Kathmandu:

Anne Marie Forgione has become a commuter spreading the message of authentic Italian food from Kathmandu to Calcutta.

In the 90’s Anne Marie started Fire and Ice on the lip of Thamel in a verandah in the Sanchaya Kosh building and Fire and Ice the Pizzeria and Ice Cream Parlour has, thanks to excellent, food been full ever since.

I’ve been to Fire and Ice for years but the other day, I went with fellow foodies John, Javed and Rajan.

John who lives in New York and is of Italian descent declared the pizzas to be truly Italian with their fine crusts. Javed, who has travelled the world, said the pizzas were probably the best in the South East Asia, and Rajan, who is writing a cook book and is a food critic, was sorry to be going home before he had a chance to return to Fire and Ice.

The Prosciutto and Funghi pizza has four essential ingredients — tomato, mozzarella cheese, ham and mushrooms, and Anne Marie sees to it that each separate taste comes out with each bite. It’s tricky because you can easily loose the delicate musky flavour of the funghi or mushrooms.

The art of pizza making comes from 10th century in Naples. They were spiced with herbs and spices then and were on circle of dough cooked in hot ovens. Earlier than that they resembled the Roman focaccia. By a strange chance there is a bread seller who is a neighbour to Anne Marie’s Fire and Ice and he advertises focaccia.

Caroline of Chez Caroline loves the Melanzane, which has smoked eggplant in it and the delicate taste seeps through the tomato and cheese like a dream.

My own favourite is the Paesana, which has Spinach, Zucchini, Bacon, a hint of garlic, two cheeses — Mozzarella and Parmesan (created in the village of Parma in Northern Italy in the 11th century) — all of which are spread over a zingy tomato base.

The Paesana is a culinary see-saw act were the see-saw remains perfectly balanced with the spinach and the zucchini, the garlic and the bacon, the mozzarella and the parmesan given absolutely equal weightage.

The taste lingers long after.

Fire and Ice possesses the same magic as Port ‘Alba’ which was the first pizza shop. It opened in Naples in 1830 and some say was so popular because its ovens were lined with lava from Mount Vesuvius. In Fire and Ice, the ovens, the atmosphere are full of a special warmth and they are symbolised by the staff — people like Tek Lal Shrestha, who served us, and Minu Dongol who is behind the counter when Anne Marie isn’t.

Today Anne Marie’s menu goes on to Spaghettis, Lasagnas, Polentas, Soups and Salads, which deserve a separate article. But the dessert section is headed by “Ice-Cream Softies” which are imported from Italy. They are served in cones or in bowls. You watch fascinated as they come, each one a piece of art, small delicate mountains of ice-cream swirls with a dribbling of emerald Kiwi, crimson Raspberry, red Cherry or a Chocolatey glacier, over the top.

It’s distinctly ‘amore’ or love at first bite.

One Italian definition of love was popularised by Dean Martin with a song called That’s Amore in which he says, “When the noon hits your eyes like a big pizza pie, that’s amore...”

In Fire and Ice, it’s amore from the moment you sit until you leave sated. For deliciousness, call 4250210.