My year of pizza

Featuring an A+ wine pairing...and the worst YouTube videos I’ll ever make

On The Cusp is about becoming the next version of ourselves. That means experimenting with the breadth of our interests, exploring the depths of anything that captures our imagination, and learning to embrace uncertainty along the way.

Welcome! This is letter #54.

Two months ago, I told you I was craving a Depth Year. It quickly became the most popular thing I’ve ever written.

Turns out, we’re all drained from lives defined by flitting from novelty to novelty, and energized by the prospect of turning our battered attention spans to fewer, more meaningful pursuits.

As you might remember, I was craving depth in the form of homemade Neapolitan pizza dough adorned with inventive combinations of toppings and sprinkled with herbs from my backyard container garden. By which I mean that I was starting to cook my way through the entirety of

Alexandra Stafford

’s cookbook Pizza Night.¹

It’s time for an update on my Depth Year project—no mozzarella gatekeeping here!—which has taken me in surprising directions, including a foray into video.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Clickhole quiz “Are You An Introvert, An Extrovert, Or A Sea Monster?” consistently suggests that I reside in the murky depths of Loch Ness. True to form, I never aspired to become a YouTuber.

And yet:

1. I wanted to document my Depth Year project so I could look back on my growth and progress with pride.

2. I also wanted to connect with others who were cooking from the same book, or who were embarking on their own Depth Year.

3. I wanted to connect in a way that felt intimate—and what’s more intimate than inviting you into my home kitchen?

4. In keeping with the “depth” theme, I wanted to use a platform built for long-form content.

This specific combination of desires led me to YouTube.

For years, I’d been curious to learn how engaging videos get made. But I was intimidated by all the questions embedded in my overarching curiosity: questions about camera and lens combinations, the intricacies of audio recording and music selection, the broad landscape of editing software options, title and thumbnail strategies, and the big question mark that was YouTube Studio.

None of these felt straightforward to a video newbie like me, but that made videography the perfect candidate for a secondary Depth Year project of its own.

So I dove in headfirst, watching tutorials until my eyes crossed, wanting to give up many times along the way. But then, finally and painstakingly, I made my first terrible YouTube videos.

I say “terrible” with zero sense of shame. Quite the contrary: I’m proud of my first efforts, even though they’re a tad cringeworthy. (Exhibits A and B: an overreliance on the words “undertaking” and “process,” and having no idea what to do with my hands.)

I also use the word “terrible” because—at least relative to what I’ll be able to create next time, and the time after that—it’s accurate.

Whenever we start something new, our initial efforts are middling at best, no matter how much time and energy we devote to the process. Not only is that okay, it’s to be expected! We’re nervous. We don’t yet have the experience to make more effective creative choices. Our initial results are constrained by the fact that we’re learning on the job.

So my first YouTube videos are probably going to be the worst ones I ever make. That’s amazing…because it only gets better from here!

Finally, it was time to make my first recipe pairing video.

If all goes well, there will be 51 more of these on the docket. Each time, I’ll walk you through what I’m making that day, and share my honest assessment of the previous week’s efforts.

You’re welcome to subscribe to this project, which I’m calling the In Depth Cookbook Club, on my YouTube channel. I’ll embed future videos in the newsletter, too, so you won’t have to lift a finger to stay updated.

Normally, my fridge is stocked with the hoppy, juicy, and completely non-alcoholic hazy IPA from Athletic Brewing. But I felt that sitting down to enjoy my first recipe pairing from this cookbook—which marked the culmination of so much learning on my part!—called for a special beverage.

For that, I dialed up my favorite sommelier.

Erin Henderson

is the Toronto-based founder of The Wine Sisters, a wine tasting and events company. She’s also the fabulous (and hilarious!) author of Quaintrelle, one of the most mouthwatering newsletters in my inbox.

Since Erin is cooking from Pizza Night, too—it’s a New York Times bestseller for a reason, folks!—I asked what she’d drink with my inaugural effort: a thin-crust pie dotted with red onions, spicy salami, Calabrian chile paste, and whipped ricotta. I knew she’d be up to the challenge.

Over to you, Erin!

“Oh, the pressure is on! 

I’ve been a sommelier for more than 15 years and previous to that, a journalist. Despite having written for a lot of people and places, when Maddie asked for a wine recommendation, I desperately wanted to prove myself worthy. 

TBH, she could have picked an easier recipe for the maiden voyage of our first collab. But, like bubbles in a Champagne flute, I am here to rise to the vinous challenge. 

This pizza (which I made earlier in the week and is delicious, I might add. Excellent recipe, Ali!) is made of spicy and sweet flavours, so we need to consider both for this wine pairing.

Like any good Gen Xer, I normally revolt at the merest whiff of a suggested rule, but, alas, when it comes to spice and sugar, there are two that are cardinal. 

Spice is less a flavour, and more of a sensation. When the delicate, soft tissue of your mouth is already aggravated from heat, the last thing you want to do is intensify the burn with a high ABV wine (think of the last time you cut yourself and needed to clean the open wound with rubbing alcohol. Kinda stung, right?). So, fight fire, with, uh, not fire, with a decidedly lower alcohol wine. 

It also helps to counter spice with a touch of sweetness. In India, for example, spicy food is often paired with a mango lassi—a sweet, no alcohol drink which works very well. 

Therefore, for spicy food, it’s better to pair a fruity, slightly sweet wine with lower alcohol. 

Now let’s discuss sweet. When pairing wine with food, your wine must always be sweeter. Otherwise, the wine will taste astringent, sour, and flat, and the food bitter and dull. 

So, with the pizza toppings including fiery Calabrian chili paste and spicy salami, to hot and sweet honey, and even mildly, sweet, milky ricotta, we’ve got a bit of a situation on our hands. A low alcohol, off-dry situation. 

I really wanted to be a precious snowflake, recommending obscure grapes from Mount Olympus, nurtured by Dionysus himself, but alas, when I really thought about the pairing for this excellent, tangy, salty, hot pizza, I realized the vineyards of Olympus are just not the place to go.

Rather the slightly humbler (but only slightly) peaks of the Mosel, in Germany. 

I think Riesling is the better option for this pizza for all the reasons described above. Riesling has flavours of honey to echo that on the pizza, its lower alcohol (10 or 11% ABV) will calm the heat, and also has lip-smacking acidity, to cut through the grease and fat of the cheese. 

Try it. Let me know what you think.”

Reader: I did try it! I snagged the 2023 Poet’s Leap Riesling, made right here in Washington state. Poet’s Leap was originally a partnership between the Long Shadows Vintners Collection² and German winemaker Armin Diel.

Just as Erin predicted, it was the perfect complement to this rich, spicy pie.

If you try it, too—whether a glass of Riesling, one of Ali’s pizza recipes, your first terrible YouTube video, or a totally unrelated Depth Year project of your own—Erin and I will both be here with glasses raised, toasting to your every success.

As always, I’d love to hear from you. What hobby or interest have you gone in depth on lately?

Warmly,
Maddie

1. If you buy Pizza Night through my Bookshop.org affiliate link, you’ll be supporting this video series! That’s because each purchase made through the link earns me a small commission. All opinions are honest and entirely my own, regardless of affiliation.

2. Long Shadows has a tasting room in Walla Walla, where—fun fact—my fabulous former roommate, Kelsey Albro Itämeri, runs the show at itä wines. If Kelsey made a Riesling, hers would’ve been my pick!