Table of Contents
- Nebaletan Word of the Day – Skorper/Skorpor!?
- Some Pix – Flagstaff, AZ
- Pizza Review – Fratelli Pizza, Flagstaff, AZ
Nebaletan Word of the Day – Skorper/Skorpor!?
This Nebaletan Word of the Day was originally part of my last blog post (Hard Labor – Part 3 – Delivering Christmas Cheers!?), but that post was already longer than a holiday shopping list, so I figured it deserved its own spotlight.
Skorper/Skorpor is not a Nebaletan Word, per se, but it was a cherished breakfast food served by my Nebaletan Grandma Maouri (aka Grandma Loretta). Every time we slept over, breakfast was always a nostalgic feast with coffee.
Skorpers and Balkan Bakery
Back then, we’d score SKORPERS from Balkan Bakery. Balkan’s specialty was a very crusty, long loaf of white bread, affectionately called Balkan Bread.
As you can see from the first picture above, the bakery was the lowest level of a multistory building that housed a hotel above. The hotel was long gone, and it looked more like the building in the second picture by the time I was in high school.
Imagine those ovens! Were they wood or coal-fired? I bet, like old NYC bakeries, they started with wood and switched to coal for that extra heat and savings.
Typing this, I’m daydreaming about dipping that bread in Grandma’s tomato sauce as it simmered over the stove. OR PULLING OUT THE “STUFFING” AND FILLING IT WITH SAUSEEGE (next blog post) AND PEPPERS.
In the late 70’s, we’d hang out at Balkan with Mike Zullo whose family owned Balkan. While he worked, we’d sober up from a night out. Nothing like a hunk of fresh Balkan Bread to soak up that night’s bender.
Making and Eating Skorpers
I vividly remember Mike Z. making SKORPERS. They used day-old, unsold bread brought back from stores. If fresh bread was around with no day-old returns, they’d probably use that too..
To make SKORPERS, Mike Z. would insert a whole loaf in an automatic slicer set on the thinnest setting. Then he’d brush on a glob of melted butter on each side, then sprinkle another glob of a cinnamon-sugar mixture on one side.
He’d then shove a large load of butter and cinnamon slices into the hottest part of the oven with bread peel. At those extreme baking temperatures, the bread slices would turn to an extremely hard toast while the sugar would melt adhering the cinnamon to the top of the toast.
Within a few minutes, the finished SKORPERS would be pulled from the oven. While the next batch was being loaded, the previous batches’ cinnamon-sugar melt-mixture would re-crystallize and create a hard top coating. The hardened cinnamon-sugar top of the toast was SKORPERS’ signature!
Once at Grandma Maouri’s house, we’d slather a thick layer of butter on top of the cinnamon-sugar, then dip it into our coffee. Dipping into our hot coffee would soften the toast and cause some of the cinnamon-sugar to remelt into the coffee. Both the softened SKORPER and the butter and cinnamon-sugar flavored coffee are “hardened” into my memory.
Skorpers History
As I mentioned initially, SKORPERS are not necessarily Nebaletan.
But like many Great Lakes cities, Ashtabula was melting pot of many immigrant groups who left Southern and Eastern Europe in search of jobs and a better life. And as mentioned in previous posts, the Southern Italians in Ashtabula lived in “Swede-town”. Presumably, the Swedes settled in that portion of East Ashtabula before the Southern Italians.
My research into SKORPERS found these:
- God’s Growing Garden: Swedish Skorps – Similar to German Zwieback
- Skorpor (Swedish biscotti) for Christmas
- Skorper – Pågen
- Among several other related articles and recipes
Given this it’s understandable that a “Balkan” bakery, would make a Swedish treat that me, an American-Southern Italian craves to this day.
Skorpers Today
I reached out to my Capos Donnie and Carmen and my cousin Bonita. All distinctly remembered SKORPERS as kids. And both Carm and Bonita mentioned that you can still get them today in Ashtabula!
Some Pix – Flagstaff, AZ
I wanted to start a new feature as part of my blog – some pictures of the places that we visited and ate pizza.
These were taken on a hike on trails in Flagstaff, AZ. We heard from a cyclist that there are about 40 miles of groomed hiking and biking trails within the city limits!
