The pizza landscape never ceases to evolve, and the year 2023 has ushered in a new wave of delectable topping trends. At Crust & Craft Pizzeria, we keep our fingers on the pulse of global preferences of pizza connoisseurs. Without further ado, here are the toppings that have piqued our curiosity and appetites this year.
1. Cultivated Ferments
Digestive wellness has carved out a place in the pizza industry, with cultured veggies emerging as a favorite topping trailblazer. Items like kimchi, fermented cabbage, and marinated onions introduce delectable sour tones that marry perfectly with the creamy mellowness of cheeses and pizza sauces. These cultured delights afford probiotic perks together with an injection of interesting textures and tastes into the standard pizza template.
Our innovative Festivity of Ferments pie showcases in-house fermented cabbage, homemade kimchi, and blue cheese, gently topped with regional honey to counteract the sourness. This distinctive flavor medley is fast becoming a sought-after pizza at our establishment.
2. Botanical-Based Meats
The surge in plant-centric diets has led to a heightened demand for pizzas that showcase ingenious vegetarian replacements for traditional meats. Moving past ordinary veggies, the advent of botanical proteins has brought forth alternatives capable of pleasing staunch carnivores.
Plant-derived crumbles mimicking Italian sausage, flavorful tempeh seasonings, jackfruit marinated to resemble pulled pork, and pepperoni crafted from pea protein are making their way onto our menu. These options attract patrons not only for their eco-friendliness but also due to their distinct tastes and easier digestion.
3. Local Spice Varieties
For those chasing a spicy kick, the year has marked a heightened interest in using distinct local chili types, moving beyond the everyday chili flake blends. Popular peppers such as Calabrian chilies have remained a favorite, while the addition of Aleppo pepper, smoky Spanish ñora chilies, Peruvian aji amarillo, and Korean gochujang have entered the scene, gracing pizzas with their individual taste notes.
Our Spice Trip pizza presents an ensemble of these different local chilies, each lending its signature zest to portions of the pie, creating an incendiary gastronomic experience that our boldest clientele has especially favored.
4. Wild-Crafted Seasonal Ingredients
What started with the farm-to-table concept has extended into a trend of integrating forest-gathered, seasonal ingredients onto pizzas. Leading this trend are foraged mushrooms, like chanterelles, morels, and hen of the woods, appearing more frequently in their peak seasons.
In addition to fungi, our menu has expanded to include wild spring ramps, maritime plants such as dulse and nori seaweeds, and spruce tips that impart a distinctive flavor. These wild ingredients offer guests a connection to nature and impart flavors hard to replicate with cultivated produce.
5. Artisan Honey Infusions
Honey’s role in heightening the taste interplay of savory and sweet on pizzas has transformed from a mere trend into an established garnish practice. Expanding on hot honey's popularity, the introduction of distinctive honey infusions, applied as a final drizzling over pizzas, has intensified in 2023.
Pizzas are now ornamented with honey varieties that include the gluttonous truffle honey, garlicky fermented honey, mesquite honey with a smoke-inflection, and honey imbued with CBD. These gourmet embellishments elevate even the simplest pizza assemblies to a luxe dining level.
Honorable Mentions
Other toppings that narrowly missed making our prime list but are still causing a buzz include:
- Salted cured egg yolks, providing a sumptuous shower of flavor
- Pickled stone fruits, offering a tart twist to classic tastes
- Whole grains for crunchy textures, including crispy spelt or sorghum puffs
- Small doses of specially crafted butters, enhancing flavors with aromatic herbs
Whether you uphold pizza tradition or lean towards experimental tastes, pizza remains a universally adaptable and cherished dish. At Crust & Craft Pizzeria, we respect traditional recipes while also venturing into new culinary territory—that's evident by the coexistence of timeless Margherita and innovative pies on our menu.
Have you tasted any of the trendsetting toppings we've listed? Or do you have a distinctive topping blend in mind that you'd love to see us create? Share with us in the comments or on your upcoming visit!