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Pizza

bleubird

bleubird

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Ok. I was in the business for twenty years.Did some research on the history of this food. It is very old, catch of the day on bread.Olive oil and spices goes back a long way.Tomatoes are very resent. And pineapple is is just fine if it is with Canadian bacon. Point is,you can put what ever the fuck you want on pizza. However,the crust,skin,dough is the most important part.
 
That is simply wrong. The sauce, dough, and cheese are the most important parts. IE, most of the pizza. Screw up the sauce and it won't matter how good the crust is. And the cheese, too cheap and that'll ruin it. There was a place that sold pizza by my College and it was awful. The cheese was just so salty.

I like deep dish as that provides all sorts of options for fillings. I'm agnostic on cooking at the moment, but once I get my mojo back, I want to make a veggie meatball sub deep dish.
 
Agreed (with post #2.) The crust is crucial -- and a master of pizza crust is to be honored as much as the baker who can make the crustiest Italian bread (with the softest, chewiest innards.) But sauce is crucial, too. We had a joint in this town that obviously used a cheap sauce from a #10 can, and you could taste the metallic inner lining of the can, I swear. Or you'll encounter an insipid, too-sweet sauce. And the cheese is huge. Somehow, Pizza Hut cheese always leaves a shimmering layer of oil on top -- I've never liked it, always blotted it with a napkin. I don't eat as much pizza as I used to, and nowadays 1 or 2 slices suffices (any songwriters here may steal that line for your next love ballad.) But the right college-town-style pizza, especially if you can buy one big slice to go, is carb nirvana.
 
How people define or enjoy pizza is highly subjective. Jimmy likes deep dish pizza, while I only like extra crispy, thin pizza without any cheese. Yes. That's right. I don't like cheese on my pizza, other than a sprinkling of parmesan. And, I like pineapple, ham or a similar meat on my pizza, along with some onions. As long as the crust is ultra thin and crispy, I won't complain. So, for me, the crust is the most important part.

Despite growing up in NJ, a state that is populated by many people of Italian descent, I prefer what is usually considered California style pizza. Some people like Chicago style pizza, which is usually deep dish. That's why pizza is so popular. You can make it or order it to fit your individual taste. You can top it with most anything and it's still pizza.

We do have a good pizza place here in town that will make you one slice however you like it. In fact the name of the place is "Slices". They make their own dough and it's usually very good. Of course, for me, they better make it very crispy or I will not be satisfied. I hate chain restaurant pizza.
 
If you watch The Honeymooners (classic 39 episodes) you'll notice that every so often Ralph or Ed will mention pizza as the dinner they're looking forward to, and it will get a mild laugh from the audience, as pizza then was in the province of ethnic esoterica. Today, the line would be as innocuous as a mention of hamburgers. Pizza essentially didn't exist in the U.S. in 1900, except as a family recipe. First commercial pizzeria: 1905. Rise of the big pizza chains: 1950s and onwards. And then, boy, did it catch on. I'm a child of the 60s, so pizza was a religion, often a once-in-a-week holy throwdown. My dad's generation, not so much -- although that's generalizing too much, from my family's culinary background, which was bland, Midwest, Methodist potluck style victuals.
 
To make any good dish you need high-quality and fresh ingredients. We have a pizza place nearby whose niche is quality, crust, cheese, sauce, toppings, all of it. Their pizza is phenomenal but also significantly more expensive that chain options in the area.

I've eaten most styles and my preference is Italian: thin, chewy crust with a hearty amount of tomato sauce and cheese. But good pizza is good pizza. The thing I'm not a fan of is when a pizza is light on sauce.

Unfortunately British Canadian culture has absolutely no taste and it's challenging to find very good pizza, or anything else for that matter, where we live.
 
As for the crust,skin,dough I have tried many things. My best{I think}is a Mexican crust. Masa fina,flour, oil, salt,water. Mix and form a ball, let rest under a damp towel for a while. Roll out and pre-bake a bit. Top with refried beans, 4 cheese Mexican blend, ground beef. After bake add lettuces diced tomatoes and more cheese.
 
ideologyhunter said:
If you watch The Honeymooners (classic 39 episodes) you'll notice that every so often Ralph or Ed will mention pizza as the dinner they're looking forward to, and it will get a mild laugh from the audience, as pizza then was in the province of ethnic esoterica. Today, the line would be as innocuous as a mention of hamburgers. Pizza essentially didn't exist in the U.S. in 1900, except as a family recipe. First commercial pizzeria: 1905. Rise of the big pizza chains: 1950s and onwards. And then, boy, did it catch on. I'm a child of the 60s, so pizza was a religion, often a once-in-a-week holy throwdown. My dad's generation, not so much -- although that's generalizing too much, from my family's culinary background, which was bland, Midwest, Methodist potluck style victuals.
Click to expand...

When I was a kid, we only had one pizza place in town. Now there's pizza everywhere. Although the only Pizza Hut here in town just closed a couple months ago. Good riddance, it was horrible.
 
southernhybrid said:
How people define or enjoy pizza is highly subjective. Jimmy likes deep dish pizza, while I only like extra crispy, thin pizza without any cheese. Yes. That's right. I don't like cheese on my pizza, other than a sprinkling of parmesan. And, I like pineapple, ham or a similar meat on my pizza, along with some onions. As long as the crust is ultra thin and crispy, I won't complain. So, for me, the crust is the most important part.

