Peter Saunders, the General Manager of The Crown & Thistle, Abingdon

About 20 km outside Florence, lies the town of Reggello, the epicentre of the Cotto clay quarries used in the production of the world’s best Italian wood-burning clay ovens.

In Abingdon-on-Thames lies the 17th century coaching Inn and boutique hotel, The Crown & Thistle, which, from Friday will be firing up its own purpose-built, hand-crafted wood-burning clay oven, the first in the historic Oxfordshire town.

The Crown & Thistle’s oven is being handcrafted on site over five days in order to let each section settle and cure. Once fired up the oven will produce fresh pizzas to eat in or take away as well as a range of daily specials for the delectation of the Crown & Thistle’s customers.

The clay oven is hardly a new invention – indeed, it is one of the oldest cooking methods in the world. The Tandoor, the Adobe Chimenea, even the ‘Ipnos’ in Ancient Greece are all examples. Among the many types of bread the Greeks produced was a flat bread called ‘Plakous’ which was often covered in cheese, garlic and herbs – the first Pizza.

Cotto clay is considered amongst the finest in the world and is used exclusively by the family business of Fornace Valoriani in the production of their traditional wood-fired ovens. They are used by Gwyneth Paltrow, Jamie Oliver, Guy Richie and hosts of other celebrities keen to taste the astonishing flavours and succulence that comes from an authentic wood-fired oven.

The Valoriani family is currently led by Massimo whose great grand-father produced clay jugs and pots in the region in the late 1880s. His son, Gino, first discovered the quarry and when he found that its Cotto clay had precisely the right amount of alumina for firing refractory brick to create the heat properties, perfect for an artisan craftsman, Gino moved the family’s principal kiln to this quarry. The heating properties were key, and Gino’s son Silvo then started experimenting and eventually developed an oven design that has the exact proportions and construction to maximise the efficiency of the clay.

The Crown & Thistle’s new Valoriani pizza oven will be fired up in time for the launch of their new Spring/Summer menu.

Our Pizza Chef, or Pizzaiolo, Stefan Miulescu Dorin was trained in Italy has been working with our Italian Head Chef, Cristian Testai, since November. In the next few weeks we’re going to be inviting local school children to see how pizzas are made and to make up their own pizza from a choice of ingredients.

Recently we took all our chefs to Naples, the home of pizza making, for an extensive course in the art of making the delicious thin crust dough that crisps up so beautifully and the range of sauces and ingredients they will be using. There is something very exciting about artisan traditions and for us to be working with an historic family business. Our business is rooted in the concepts of family and community and I bet we’ll soon be having big family Pizza Parties in the Crown and Thistle’s event Barn.

Local school children will also be invited to four after-school events to learn how to make pizzas with their chefs after school in April.

www.crownandthistleabingdon.co.uk 01235 522556