Is Pizza A World Dish

[Gmat25]

Just last night my wife and I got an amazing pizza from a local pub. Here is an article on the place:

http://host.madison.com/wsj/entertainment/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-marcine-s-goes-over-the-top-with-heavy/article_a51fcbf1-aef8-5811-9cbc-05320e5c97bf.html

On Thursdays their 12" pies are $9 with .50 per additional topping (for as many as you want!) Had to take half of it home because it was so loaded. If you are ever in Wisconsin make sure to check out the place! Happy Pizza Day!!!

 

[ubertrout]

Here in the northeast neopolitan thin crust is popular. Also Greek pan pies.
A friend I used to know was from Italy and he was always amazed with America's fascination for pizza. He told me that in Italy pizza used to be considered peasant food because it was a way to get rid of all your left overs.
If anyone here is able to visit New York City you owe it to yourself to visit John's Pizzeria in Greenwich Village at 278 Bleecker Street. They have been there since the 30's I think. It's one of the only coal fired ovens left in the area. You will not regret it. Also leave your initials on the table before you leave. Seems everyone does it. If you arrive at dinner time be prepared to wait outside in a long line. It moves pretty fast though.

The problem is that I think the pizza at Keste across the street is better than at John's. I know, heresy. The gelato at Cones next door to John's is also excellent, but Keste makes a fantastic nutella calzone for dessert as well.

 

[milt]

Clint resorted to clam bakes by the gulf....

Yum!

 

[Ninecats]

Very popular in Sweden too, every medium populated town has at least five pizza restaurants.

 

[zabble]

A few years ago, a new Lou Malnati's pizza restaurant was built across the street from where I live. It is among my very favorites here, and there are alot of pizza places in this city. Give then a try, they ship frozen anywhere in the United States.

 

[winopener]

You'll never know what Pizza really is until you've tasted in Naples, Italy.

 

[HomerJAU]

Pizza is very popular in Australia and personal favourite when it comes to home delivery. Pizza is number 1 here in popularity.

I prefer wood fired, thin crust style and usually go for something with peperoni or hot salami not to cheesy.

Now days here in Melbourne pizzas have moved on to include tandoori chicken, seafood, Greek lamb with yogurt (Giros style) and toppings like avocados, artichokes, sweet potatoes etc. The classic 'Aussie' pizza is bacon or ham with a broken egg(s) on top on tomato base.

I recently bought a pizza steel for my oven so I can get an extreme heat for a wood fired affect, basically cooks a pizza in 3 or 4 minutes.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

What happened?

I moved from the Midwest to Florida and I got in with the wrong crowd..Gos is right..I started eating....grouper..stone crabs..snapper..clams..local shrimp..and the Webber never got invited to these events..they would build fires or pan fry the seafood...when you have properly prepared fresh grouper it's divine..fresh stone crab claws are awesome...when you live here it's easy to find out where the fresh...and I mean right off the boat.. seafood can be purchased..lot of good times that went with that Webber

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Pizza is very popular in Australia and personal favourite when it comes to home delivery. Pizza is number 1 here in popularity.

I prefer wood fired, thin crust style and usually go for something with peperoni or hot salami not to cheesy.

Now days here in Melbourne pizzas have moved on to include tandoori chicken, seafood, Greek lamb with yogurt (Giros style) and toppings like avocados, artichokes, sweet potatoes etc. The classic 'Aussie' pizza is bacon or ham with a broken egg(s) on top on tomato base.

I recently bought a pizza steel for my oven so I can get an extreme heat for a wood fired affect, basically cooks a pizza in 3 or 4 minutes.

I see places here with avocado toppings now..but the egg thing..I haven't seen...so the egg is cooked(like sunny side up)and then broken and the yolk runs out..or is it more like a hard boiled egg...

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Just wanted to mention that I did a patriotic thing today..I had a pizza slice for lunch at a local spot...thin crust New York style..pretty good...new ownership of a place that had been there for awhile...I'll be back

 

[GOS]

Drinking a nice Cabernet is also patriotic.....or a good pint of ale. I'm doing both.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Drinking a nice Cabernet is also patriotic.....or a good pint of ale. I'm doing both.

Double dipping..beer and wine...getting that weekend started!

 

[DuncanS]

I'll drink to that :beer2 .................. not sure I could drink Cabernet by the pint anymore though!

