Ship of Fools: The Perfect Pizza

Thread: The Perfect Pizza Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

... does not resemble a lukewarm, soggy pancake smeared with tomato puree and covered in stale cheese that slides off when you try to put a fork into it. It does not have stuffed crust, nor a whole bunch of fusion toppings like wasabi chicken with curried pistachio, spinach and fried egg.

The Perfect Pizza is a deep pan Margherita served straight from the oven, with a base sauce made of onions and lots of tomato, maybe a pinch of herbs, and on top, a good supply of extra-mature cheddar (still bubbling slightly from the heat) and some mushrooms.

What's your Perfect Pizza?

Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :

Perfect pizza is a real pizza margherita - thin crust, good sauce, mozzarella, basil, and that's it.

Like this... Perfect Pizza

[ 07. March 2014, 17:57: Message edited by: Kyzyl ]

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

I happen to like spinach and a baked egg on my pizza [Smile]

But my favourite would be based on a lovely Stilton and pear one that Waitrose used to sell. Thin crust with fresh basil and olive oil.

Posted by Kitten (# 1179) on :

The perfect pizza has lots of vegetables, including mushrooms, onions and peppers, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and absolutely no sweetcorn or pineapple

Posted by Edith (# 16978) on :

Is not a dumping ground for leftovers.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

Egg and spinach are very nice (and very authentically Italian) pizza toppings.

My perfect pizza has a thin base made with olive oil, topped with mascarpone, proscuitto cotto, garlic roasted mushrooms and olives. Or goats' cheese, roasted veg (courgette, aubergine, mushrooms, asparagus which is surprisingly good roasted) and spinach. Neither has tomato sauce - not all pizzas in Italy do.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

My current favourite is one peddled by an Italian chain restaurant - a white pizza with walnut pesto and baby onions.

By and large Pizza Cipolla is the one I'd go for on a menu - unless of course there's a Pizza which promises to be smothered in chilli.

If I could wind back time, it would be to a pizzeria in Tuscany 30 years ago: we would go every evening and have a pizza - and then feel we could manage just a little more, to round off the bottle of Vino Nobile - so would order a Cipolla.

Posted by Organ Builder (# 12478) on :

I suppose I ought to state first that for me PP is American--provincial as that may be. I like thin crust, but I also like Chicago style. Anything on earth that resembles a cheese pie is going to turn my head, whether it's a pizza or something else.

Regardless, I like good crust--crisp or chewy, but not soggy. Wood or coal burning ovens make a better pie. Don't be stingy with the cheese, and if I add toppings it is likely to be Pepperoni and green olives (which is probably a little odd, but seems to fill some chemical need for my taste buds).

Posted by Bob Two-Owls (# 9680) on :

I only like the ones I make myself, wholemeal base, chopped tomatoes, lots of cheddar, anchovies, tuna and pepperoni. If no fish available then I like a peshwari pizza with sliced tomatoes, wensleydale, dried fruit, almonds, coconut and honey.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Pizza Gyros. It was somewhere just over the German border, not far from Aachen - and it did what it said on the label; a sea of melted cheese with bits of grilled lamb.

Also: in Florence, near the Arno, these little streets named for Dante's famous opus. We're staying in Pensione Esperanza in Via del Inferno (lit. The Hope in Hell) and just over the bridge there's a pizzeria - nobody in but us and a big TV showing a World Cup match between Italy and South Korea. Gorgonzola pizzas - thin crust barely containing a lake of cheese. Italy win and all night the Vespas scoot under the windows with people shouting.

Ah memories.

Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :

Organ Builder: I also love green olives on pizza! I hate "frou frou" toppings such as artichoke hearts and shrimp. Pesto pizza is great. Eggs on pizza?! To each their own, I guess but....blecch!

Onions, pepperoni, green peppers, green olives. Sauce that is slightly sweet. Thick or thin crust as long as it's not greasy or soggy. I actually really like the pizza sauce that comes in the Chef Boyardee Pizza kit that is sold in grocery stores. That was what our family had for pizza night because we lived out in the country and this was before pizza delivery was even a notion. [Smile]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Hand tossed crust, double mushroom with tangy marinara sauce (I hate wimpy sauce) and lots of cheese.
And sometimes, just cheese. But lots of it.

