Happy as Larry Pizza Food Truck, Sydney

Pizzas and Music?. Does that sound like something you might like?  Well look out Sydney here comes Happy as Larry.

On a beautiful day in Sydney last week I got to eat to the beat and all the way down the menu of the Happy as Larry Food Truck.

Food Truck: A large truck equipped with facilities to produce and serve food.

Happy as Larry has a wood fired Pizza oven on board a converted shipping container. Pardon?   Yes, I said  Wood fired pizza oven on board a truck.  Add to this traditional Neapolitan Pizza flour and 24 hour fermented dough, small goods from Pinos Dolce Vita ( Kogarah) and a DJ, @falqomusic and you will already have to get to the back of the line, (or dance till you get to the counter)- food can be so much fun!So, here’s some pictures of what I saw ( ate) and what’s in store for you if you happen upon Sydney’s newest way to eat. I was invited to a little impromptu picnic in Sydney’s beautiful Centennial Park during one of the last days of our winter . (for those of you far away, we know it is winter because there are no leaves on the trees ). 

This is how a traditional wood fired oven looks when stacked onto a truck. Pizzas range from around $11- $17

A little information; Italians are obsessive about Pizzas. The type of flour you use is of utmost importance to the way your pizza tastes when it is pulled from the oven. Around Naples in the Campania Region of southern Italy flour is important— no essential, a religion. It is blended with utmost care, to get a light but chewy dough, that performs well when fermented over 24-48 hours with small amounts of yeast. A dough treated in this way will be easier to digest and will fluff up and still become crusty right where it counts. Oh come on you thought it was just a pizza? Not to Italians, most especially from this region.

Long story short, the dough is made properly.
The menu is broken into a kind of rhythm that resembles starters, pizzas and desserts.

We try a rosemary herb “bread “pizza that has paper thin Lardo, (a cured compressed pork fat), that is transparent with the heat and a “focaccia” pizza with a mountain of colourful heirloom chopped tomatoes, Spanish onion and basil leaves. The pizza dough needs to be folded around the tomatoes in order that they are transported safely to the mouth, but wow, such delicious tomatoes.The menu boasts San Marzano tomatoes on the Margherita, but sadly we don’t get to try this one today. Not that I could possibly have fitted it in , at any rate.The Mushroom Pizza is hardly your average suburban specimen. It turns up with Button, Swiss and King Oyster mushrooms, smoked Scamorza ( mozzarella) and cracked pepper with a snifta of Truffle oil. The other is a firm favourite. It sits triumphantly for only seconds in front of us with Wagyu Beef Bresaola ( Pinos Dolce Vita speciality), garlicky porcini mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella and as if they were not enough a scattering of truffle pecorino and a splash of truffle oil.Along came a Prawn Pizza. It had Fior Di Latte (fresh cheese), oyster mushrooms, a smidgen of black truffle pate, cherry tomatoes and black pepper. Next a Snowy River Smoked Trout, Gorgonzola Pizza with dramatic looking toasted pink peppercorns, capers and rocket. I loved this one. Oh my lord. I am full, but research is a bonafide profession.

There are shakes on the menu, and they are not to be missed. Lychee and Mint, Watermelon and Strawberry, Traditional Homemade Lemonade and Nutella shake $7

How happy can you be to receive a Watermelon and Strawberry shake…… very.

That though, is not all. There is dessert. It’s a punishing regime I keep.

Nutella Calzone is epic. It’s something you will remember and I believe it is going to make a big mark on Instagram . It is hot and gooey and stuffed to the rafters with Nutella containing the finest slithers of Strawberry within. It is served with Vanilla Ice cream and a hunk of Strawberry for good measure. It is not easy to eat as molten chocolate will run down your chin in the haste to get it to your mouth.  This may not be the prettiest picture but Nutella and Strawberries inside soft crusted pizza dough is serious business. To be honest I was a good person to send on a test to Happy as Larry Pizza Food Truck because I am not bias about Pizza.  It is not my go to snack and I generally don’t hunt it out too often. I do however work with Italians and  they talk about pizza incessantly, comparing and dissecting. What I am saying is that I have parameters on which to judge pizza (LOL private couching).  I managed to eat a lot of Pizza, and it was good.

They do private functions…and they have music.

@happyaslarry #happyaslarrysydney. Go seek.

My Kitchen Stories was invited to sample the Happy as Larry Pizza wares.