Dr. Oetker Ristorante

PIZZA RECOMMENDED BY THE DOCTOR

* History

In 1891, at his pharmacy in Bielefeld, Germany, Dr. August Oetker developed the baking powder Backin. Thanks to the quality of the raw materials used, and the stable ratio of active ingredients, he was able to guarantee perfect baking results every time. This innovation helped to lay the foundations for the major business enterprise and the brand “Dr. Oetker”.

The marketing campaign that was run to increase public awareness of included published special recipe booklets, newspaper adverts and recipe suggestions printed on the packaging. The goal was to communicate the quality and reliability of the product, and is a goal still held in place today.

The company’s reputation as pizza specialists dates back to 1970, when Germany witnessed the launch by Dr Oetker of the first frozen pizza on the German market. It wasn’t until March 2002 that Britain experienced the introduction of the range, which is the market leader in 11 of the 26 European countries that it’s sold in.

* Description

The official line from Dr Oetker about their Ristorante pizza is this, taken from the official site:

With its thin and crispy base and its generous toppings consisting of the finest ingredients, Ristorante pizza brings the great taste of the Italian Pizzeria to your home.

Mozzarella, the wonderful aroma of fresh cheese provides the pizza with its elegant taste; combined with tomatoes, Edam cheese and a delightful mix of herbs.

* Packaging & Appearance

The packaging itself is grey and fairly boring, with a picture of the pizza on a white plate with a glass of wine in the background. I believe that Dr Oetker are looking to aim this pizza at a more adult audience, as signified by the wine, and this certainly is different to many pizza packaging boxes which seem to be made full of colour and aimed at kids.

The pizza itself is fairly large, approximately 11” in diameter, and is wrapped tightly in cellophane to keep it fresh. Cooked either from fresh or frozen, this pizza has several large round pieces of mozzarella on it’s base, with chopped pieces of tomato and basil sprinkled liberally over the pizza.

* Ease of Preperation

From frozen, this pizza will cook in 10-12 minutes, mainly due to it being a thin crust. Ideally 10 minutes will leave the pizza just right, though if you leave it in the oven for slightly longer than suggested it has a tendancy to become really dry and unappetising. As all you need to do is to remove the cellophane before throwing the pizza in the oven, the preparation couldn’t be easier.

* Smell & Taste

Once cooked, the pizza gets extra credit for actually looking like the product on the front of the box! Cheese slightly melted, basil looking extremely inviting, and a rich authentic pizza smell filling the air, not at all like the Pizza Hut smell which, although appealing, is not a proper pizza smell!

The taste is as good as frozen pizza can get. The cheese and basil compliment each other well, and there isn’t an over-riding tomato taste despite looking as though there has been an over-liberal spreading of tomato pieces.

* Value For Money

Tesco.com currently have these available for £1.77 each, which is cheaper than most other ranges. Although only a thin-base, the pizza itself is extremely filling and will fill me up if I have it on it’s own, or goes well for two or three people as part of a main meal (considering that pizza is supposed to be served as starter and not a main course!) Quite often these are on special in Tesco at a bargain two for £3. Either way, they are well worth it.

* Other bits & pieces

This Mozzarella pizza has a whopping 927 kcal per pizza. But seeing as it tastes pretty good, I think that is a fair price to pay.

The official website is German, and can be reached at www.oetker.de, although oetker.co.uk works too, even though it is not advertised.

The pizza weighs in at 325g.