They stormed onto the food scene with Naples pizzas made and sold from a van – until it broke down. Now the Scream for Pizza girls are back on the road and back in business, as Rosie McGlade discovers
It started on a beach in the Caribbean, when Victoria Featherby and Alex Walker pledged to leave their careers on the cruise ships to return to Newcastle and make pizza.
Which is good news for us, particularly those frequenting the Bigg Market in Newcastle on a Thursday when you can get a fresh handmade Neapolitan pizza for £4.50 in your lunch break from the girls’ wood-burning stove-equipped Citroen van.
Wasn’t life on the cruise ships glamorous enough? It was in many ways, but Alex, 34, a singer, and Victoria, 29, a production manager, didn’t want to do it forever, and every time the ship docked they found themselves eating pizza, wherever in the world that might be. Then just before Christmas last year they sat on a beach in Aruba off the coast of Venezuela and were struck by the obvious. Scream for Pizza was born.
Pizza connoisseurs, they knew Naples was the place to train, so they abandoned ship for Italy. Victoria spent four weeks studying at a Michelin Fork pizzeria under the direct auspices of one of Italy’s leading chefs, spending weeks doing nothing but making dough, then more weeks learning how to make pizza discs, stretching them by hand. “These very precise techniques,” she says.
Meanwhile, Alex went round the countryside sourcing ingredients. “Victoria would come home covered in flour and I would turn up with fantastic mozzarellas,” she smiles.
A slice of Naples pizza is unique. “Some may even call it soggy in the middle, but don’t be put off until you try one,” says Alex. “We love their purity. After you’ve eaten a Naples Margherita, it’s all you ever want to eat.” You have to adhere to fierce stipulations to legitimately call your pizza Neapolitan. Things like using 00 flour and San Marzano tomatoes for their tangy sweetness from the volcanic soil of Vesuvius.
There’s a science in combining the yeast and flour, and then you leave it to rise for a whopping 20 hours, which is what gives it a light, fluffy crust. You have to stretch it with your hands to keep all that lightness inside and you cook it for just 90 seconds at a scorching 400C. “If you get any of these variables wrong, it doesn’t work,” Victoria asserts.
The result is a pizza that’s crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle, with charred spots known as leopard spots, and a soft crust.
Goldie, the 1970s van from which all this wonder is served, has proven a less precisely run operation. “We spotted her for sale near London and for £4,500 she seemed in really good condition,” Alex says.
A one-time ambulance, Goldie was converted into a pizza mobile complete with oven and spray-painted gold and red, and for two weeks everything took off beyond their wildest dreams. Then Goldie broke down and spent six weeks having her engine stripped and reconditioned.
But what the girls achieved in those two weeks is impressive. They got on to the council to see why they couldn’t sell pizzas in the Bigg Market. But you can, they were told. It’s just that no one had thought to ask.
Not people to shy away from ambition – they also hope some day to write books and do a telly programme – Victoria and Alex aim to team up with other street foodies in the region and turn the Bigg Market into the bustling city hub it once was in what they’re calling the ‘Bigg Revival’.
They’ve also had lots of enquiries about weddings. When we meet, they are planning some seasonal specials such as a mince pie and brandy butter calzone, and a brie, cranberry and chestnut falafel pizza. They want to change people’s perception about pizza and make it fun.
“For a start, they’re often so expensive in this country, so we aim to sell a basic pizza for under £5,” says Victoria. “A Naples pizza is healthy; there’s no grease, and it’s freshly made from wholesome ingredients. We’re presenting it as an alternative to a sandwich for lunch, which is what pizza is in Naples. It’s good street food.”
There is of course competition. They’re not the only people selling pizzas from an old van in the region. “We know we really have to have a strong brand and make it real quality and fun as well,” the girls agree. “Goldie the Scream Wagon will define the product.”
So after four years planning and two weeks of glory, the girls and Goldie are back. “We’ve been getting really good feedback,” says Alex. “We’re excited!”