Pizza Review – Fratelli Pizza, Flagstaff, AZ
After having such a fantastic pizza experience in Flagstaff on our first night at Pizzicletta (see here), we decided to give the pizzeria immediately across the street, Fratelli Pizza, a shot.
Both in the pizzeria and online, Fratelli boasts that they’ve been voted the best in Flagstaff. Boasting doesn’t always mean truth, though. But, as we all know with pizza, “best” is highly subjective. What I like, others may not. In the world of pizza, it’s all about finding your slice of heaven.
So, given Fratelli’s fabulous location, we just had to try it! After all, it’s not every day you get to compare two top contenders in the pizza world, right across the street from each other. Who knows, we might just find a new favorite or at least enjoy the delicious dilemma!
| 9/20/24 | |
| Pizzeria | Fratelli Pizza |
| City/Neighborhood | Flagstaff, AZ/Downtown |
| Website | Fratelli Pizza – Best Pizza in Flagstaff |
| About Us | About – Fratelli Pizza |
| Style | New York |
| Ambiance | Beautiful, old school building “across the tracks” in a charming part of town. Also, it’s conveniently located across the street from Pizzicletta, where we had dinner the previous evening. Upon entering, we were greeted by the smooth sounds of Frank Sinatra and other 40s & 50s music, creating an inviting atmosphere. Unfortunately, this quaintness was shattered by a deluge of sports TVs occupying every free inch of wall space. Don’t get me wrong. If you read this blog, you know that “sports is life” for me. But here we are in a historic building in a historic part of town. Wouldn’t it be more fitting to have a Brooklyn pizzeria vibe, paying homage to NY style pizza’s origins in NYC and Napoli? Then it hit me, what is Fratelli Pizza trying to be? A pizzeria, a sports bar, or a full-scale Italian-American restaurant? It’s tough to do all three well. It’s like trying to be a triple-threat performer without the right training; you might end up juggling pizza dough while singing Sinatra off-key and catching a football—all at once! |
| Rating Criteria | |
| Shape | Round |
| Dough/Crust | Tickness – Closer to medium than the typical NY thin crust. Cook – Classic NY. Soft and chewy yet had some crispiness. Also had a near perfect NY flop. The gluten must have been well structured (fermented well) because folding the slice wasn’t necessary to eat. The bottom was well browned but not charred which also led to crispiness which is typical for a NY with lower temperature gas ovens. Flavor – Bland and white bread “yeasty,” which is a hallmark of NY style. The short fermentation process means it doesn’t have much acidic flavor, but it has that classic NY taste. In the picture below, you will see that Fratelli uses Gold Medal “All Trumps” flour (see here – Guide to All Trumps Flour: Powerhouse for Baking Perfection – Bakers Authority). This was the first time that I’ve encountered this flour. It’s a strong (high gluten) variety which could be the reason for the flop but no need to fold. |
| Cornicione | Crispy but not much puff on mine, although Cathy’s had some. Fratelli’s cornicione didn’t really represent a NY Style pizza well. I expected more out of the cornicione from this flour. and NY Style |
| Toppings | Cheese, plenty of dried basil and dried oregano added post baking Fresh – highly unlikely |
| Sauce | Tangy, Savory, Nice, rich tomato, and salt tasty. Not overly salty. |
| Cheese | Cheese Type – Moozedell, I thought there was something else, since it had a surprisingly wonderful sharpness. But the pizzaiolo says it’s only moozedell Cheese Distribution – All over Greasy and Salty |
| Cheese to Sauce Ratio | Sauce – Medium Cheese – Medium Balance – a well-balanced NY slice |
| Value | Just OK…the prices are a little high but not overly unreasonable. A Large (14”) is $21.00 which is about $16 for a 12″ equivalent pie. But our slices were at another worldly price of $5/slice which is a little disappointing although they were large slices. |
| Overall Rating | Good, but not Great. The crust was disappointing, but the sauce and cheese were nice. And my personal dilemma…Is it a Sports Bar? Is it an Italian Restaurant? Is it a Pizzeria? It’s all 3, and because of that, Fratelli’s is a master of none. A focus on a shorter menu and more effort into the dough, and Fratelli’s would be a top shelf New Yorker. |
| Would I Go Back? | Maybe – but given that Pizzicletta is across the street, I’d always go to Pizzicletta |
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