Saturday, February 28, 2009

Heya havea soma pizzia pie!!!!






















Pizza is a tricky subject. So many people have different opinions about what constitutes a good piece of pizza. There are “Brooklyn” pies, “Chicago Deep Dish” pies, “Sicilian” pies, “Grandma” pies, “Thin crust” pies and the cardboard abortion pie know as Domino’s. Every style has its partisans and they can be very vociferous in defense of their favorite pie.

The “Brooklyn” pie is of course my favorite. Round and generally cut into eight or twelve triangular slices, it is also called the Neapolitan pie as it originated in Naples when the tomato was first introduced to Italy. Them margherita pie with basil and fresh mozzarella is the ultimate of this type and in my humble opinion the best of all pizza’s. This is the pizza that you go to the pizza store and buy a slice. Add mushrooms or anchovies or sausage or black olives or pepperoni to your taste. But you can’t beat a slice fresh out of the oven. Unless it is reheated. Then it is even better.

The appeal of the Chicago Deep Dish pie always eluded me. An old pizza shop owner who owned the Gloria Pizzeria used to mock these pies. He called it cake. He would say ”You wanna eata cake or you wanna eata the pizza..” I know this is a style that you Midwesterners love but I think of it as a silly regional fad like grits or the Dallas Cowboys or cow tipping. But hey if you love it knock yourself out.

The “Sicilian” or Square pie is the staple of New York Pizza shops. A rectangular pie it is almost exclusively just tomato and mozzarella but is also very cake like. The ratio of how they are prepared in New York pizzerias is about 5 rounds to 1 square pie. And some people swear by the corner piece and say it is the best slice of pizza you can get. I like it for variety sake but I can live without it.

The “Grandma” or “White” pie is generally made without sauce, that is to say tomato sauce and is generally just mozzarella cheese and basil. If Mort was awake he would say since the Grandma pie is all white, that it is racist. And we all know that Obama thinks all Grandmas’ are racist so I guess we can call it the politically incorrect pie.

The “thin crust” pie is as you know exactly that the direct antithesis to the deep dish or the Sicilian pies. An extremely thin paper like crust allows this pie to get extra crispy. I think this is the most overrated pie and its chief proponent Grimaldi’s down in Dumbo is the most overrated pizza shop in the world. Stupid tourist line up like cattle and wait when the pizza shop at Hanley’s on Court St makes thin crust just as good. But hey whatever floats your boat.

As far as Domino’s or frozen pizzas like Celestino go, you might as well eat the fucking box.

So that’s our pizza review for those of you who voted for a slice as your go-to on the go food.

What kind of pizza is your favorite?

54 comments:

Jason (the commenter) said...

My favorite pizza is thin crust, when it's homemade. I love picking out the toppings and watching the cheese melt. But I've always hated thin crust from a pizza place. Eating out, I have to have Brooklyn style. The square pies are just bland chunks of dough and the Chicago style, well if I want a ton of sauce and cheese I'll get the lasagna.

Trooper York said...

Right on Jason, you have it right. If you ever in Brooklyn I highly recomend the "House of Pizza and Calzone" on Union Street between Hicks and Columbia. They have just about the best pizza in Brooklyn but the true prize is the deep fried calzones. Yes that's right deep fried calzones. You can never eat just one.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Oh, and don't forget Japanese style pizza. They put ungodly things on them, like corn, vegtables, and squid ink. Here's one of their commercials.

Trooper York said...

That is depicable. Disgrazia as my grandmother Restituta used to say.

You what is really digusting? What they call Hawiian pizza with ham and pineapple. What are they insane?

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

My favorite is very thin crust. I like a cornmeal bottom crust.

My favorite pizza I have ever had is Santarpio's in East Boston.

I also enjoy the square cut pizzas. I also like bakery pizza, yummmm.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

Who's Althouse doing?

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I like stuffed pizza too and bar pizza-frozen pizza's baked in a pizza maker-very Wisconsin but very good.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I love a lot of sauce on my pizza but I don't like chunks of tomato-chunks of tomato is not a pizza sauce. No chunks please...and no onions-onions are gross.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I like to watch hot italian guys at pizza joint make pizzas.