Despite growing up in NJ, a state that is populated by many people of Italian descent, I prefer what is usually considered California style pizza. Some people like Chicago style pizza, which is usually deep dish. That's why pizza is so popular. You can make it or order it to fit your individual taste. You can top it with most anything and it's still pizza.

We do have a good pizza place here in town that will make you one slice however you like it. In fact the name of the place is "Slices". They make their own dough and it's usually very good. Of course, for me, they better make it very crispy or I will not be satisfied. I hate chain restaurant pizza.
Click to expand...

We use tortilla or flat bread for pizza if I am making it at home.

We can buy a stone baked medium crust pizza with toppings for $5 here (reasonable for here) and we just chuck it in the oven for a quick meal on my late finish day.

I remember growing up and going to Pizza Hut for their all you can eat dinner. And it was all you can eat in a range of pizzas, with a salad bar. Dessert was extra.
 
gmbteach said:
southernhybrid said:
How people define or enjoy pizza is highly subjective. Jimmy likes deep dish pizza, while I only like extra crispy, thin pizza without any cheese. Yes. That's right. I don't like cheese on my pizza, other than a sprinkling of parmesan. And, I like pineapple, ham or a similar meat on my pizza, along with some onions. As long as the crust is ultra thin and crispy, I won't complain. So, for me, the crust is the most important part.

Despite growing up in NJ, a state that is populated by many people of Italian descent, I prefer what is usually considered California style pizza. Some people like Chicago style pizza, which is usually deep dish. That's why pizza is so popular. You can make it or order it to fit your individual taste. You can top it with most anything and it's still pizza.

We do have a good pizza place here in town that will make you one slice however you like it. In fact the name of the place is "Slices". They make their own dough and it's usually very good. Of course, for me, they better make it very crispy or I will not be satisfied. I hate chain restaurant pizza.
Click to expand...

We use tortilla or flat bread for pizza if I am making it at home.

We can buy a stone baked medium crust pizza with toppings for $5 here (reasonable for here) and we just chuck it in the oven for a quick meal on my late finish day.

I remember growing up and going to Pizza Hut for their all you can eat dinner. And it was all you can eat in a range of pizzas, with a salad bar. Dessert was extra.
Click to expand...

The one and only Pizza Hut here closed down about three months ago. Good riddance. Nasty pizza.

If we get pizza from a chain it's Jets Detroit style deep dish. Great crust.
 
bleubird said:
I'm with Jon Stewart on Chicago deep dish,it's casserole.
Click to expand...
Casserole with a crust. Deep dish provides an opportunity for chunk! You can't do chunk as well on thin crust. Large chunks of tomato or meat or crab or veggies... it allows one to have pizza with texture.
 
As a Marylander, I have to mention what is now called Maryland-style pizza. The history is well known, a restaurant on University Blvd, just a mile from the University of Maryland campus founded in 1955, Ledo's, started making their pizzas on rectangular kitchen pans, with a flaky-biscuity crust (not thin, def not deep dish, but cut into squares for serving), topped by a slightly sweet sauce and as a counter-point to the sauce, topped with smoked provolone (instead of mozzarella). And the usual topping choices. Over the years countless students spread the gospel of Ledo's. In the 1980's Ledo's went with franchises, and many of their home-town pub-based pizza competitors converted to this style of pizza.
 
What I have been doing lately, pseudo-pizza. A pita spread with a little olive oil, baked in a micro-wave for about 3 minutes until sort of crispy. Flip over at haflway mark. A little salt helps too. Pizza sauce, Italian spices, a little salt. Cheese and whatever I have in the fridge. Onion, bacon bits, mushrooms, bake under a broiler in the over until the cheese is browned. It ain't really quite a pizza but it is quick, easy and good enough.

I need to get some flour, and make some real pizza thin crusts, make a bunch and freeze them. Save a good ketchup bottle and put the pizza sauce there. Makes it easy for me to dole out a small amount. Lazy man's midnight quick pizza. Can work with a flour tortilla in an emergency. Or slices of French bread.
 
When I was growing up in Stamford Ct there were Greek pizza places. They had pan pizza. My hangout was downtown at Pappa's Pizza. $.60 got you a pan pizza. Looks like it is still there.

Pizza IMO is all about the sauce. Second is the crust. I can't eat pizza from Dominoes, tastes like crap.

Part of it is the smell of the spices in the sauce. The aroma and warmth of a pizza place. For me the crust should be like flatbread.
 
Just had a Domino's pizza. Thin crust. Wretched! The cheese! The cheese! It simply did not taste right. Reminded me of anchovies. I have been buying small Walmart $1.00 pizzas. Add a bit more cheese, some chopped onion, a bit of bacon crumbles. Not fancy but better than Dominos. Bad cheese murders innocent pizzas.
 
Since going vegetarian I've been ordering meatless pizzas for the first time. The most popular place in the city is down the road from us and offers a good selection of toppings. I've been going with: garlic, fresh basil, sundried tomato, red onion, spicy tomato sauce.

It is a very good pizza.
 
Due to me not being well and Bilby working OT this weekend, I did an online shop and ordered a double pepperoni pizza for one of the late afternoons I will be working. They didn’t have one and have sent a pumpkin and feta one instead. I think I ordered salami as sandwich meat, so I will put some of that on. :)
 
We get our pizzas from a little 30 seat Italian diner up the street and around the corner called Tony's. 5 toppings for $14.50, Friday special. Much bigger than the chain large pizzas and head and shoulders better than them. A layer of cheese, the toppings and another layer of cheese. Yummy!
 
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