I fired my kiln again, and for the last time yesterday. Started at 3:45 by my mentee/assistant Riyeon, 30 minutes before I got there. She’s very keen! Firing number 3 on this visit and firing number 6 in total over 3 years. I’d like to think that Im getting the hang of it, but I’ll have to wait to see what it’s like after I unpack on Saturday. Technically, it went beautifully, climbing to temperature in reduction, without smoke, and without effort, an hour earlier than I estimated, at 9:00 pm.

Riyeon is the most enthusiastic student that I have taught wood firing to in some time. 

As this is my last firing, I organised with some of the other residents that we should fire up the pizza oven that I built last month. It has been sitting waiting for an opportunity to use it. I couldn’t fire it up last firing, as I was more or less firing on my own, with just one or two others intermittently, to allow me to get a nap. This time I have a shared firing with 4 constant helpers. So I can manage to cook pizzas for 10 residents for lunch.

Apart from a minor glitch at the start, the rain held off, and the oven heated up really well, seeing that it was soaking wet from the rain at the beginning, it did well. It’s been siting out in the open, all this time with just a shred of tattered blue plastic draped over it, like a refugee. It’s waiting for the promised roof, which has not as yet materialised. 

I made the dough yesterday and put it in the fridge overnight. I started by demonstrating to everyone the basics of constructing a pizza. A thin base, not too much bigger than the ‘peel’ so that it is easy to handle. A well floured surface, so it won’t stick. Not too much passata so it won’t go soggy, then cheese, just a bit of restraint is the best approach. Simple is usually best. 

My favourite is something vaguely influenced by the classic ‘Margarita’. I like a little passata sauce, then a hand full of basil leaves fresh from my garden spread over the sauce, a few little chopped tiny tomatoes and a sprinkle of cheese. Maybe an olive or two – optional?  The first pizza cooked in just 2 minutes, as the oven was quite hot. We all shared that one. It didn’t last long. It took less time to eat it than it took to cook it!

So for the next hour and a half, every one had a go at making their own version. We cooked some very delicious and good looking pizzas. So I’m now, not just a kiln firing mentor, but a creative pizza kitchen-hand as well. I couldn’t fire the kiln and make pizzas at the same time on my own. I‘m not a woman. I can only do one thing at a time. So I left Riyeon in charge of the kiln. Sooyeong and David have a car, so they were in charge of collecting all the equipment and ingredients from my studio and garden. YoungMi made a fresh salad from her garden, and it all came together nicely. Mr Choi the Residency manager and Mr Jung, the Museum Director both turned up. So that was good, a real gathering.

Cooking pizzas for 10 is a big deal that takes some concentration and coordination. It’s not a solo effort. It takes a village to raise a pizza!

 You can just see the pizza oven in the far background.