle. “For your base cheese choose a good quality Mozzarella like Perfect Italiano Traditional, Perfect Italiano Ultra or new Perfect Italiano Pizza Cheese which delivers great results at high temperatures. That’s because these cheeses have superior stretch, melt and browning properties, with minimal oil-off so you don’t get unsightly pooling or oily aftertaste.”

Mark explains that your base cheese should have a subtle as opposed to overpowering flavour – which is why Mozzarella is traditionally the cheese of choice as your base – as this ensures it will complement the flavours of the other toppings and allow them to shine.

Using a subtly-flavoured cheese with minimal oil-off as your base allows you to then add stronger cheeses with higher fat content, which can serve to enhance your pizza’s overall flavour and texture while ensuring that all-important balance.

According to Mintel’s 2021 Survey of US Pizza Restaurants, the five fastest-growing cheeses for pizza between 2017 and 2020 have been Mozzarella, Cheddar, Parmesan, Feta and Provolone. The survey also found a wide range of pizza cheeses are appealing to consumers, including Romano (nominated by 40 per cent of respondents), Ricotta (27 per cent), Feta (25 per cent), Munster (21 per cent), Fontina (16 per cent), Goat’s cheese (16 per cent), Blue cheese (13 per cent) Gruyere (11 per cent) and non-dairy cheese (7 per cent).

In the local market, Fior di Latte, Buffalo Mozzarella and Haloumi are all trending at the moment, Mark says. “A pepperoni pizza with a touch of Haloumi makes a fantastic flavour and texture match, while a margarita with delicious golden brown Mozzarella as your base cheese topped with the soft white creaminess of Buffalo Mozzarella or Fior di Latte delivers a great mix of flavours and textures.”

Clearly there’s plenty of room for innovating your cheese choices to appeal to a broader customer base. “Blue cheese is becoming a popular choice,” Mark adds, “for example Blue Cheese, Apple and Walnut Pizza is a fantastic flavour combo.”

Mark adds that while the firmer cheeses are ideal to blend with your base cheese, softer cheeses generally work best as a rich, creamy garnish added post-cooking.

“Freshly crumbled Feta, Ricotta or Blue cheese can impart a really soft, tasty addition to the pizza when it’s sprinkled over just prior to serving,” he explains.

So experiment with your own cheese choices, and see what you can add that will impart a distinctive signature touch to your pizzas!

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