Learn how to build a cob oven from mud, straw, sand and clay, and you’ll be eating crispy pizza, roast veg, and the best bread
FANCY A PIZZA? Well, first build your oven. This is what participants at a two-day course will be told next weekend as they gather to mix mud, straw and a bit of sand. Italy may have wood-burning ovens fashioned from bricks; we have mud and plenty of it.
Cob building is not new, nor is it confined to Ireland, or indeed pizza ovens. The advocates of cob building, and there are many, are quick to point out that armed with nothing more than a shovel, you can build somewhere to live.
The cob refers to the lump you fashion from your dough. Not dissimilar in size or shape to a rugby ball, its dimensions are precisely because it is often thrown in the process of construction. What is crucial is the mix; mud, straw, sand and clay must be present in the correct proportion in order to attain stickability and strength.
The course at Castle Organic Farm, near Athy, Co Kildare, next weekend is being run by cobbers Louise Plewman and her partner Christian Cluver. Cluver’s conversion occurred on a conventional building site where he simply couldn’t get over the waste and environmental damage conventional building caused. The couple have since built a house and are now in the process of building another one in Sligo.
There is undoubtedly something rather Flintstonian about cob-building. Rounded edges, curved walls and the absence of right angles makes for a very organic feel.
Contrary to popular belief, the joys of a wood-burning oven do not lie in the smoky flavour imparted to the food. The wood is burnt, virtually until it is no more, which is what signals the oven is ready for use. Whether it is built from brick or cobbed, success lies in the harnessing of three heat sources – convection, conduction and radiant. The trio allows for an almost unique gentle yet powerful heat that simply doesn’t occur in a conventional oven.
Participants will tread mud and water on a tarpaulin. The process is done in much the same way as the Portuguese tread grapes – with your feet. Then you “cob it up”, which means add the straw, an inherent part of cobbing. When this is mixed in you are ready to fashion your cobs.
The course lasts two days and you will get to cook pizza at the end of it. But why stop there? With a little help you can build one in your own garden. Kiko Denzer, something of a guru in the mud-oven-building world, has even written a book about it. These ovens are versatile, fun and remarkably cheap. A leg of lamb or a whole chicken tastes completely different when cooked in one. Roast vegetables are reinvented, and for bread-bakers, they are a dream.
The only drawback to an oven like this is having to light it several hours before use. But in these recessionary times with many of us opting to stay at home rather than go out, the idea seems very apposite. And if you manage to roast some meat or fish, along with vegetables, and bake a loaf of bread, it could be described as a bargain evening in – low-tech, low cost and ecologically sound. harnold@irishtimes.com