Ode to pizza

[jbuck919]

Comments on pizza with a lower case "p" are invited. I just stumbled on this from the Aeneid (allegedly showing how ancient the stuff is in Italy) and hasten to add that it is, for once, not my own translation :

Beneath a shady tree, the hero spread
His table on the turf, with cakes of bread;
And, with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed.
They sat; and (not without the god's command),
Their homely fare dispatch'd, the hungry band
Invade their trenchers next, and soon devour
To mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour.
"See, we devour the plates on which we fed."

[Ralph]

Anchovies on mine, please.

[Corlyss_D]

I have my food pyramid here somewhere . . . . I know pizza is one of the four food groups, together with coffee, soda, and chocolate.

[jbuck919]

I like to roll my pizza slice from tip down and eat it like a roll-up. This has the unfortunate side effect of showing how most pizzas made in the US are over-topped, because toppings come slopping. Particularly difficult in the car.

We happen to have better than decent pizza around here, which has always surprised me, but then again there are also several marvelous Chinese buffets. You never can figure.

[Corlyss_D]

there are also several marvelous Chinese buffets.

Ask them if they would care to open a franchise in neighboring Utah.

[jbuck919]

I have my food pyramid here somewhere . . . . I know pizza is one of the four food groups, together with coffee, soda, and chocolate.

You and I could compare notes on the best pizza in the Washington area. For years, probably the best thin-crust pizza was found at, don't laugh, Jerry's Sub Shop, a chain. Of course, that was too good to last. The best thick crust was Armand's in Friendship Heights. They also turned into a chain and went south.

Recently Pizzeria Paradiso at Dupont Circle has been touted. My sister and I ate there years ago and found their pizza curiously lacking in something neither of us particularly craves--salt.

Bertucci's does a decent job.

[Corlyss_D]

You and I could compare notes on the best pizza in the Washington area.

You could dazzle me with any comparisons. I'm just not a connoisseur of pizza. I like Pizza Hut. We started eating pizza regularly in the mid-60s when we noticed that Mario's Pizza on Wilson Blvd near Clarendon Circle was doing a land office business. We stuck with that until Pizza Hut opened nearby. Then Pizza Hut was a sit down restaurant and not just a delivery store. They had a great salad bar.

[Ralph]

there are also several marvelous Chinese buffets.

Ask them if they would care to open a franchise in neighboring Utah.

*****
Most of the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffets are simply awful. On the other hand, they might qualify as haute cuisine in Corlyssland.

[Brendan]

Well, it could hardly have been pizza as we know it. Tomatos are American in origin and were unknown to Europeans until the sixteenth centruy. http://www.tomato-cages.com/tomato-history.html

The town I live has not been the same since they shut down Sorrento's Pizzaria for a bunch of "fancy" restaurants. Sorrento's wasn't the finest decor nor attracted the trendiest set. But I sure miss their pepperoni pizzas - the best I have tasted here, Italy or America (very limited exposure to American pizzas, I hasten to add).

[living_stradivarius]

there are also several marvelous Chinese buffets.

Ask them if they would care to open a franchise in neighboring Utah.

*****
Most of the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffets are simply awful. On the other hand, they might qualify as haute cuisine in Corlyssland.

Funny thing is that in China, Pizza Hut is considered haute cuisine. You have to make reservations... and they have menus and silverware

NY thin crust cheese pizza is still my all time favorite. I remember back in NYC when I could get 3 large pies for $5 on Wednesday nights. Luckily it was right next to my Taekwondo dojang so all that grease burned up in no time.

[MegaKitsune]

Pizza: best food ever.

[Gary]

I like to roll my pizza slice from tip down and eat it like a roll-up. This has the unfortunate side effect of showing how most pizzas made in the US are over-topped, because toppings come slopping. Particularly difficult in the car.

Wouldn't it be more convenient to eat a calzone?

Most of the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffets are simply awful.

They call it that because they know "all-you-won't-eat."