That's hot.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

Is my new moniker too bold?

Penny said...

I get an urge for some thin crust maybe four times a year. What amazes me is how many families consider this a staple in their diets. I live in the burbs, and when I go walking on garbage day...I would estimate that one in four, maybe one in five families has a pizza box sticking out of their garbage cans. Nice product placement for Papa John's and Domino's primarily.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Trooper York : You what is really digusting? What they call Hawiian pizza with ham and pineapple. What are they insane?

I like Hawaiian pizza. Their food combinations sound trashy, but they taste good.

The first sushi I ever had was Hawaiian sushi, spam cooked in soy sauce over rice wrapped in nori. The same guy who got me into that, also got me into boiled eel. It's all good!

chuckR said...

Medium crust, mozzarella and feta cheese, tomato slices, cooked spinach and olives. No tomato sauce. Probably olive oil on the crust before the rest of the stuff is put on.

Trooper York said...

My grandmother made a great escrole pie which is sort of like a sicilian pie with escrole inbetween the crust. Baked to a deep golden brown. You slice it like a square pie. It was heaven.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

Plain cheese is my favorite. I don't want anything on my pie.

I am getting horny.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

New Haven is supposed to have good pizza joints.

Penny said...

Grandmothers are heaven.

BUT, can we please not talk about gran's and their pie?

Sorry, I went to band camp once. I have regretably never been the same.

ricpic said...

What about Freschetta? Will youse guys still love me if I admit to heating one up every now and then and, yes, enjoying it?

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

When I was little there was this pizza place in Madison Wisconsin called Barnaby's.

I thought it was the coolest place ever because you order with a pencil and got to write on the menu. Then you waited at your booth for the red light to go on to let you know your pizza was ready.

My mom would take me there every year for my birthday.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I eat Tombstone's Ricpic. As a matter of fact I am having one now. If I can eat Tombstone you can eat some fancy wancy Freschetta pizza.

Fag.

Jason (the commenter) said...

You guys are lucky, no one in my family could cook. I remember trying to sneak ingredients into the food, like oregano.

Jason (the commenter) said...

ricpic : What about Freschetta? Will youse guys still love me if I admit to heating one up every now and then and, yes, enjoying it?

I once tried all the different types of boxed pizzas, to see which was best, and I picked Freschetta, so you're okay with me.

Trooper York said...

So that's why you are so fuckin skinny Jason. You have to come to Brooklyn and we can fatten you up.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Well, I'm not skinny, but I'll start starving myself so my appearance fits your image of me. Double digits here I come!

Trooper York said...

"ricpic : What about Freschetta? Will youse guys still love me if I admit to heating one up every now and then and, yes, enjoying it?'

No problemo my friend. I have a buddy whose wife is the worst bitch you ever want to meet. Part Leona Hemsly, part Rosie O'Donnell and part Joy Behar. Every once in while he heats her up and yes enjoys it. Who are we to say anything about that?

ricpic said...

Titus, they all cost about the same (all are overpriced by the way) so there's nothing particularly fancy about Freschetta and anyway I never buy the meatless tomatoeless one so I'm not a pizza fag.

Trooper York said...

Oh and that's politcs aside. I have a buddy who worked on the View as a cameraman and he told my Joy Behar is a wicked cunt in her dealings with regular people. A real piece of shit from the get go.

Trooper York said...

But ricpic you love the Mets so that kind of makes you a Piazza fag. So to speak.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I love Joy Behar.

My tombstone pizza costs 4.00 today.

Some of those frozen pizzas are like 5.00 and 6.00. Easier to get a better pizza from a Pizza Joint.

Ricpic's a pizza fag.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

If SNL isn't a repeat how much do you want to bet Kenneth the Page is on tonight? He will be getting his 15 minutes of fame.

Trooper York said...

You can have any politics you want but you have to treat cab drivers and waitresses and regular working people with respect. I know you do Titus. I don't think you are the kind of guy who treats people like crap because you think you are better than them. I mean I know you think you are better than them but you don't treat them like shit on general principles. You seem a lot more classy than that.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I treat cab drivers and waitresses very well.