Drinking a nice Cabernet is also patriotic.....or a good pint of ale. I'm doing both.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I'm kind of surprised that nobody..except HomerJAU... mentioned making their own pizza...I was hoping for some ideas...it's easy to buy the pizza dough at most supermarkets now...and then the fun starts

 

[leevitalone1]

Not sure about Pizza but I do know sex is a dish served, and enjoyed all over the world.

 

[GOS]

I'm kind of surprised that nobody..except HomerJAU... mentioned making their own pizza...I was hoping for some ideas...it's easy to buy the pizza dough at most supermarkets now...and then the fun starts

I was at work earlier when I posted....now at home.

So - during the summer, I grill pizza all the time. Believe it or not, we have a cheapo brand of frozen pizza called JACKS. It has a super thin crust and for whatever reason...it is just killer on the grill. I have an EGG charcoal grill and I get it up to about 700 degrees and pop that guy on and it only takes 5 minutes from frozen. It really has a flavor that cannot be beat. (OK, fresh is better...but....)

Then - this winter, I decided to get my own yeast and I make my own crust...let it rise....pre-bake it for 8 minutes. Take it out, put on fresh ingredients and pop it back in at 500 degrees and it's wonderful. I make it as thin as I can so the crust is more like a thin cracker...crunchy and so the toppings are the king.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I was at work earlier when I posted....now at home.

So - during the summer, I grill pizza all the time. Believe it or not, we have a cheapo brand of frozen pizza called JACKS. It has a super thin crust and for whatever reason...it is just killer on the grill. I have an EGG charcoal grill and I get it up to about 700 degrees and pop that guy on and it only takes 5 minutes from frozen. It really has a flavor that cannot be beat. (OK, fresh is better...but....)

Then - this winter, I decided to get my own yeast and I make my own crust...let it rise....pre-bake it for 8 minutes. Take it out, put on fresh ingredients and pop it back in at 500 degrees and it's wonderful. I make it as thin as I can so the crust is more like a thin cracker...crunchy and so the toppings are the king.

That would be ideal for me..I want it as thin as I can get it..go into more detail about the yeast..you buy it packaged in the store?

 

[HomerJAU]

..but the egg thing..I haven't seen...so the egg is cooked(like sunny side up)and then broken and the yolk runs out..or is it more like a hard boiled egg...

Raw egg before it's baked. Sometimes it's just an egg broken on top like sunny side up then baked. Sometimes the egg is mixed like like scrambled eggs and poured on top then baked, sometimes it's poured on just prior to additional toppings then baked - each store has its preferred method.

 

[GOS]

That would be ideal for me..I want it as thin as I can get it..go into more detail about the yeast..you buy it packaged in the store?

I have like a 2 pound bag in bulk. My son bought it for me...not sure where he got it.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I'm kind of surprised that nobody..except HomerJAU... mentioned making their own pizza...I was hoping for some ideas...it's easy to buy the pizza dough at most supermarkets now...and then the fun starts

I would like to hear more ideas on this as well. I live with a beautiful woman who is also very experienced in the kitchen. She has worked in several local pizza joints and knows her way around the trade. The problem with making it at home is the deficiency of methods available to cook it. We have a standard oven and a convection oven max temp is 500F. She uses special seasoned pans. We have one of those ceramic disk thingies. But no matter what we've tried, we cant duplicate what we can buy that was baked in a real pizza oven. We have just never found a good way to cook a good pizza at home.

some tidbits....

She makes her own dough... she requires special "bread flour", She will not use all purpose flour. And she needs a certain yeast.

The best pan we've found has hundreds of perforated holes in it. It gives the bottom of the crust a bumpy crispy texture. It's close, but not quite.

The other partial success we've had is with "pan" pizzas. That requires different, lighter dough.

One place she used to work for would sprinkle cornmeal on the peels before they loaded the pies into the oven. Those thin crust pies were awesome, and the cornmeal is a great addition, but again, you need that high temp oven with a good baking surface. It just doesn't work out at home for us.

Popular pizza varieties here include: steak and cheese, chicken finger that has a blue cheese style sauce (I guess you non Buffalo people would call it "Buffalo Chicken" or some such variation), stinger pizza (a combo of STeak and chicken fINGER, and Philly cheesesteak.

EDIT: How could I Forget? Beef on 'Weck Pizza.... roast beef, cheese and horseradish based sauce with caraway seeds