Fermented Full Moon Fun

February 13, 2017 — art, beer, fermentation, Full moon, ingredient, pizza, wood

Luke’s Pizza

Luke’s Pizza

towel toss

Luke’s Pizza

Hop Shop menu

The Metal Arts Village has a party every month with open artists’ galleries, live music and food trucks. This month was special because there as a DJ’d yoga class in the parking lot, and some acrobats on silk fabric hanging from a big tripod. The crowd was happy and the entertainment was fantastic.  The fuel that kept the fun going was as ancient as human partying itself–fermentation. Beer is a fermented beverage, and pizza dough is a fermented grain product as well.  Brewers and bread makers often combine to use the leavening from a beer in a bread. This kind of artisanal food production is rampant in Tucson, which is a happy thing for us.  I am not the biggest beer drinker, and try to keep my pizza eating to a minimum, but do indulge when the time and the quality is right.  Full Moon Party at metal Arts Village is just such an occasion.

I drank a glass of excellent stout aged in a bourbon barrel as a starter.  Bob had a more bitter stout, which he stuck with for the day. I switched to a cappuccino stout from Lagunitas Brewery that made me happy.  We sat with a couple drinking a red pilsner that was yummy also. This is the kind of place where people taste each other’s beer, no fear of cooties.  Our table companions were interesting and cool with two dogs under the table.  We enjoyed chatting with them.  We all noticed Luke of the pizza truck trowing a towel in the air, pizza style.  From a distance is certainly looks like dough.  I went to investigate the situation and enjoyed learning about Luke’s dough and fermentation process.

He uses a sourdough proofing to create an amazing crisp thin crust.  His wood fired oven takes 4 hours to heat up, but once it is hot the pizza cooks quickly. We ordered the pesto pizza from the menu and added jalapeño and garlic. This rates as one of the pest pizzas we have ever eaten.  We will now become groupies of Luke and follow him around town when he parks at breweries and events.  I can highly recommend this pizza with Lagunitas cappuccino stout..it is dreamy on the tastebuds.  It would be good with any beer….or without beer.

The flying acrobats were fabulous, but the night was still young.  One of my favorite artists in Tucson had set up a table top sell little stuff from her garage, and I was able to buy a piece of her art for almost no money. I now own an original signed Lynne Rae Lowe metal sculpture, that was derived with an amazing story.  It is a Shabbis angel. She is highly symbolic, and now has a place of honor in front of a lamp I made myself.  This is huge, and unexpected.  I bought her on Shabbat, right before sunset on Saturday, then I walked home.  OY!!!! Magic Moon!