Hamilton pizzeria Maipai wins national award for eclectic pie initially intended as staff meal

For Salar Madadi, nothing is off limits when it comes to pizza.

The owner of Maipai, a tiki and pizza bar on Barton Street East that opened in January 2020, has long had a name for himself in the city's food scene, now as an eclectic pie maker with a penchant for bold flavours and fun ingredients.

Take his Mala Honey Pie, a Detroit-style pizza he spontaneously made months ago right before a dinner service.

It contains Mala spice, hot honey, Thai basil, pickled chilies, green onions and loads of asiago and mozzarella brick cheese - ingredients Madadi said he found around the kitchen and threw together.

They're definitely not something you'd normally see on pizza," he said.

Initially intended as a staff meal experiment, last week it won best pizza recipe at the Canadian Pizza Summit.

That came as a surprise to Madadi, who said he creates dozens of off-the-cuff pies that never make it on his small but focused menu.

I wasn't thinking anything about (an award)," he said. We just like to go a bit out there with our pizzas and try pretty much anything."

The award - judged on recipe, appearance and taste - comes with an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas next March where Madadi will whip up the Mala Honey Pie live at the International Pizza Challenge.

Judges commended his eccentric pizza for its detailed recipe and colourful visual.

To Madadi, it hits all the bases of what he looks for in a tasty pie: a balance and contrast of textures and flavours.

Besides unconventional toppings, what separates Maipai from traditional pizzerias is they're only one of about a dozen in Ontario that specialize in Detroit-style pizza, said Madadi.

The style was developed in the 1940s in Detroit's industrial factories, where workers baked focaccia-like crust on rectangular steel trays designed for automotive drip pans. Brick cheese, put on first, is spread from edge to edge to make for an enveloped crispy crown, while toppings are layered beneath the sauce.

It's a higher hydration dough, where the percentage of water is higher and the pizza comes out airier and crispier," said Madadi, who perfected the style when he shadowed a pizza maker in Detroit a few years ago.

The toppings, however, are Madadi's own doing. He said he encourages his staff to experiment and make what comes to mind. If the pie doesn't pan out, so be it.

Sometimes we'll try something and think it's ready to go, sometimes it takes a few tries, sometimes the pizza never sees the light of day," he said. But we'll still eat it."

Madadi said he's not against typical pizzas like a Margarita - but they follow too rigid recipes that absolve their creators of creativity.

You're only using a very specific type of tomatoes, very specific type of cheese, the dough ball has to weigh an exact amount. There's a definition to it," he said. And that's OK - it's just not what I'm into. We always want to push what can make it on our pizzas."

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com