The Pizza Deference

I do not claim I am a food expert. I have no sophistication like that of Marketman or Jamie Oliver who have mastered their cooking skills that food seems a scientific tour for them. No. I do not have the chance to experience French cuisine, or the Italian fare, or what the Kapampangans brag about. But a plateful here and there exemplifies my right to blog about food.

Food is a very personal event, I should say. Surely I only rely purely on my instincts. What my palate tells me is good is good for me. That palate that has been fed with whatever was available in that small town called Batuan in Bohol. Frogs, birds, worms (yes, worms), turtles, dogs (arrest me), yes, those have been stuffed, voluntary of course, in my intestines when I was young.

You may say Roma Mia is the best. Or Cyma. Or Anzani. Or Aling Nida’s Carenderia. To each his own.

What is my point?

Sometime recently we have a lively argument on who makes a good pizza. There is a pizza invasion in Cebu and we were eating a really good pizza in some unknown place in Cebu. I don’t know why pizza suddenly becomes a hit and I would like to think this is just a trend. And like all fads, they all will come and go.

Maybe the multiplication of call center agents must be the reason for this occurrence.

And smacked right near Sykes, a call center, is an unknown cute little payag (nipa hut) where one of the best pizza is cooked, diligently. The last time I was there, there was no signage of the place so you have to open your eyes and scan the area.

I asked the owners what was the name of the place and they told me they were still contemplating on that. Preferably there would be a PAYAG because the agents already called it as such. The second time I went there, still no neon lights was put up to advertise their pizza.

Which is good enough for me. I have this feeling I discovered it first even if others are already called patrons.

Payag Pizza (give me the liberty to call it that way just this time), offers an array of pizza menu all pizza lovers would surely be delighted. I particularly give preference to veggies, no pork please (and dogs). And they gave me two varieties- Tomate and Verde.

Tomate as its name suggested was all tomatoes gently sprinkled with basil. When it was brought in, the smell was engulfing and I dived in, heady with its unique flavors.

Verde is also a vegan’s little paradise. The pizza is delicately made with olives, onions, bell peppers, pineapple, mushroom and tomato.

For those who abhor vegetables like my friends, try their Pizza Todo. A combination of Hungarian sausage, bacon, salami, chicken hotdog plus veggies (sorry, you can’t get away with that) would surely left you bloated and wishing for a gym enrolment the next day.

The owners told me they would soon be using pugon (a native-style oven) when the place is fully operational. That would give them an advantage because we always go for the home-cooked feeling when everything else is mechanized, or should I say electrified, nowadays.

That also gives me another reason to go and visit that place again and again.

I asked Maya if the uniqueness of their pizza should be attributed to the dough or the oven or ingredients. She just smiled. It is a trade secret, I think.