Squirting oil onto the flame?

[KEmerson]

My wife was in Seattle, Wa. recently at a place called Mioposto. She reports that she saw the pizzaiolo squirting an oil onto the flame as he was about to place the pizza inside. It helped charge the flame, accompanied by a dark, black smoke at first. Has anyone heard of this? I'm not in the least bit interested in doing it - I'm doing just fine without the need - I'm just curious about what to me is a peculiar and even unnecessary technique.

[dakzaag]

Probably olive oil and he probably was just doing it for show. The fact that it generated a lot of black smoke is evidence that it is a waste of the oil no matter what kind it is.