Hello, I do cab drivers if they let me???

Normally, they are the ones treating me poorly.

I had a cab driver call me a fag once. I was devastated for like 5 minutes.

Trooper York said...

I know that Titus. Who else is nice enough to let the delvery guy blow him?

Trooper York said...

Do you think Althouse puts out for the pizza delivery guy? No way.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

Also, I am very blue collar Troop. My parents are about the nicest most honest people you could know. I am super nice to anyone that serves me in anyway!!!!

They got their first credit card a few years ago and they are like 70!

Trooper York said...

Although the guy in the fuzzy picture does kind of look like he's wearing a Domino's uniform.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I know... you know Althouse would never consider blowing a delivery guy. While I would consider it a honor and privilege.

Now I am horny thinking of blowing a delivery guy, cab driver, bus boy or anyone else that works for tips.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

Gardners, construction workers, office cleaners, pool cleaners, car wash attendants all are aok in my book. Yummmm.

rcocean said...

My favorite is Amici's East Coast Pizza. Love the "Calabria" with Pancetta. Some co-workers hate the "dirty bottom" but I love it.

BTW, the New Yorker transplants bitch about the Pizza in California - and judging from Troopers write up they're probably right.

Ralph L said...

Is my new moniker too bold?
No, but it's out of date, or are you multi-orgasmic?

I'm about to reheat a cheese Tombstone I enhanced with bacon. Someone gave me a rotating pizza cooker, which is great, since you don't have to wait for the oven or heat up the house in the summer. No square pizzas, however.

Armand's, a chain in No. VA, makes a super-thick, doughy crust with beer, but 2 slices is 2 much.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I hate fancy pizzas. Or pizza places that put weird shit on their pizza and love themselves so much over their new theme on the pizza.

I come from a family of road construction workers and farmers. We are the salt of the earth people. My fabulous schitck is just that.

But being horny is real.

ricpic said...

When the Mets order pizza it's the Cucaracha brand with chuchifritos on the side and an extra topping of chihuaha.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I love the pizza where the crust kind of bubbles up and is moist on the top but crisp on the bottom.

Not too much oily cheese...please.

One of my favorite pizzas is one with smoked clams and italian sausage.

TitusJustShotaLoad said...

I do like shrimp on my pizza.

And mushrooms.

That's it.

Penny said...

Trooper Trivia:

Can anyone guess WHO among Troop's regulars, let this little pearl slip out?

"But being horny is real."

Um...call me UNREAL, tyvm. :)

Darcy said...

Medium crust, mozzarella and feta cheese, tomato slices, cooked spinach and olives. No tomato sauce. Probably olive oil on the crust before the rest of the stuff is put on.

Similar to my fave, chuckR. Add some toasted almonds on top and that's just about it...although I do think it has either a little tomato sauce or at least tomatoes on it.

blake said...

"Pizza is like sex. When it's good, it's really good. When it's bad--it's still pretty good!"

I like pizza a great deal, except for the Chicago/deep style, where the crust is positively gooey. I also don't care for the chains: No Pizza Hut, no Domino's, no Little Ceasar, no Papa John's, no Numero Uno. Round Table isn't terrible. Oh, and I actually like California Pizza Kitchen and the BBQ chicken pizza.

The local places are really good, with the most renowned in this area being D'Amore's. It's a Boston pie with water from Boston, a special variety of tomatoes canned in central California, cornmeal on the bottom--it's also low-carb.

They have a Pizza Bianco, too, like you describe, TY. No tomato sauce.

I don't like fruit on the pizza, though I confess to having a sample of gorgonzola/feta pizza sample from TJs that was surprisingly good.

I treat Frozen Pizza--like those Stouffer's French Bread things--as reasonable snacks, but I don't regard them as pizza any more than I consider the sandwiches at Subway's real submarines.

And Titus is right: A lot of those frozen pizzas are more expensive than going to a local dive and picking up a fresh one. (Especially these days.)

Michael Haz said...