[Ralph]

I like to roll my pizza slice from tip down and eat it like a roll-up. This has the unfortunate side effect of showing how most pizzas made in the US are over-topped, because toppings come slopping. Particularly difficult in the car.

Wouldn't it be more convenient to eat a calzone?

Most of the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffets are simply awful.

They call it that because they know "all-you-won't-eat."

*****

You should see the old folks at these buffets! How the restaurants make a profit is way beyond me.

[Madame]

You should see the old folks at these buffets! How the restaurants make a profit is way beyond me.

< minimum wage?

General Tso's doberman?

100 year pot stickers?

[RebLem]

I have my food pyramid here somewhere . . . . I know pizza is one of the four food groups, together with coffee, soda, and chocolate.

I always thought the four basic food groups were sugar, salt, starch, and grease.

[Corlyss_D]

Most of the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffets are simply awful. On the other hand, they might qualify as haute cuisine in Corlyssland.

What they qualify as is "cheap cuisine" suitable for university student's budget. One place in particular has pretty good food if you don't think of it as "Chinese."

[RebLem]

I make, or more prcisely, assemble, my own pizzas at home. I use a flour tortilla for the crust, brushed with olive oild and dusted with dried basil on the bottom. Then you put it on a pizza stone, spread some spaghetti sauce on the top. Then shave a lot of parmagiano reggiano on it. Then slice some onions, and put on top of that. Then cut up some mushrooms and spread liberally on top of that. Then put some pre-cooked hot Italian sausage on top of that, then slice the mozarella cheese. I like it thick, so I put two thin layers on top, criss-crossing long, harrow strips. Sprinkle some oregano on top and you are ready to bake. I have a small tortilla and a small stone, so I can bake them in the toaster oven. I preheat to 450 F, then put the stone in on the rack and cook for 3 minutes. then, without opening the window, I reduce the heat to 375 F and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Then I turn the heat off, but leave the pizza in for an additional 15 minutes. Then, eat.

[Corlyss_D]

Well, it could hardly have been pizza as we know it. Tomatos are American in origin and were unknown to Europeans until the sixteenth centruy.

Day-old pizza is as old as I'll eat.

[Madame]

Well, it could hardly have been pizza as we know it. Tomatos are American in origin and were unknown to Europeans until the sixteenth centruy.

Day-old pizza is as old as I'll eat.

Cold the next morning is my favorite breakfast

[Ralph]

Most of the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffets are simply awful. On the other hand, they might qualify as haute cuisine in Corlyssland.

What they qualify as is "cheap cuisine" suitable for university student's budget. One place in particular has pretty good food if you don't think of it as "Chinese."

*****

I certainly don't.

[Ralph]

Well, it could hardly have been pizza as we know it. Tomatos are American in origin and were unknown to Europeans until the sixteenth centruy.

Day-old pizza is as old as I'll eat.

*****

Ugh!

[Wallingford]

I have my food pyramid here somewhere . . . . I know pizza is one of the four food groups, together with coffee, soda, and chocolate.

Actually, pizza IS your basic 4 groups.....got your breads, got your dairy products, got your meat, got your veggies. I'll still munch it if my gut & I are both brave enough.

[living_stradivarius]

I have my food pyramid here somewhere . . . . I know pizza is one of the four food groups, together with coffee, soda, and chocolate.

That's exactly what my debate captain's food pyramid consists of. And he refuses to eat pretty much anything else (veggies and Mexican food included). It's a wonder how he stays in shape.

[miranda]

I would be interested in hearing how pizza likes his pizza.

Best pizza I've ever eaten was a recipe I make now and then at home, for Greek pizza: a crust of layers of phyllo dough, brushed with good quality olive oil, and toppings consisting of fresh spinach sauteed with a little oregano, basil and garlic, slices of farmer's market tomatoes, sliced pitted kalamata olives, plain feta and some mozzarella (fresh or regular, doesn't matter). Utterly delicious, and not difficult to make.