Thin, thin crust, home made. Magherita style, just sauce, buffalo mozz and basil. Round.

Or if the planets are properly aligned, I'd get it at Lombardi's in Brooklyn. Baked fast in a coal-fired oven! That place is incredible.

Michael Haz said...

When I make pizza at home, I bake it in a large, preheated cast iron skillet. The heat in the skillet gives the crust a cracker-like crispness. I also add a bit of malt and corn meal to the dough. Fantastic!

chuckR said...

Darcy - my fave pizza does have tomato slices rather than sauce. I'm too weak-willed to wait for the sauced pizzas to cool down enough to eat without burning the crap out of the roof of my mouth. It's a scientifical fact that it's the sauce rather than the cheese that retains most of the heat energy. Really.

Darcy said...

Oh! I see that now, chuckR. I was tired when I wrote that last night.
And so true about the sauce!

I forgot to add that there are also toasted sesame seeds on this pizza I like...and now I'm really, really hungry! :)

blake said...

We get a pizza here with extra cheese, feta, tomatoes, garlic and usually some kind of meat. The key is the sharpness of the feta and garlic with the thickness of the cheese, which is cut by the tomatoes and the meat.

Very good combo.

DaddyO said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dick said...

From my home town newspaper in small town central Ohio - Fredericktown has a population of about 5000 people:

Amheiser vying for world’s best pizza maker

By Pamela Schehl

March 4, 2009

FREDERICKTOWN — If cook-off results are any indication, the best pizzas in the nation are produced in Knox County — at Pizza Dock in Fredericktown.

Owner Mike Amheiser outbaked the competition to take top honors in the Gourmet division at the North America Pizza Pizzazz competition, one of the toughest in the nation, bringing home the first-place prize. A total of 75 contestants competed in the first-round bake off, with the top six advancing to the championship round in the North America Pizza and Ice Cream Show held Feb. 22 and 23.

Amheiser’s cheesy meatball entry, according to a press release from the NAPICS, swayed the judges by combining a cheese blend, homemade meatballs, sausage, onions and a marinara sauce before being topped with Romano cheese after baking.

Amheiser said the sausage is also homemade, and the crust is stuffed with cheese and marinara sauce. Toppings can include gorgonzola cheese, cheddar cheese, provolone cheese, mushrooms, onions, oregano, onions, basil and garlic.

“It’s just a great-tasting pizza,” he said.
Discuss Amheiser vying for world’s best pizza maker

The contestants brought their secret ingredients to the show and baked their finest creations in front of a gallery of industry critics; a panel of 30 judges ruled on appearance, marketability and taste.

“The bottom line is the judges really analyze the pizza,” Amheiser said. “They look at the cheese. They look at the bottom of the crust. They’ll slide the cheese back and check the dough and do a side view of the crust. Some people think it is all in the cheese. Others think it is all in the crust, but every detail is important — toppings, cheese, crust and sauce. You can’t have anything messed up.”

Pizza Dock is also home to the third-place prize winner in the traditional pizza division — Mike’s Favorite. In spite of having to adjust to using sandwich ovens to bake pizza, and slightly burning the crust on the bottom, Amheiser again outbaked 75 initial challengers and placed third.

Mike’s Favorite Pizza starts off with a deep dish pan brushed with Amheiser’s homemade blend of Amish butter, margarine, spices and Romano cheese. Then he stuffs the crust with Wisconsin award-winning provolone. The pizza is topped with fresh chopped garlic, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, hard salami, pepperoni and bacon, allowing the juices from the meats to seep down into the pie. After baking, Amheiser sprinkles the pizza with basil and more Romano cheese.

Amheiser’s next stop is New York City, for the America’s Plate World Pizza championship. There he will compete against pizza chiefs from a minimum of seven other countries, vying for the title of World’s Best Pizza Maker. This year he is the only American who qualified to cook in the contest, which will also feature piemasters from Italy, the Czech Republic and China. Finland currently has the plate and Ameheiser hopes to win it back for the United States.

The America’s Plate competition ran March 1 through March 3. Results were not available as of press time.

pschehl@mountvernonnews.com