And the first time I tried real Chicago Style, it blew my mind.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

Wood-fired, crisp crust, irregularly shaped (Lazian/Roman style), with some burn at the bottom. Better still if they bring it out on two plates. Usually cappriciosa, especially if it has anchovies in addition to the usual olives, spicy salami, and artichokes—though I can be talked into a good pizza biancha on occasion.

I'll take a negroni before, lambrusco during, and Fernet Branca after. The first can be foregone, the last is for the sake of tasty Fernet, and the middle…well, okay, frizzante lambrusco benefits more from wood oven pizza than anything else, but I could go with one of about fifteen dozen beers instead.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

The Italians consider drinking wine with pizza a Bit Odd.

I think the reason I have so many pizza madeleine moments, so to speak, is that it's so often the first meal of the holiday. In a day or so you'll have sussed out the area, in a week you'll have a favourite restaurant - but just now, you're hungry and looking for something that doesn't involve too much riffling through the dictionary.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

My understanding of it is that Italian pizza is a quick street snack which you buy by the slice. I'm physically incapable of eating an entire pizza, so a slice or two will do just fine.

My mother used to make a really tasty Margherita, base and all. She'd had an Italian boyfriend before she got married and learnt some recipes from him. I rarely have pizza these days but hers remains my benchmark.

[ 08. March 2014, 09:06: Message edited by: Ariel ]

Posted by EloiseA (# 18029) on :

Nothing beats scrocchiarella (crispy thin crust) Roman-style pizza from a wood-burning oven, topped with a few anchovies, pecorino cheese, fennel seeds and a grinding of black pepper.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Authentic pizza (as cooked by friend's Italian mother):

very think crust - as thin as you can make it
fresh passata with a little garlic, and fresh basil
roughly torn mozzarella

Make sure the mozzarella is really fresh and squeeze well before shredding: it tastes wonderful.

If making at home I still use a thin crust but like to top with wilted chopped spinach, mushrooms, garlic and smoked checken.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
I think the reason I have so many pizza madeleine moments, so to speak, is that it's so often the first meal of the holiday. In a day or so you'll have sussed out the area, in a week you'll have a favourite restaurant - but just now, you're hungry and looking for something that doesn't involve too much riffling through the dictionary.

Exactly! I've eaten pizza all over the world. It seems to be the universal food, and if you know no words in the local language, you can always make yourself understood when ordering pizza. (And it's almost always yummy, and not very expensive.)

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
I think the reason I have so many pizza madeleine moments, so to speak, is that it's so often the first meal of the holiday. In a day or so you'll have sussed out the area, in a week you'll have a favourite restaurant - but just now, you're hungry and looking for something that doesn't involve too much riffling through the dictionary.
Exactly! I've eaten pizza all over the world. It seems to be the universal food, and if you know no words in the local language, you can always make yourself understood when ordering pizza. (And it's almost always yummy, and not very expensive.)

Sadly, not in Japan or other countries where eating cheese is not the norm. Japan does not make good pizza.

5thMary, I think Italians might be a bit puzzled at artichokes being considered 'frou frou'! They are delicious on pizza anyway, though I'd never have shrimp.

I am not really a fan of American style pizza as I don't want all the sauce and cheese, but if I did have it then I would have Italian sausage and mushroom.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
Wood-fired, crisp crust, irregularly shaped (Lazian/Roman style), with some burn at the bottom. Better still if they bring it out on two plates. Usually cappriciosa, especially if it has anchovies in addition to the usual olives, spicy salami, and artichokes—though I can be talked into a good pizza biancha on occasion.

I'll take a negroni before, lambrusco during, and Fernet Branca after. The first can be foregone, the last is for the sake of tasty Fernet, and the middle…well, okay, frizzante lambrusco benefits more from wood oven pizza than anything else, but I could go with one of about fifteen dozen beers instead.

Negronis are the best. I like sharp Italian-style soda with pizza best I think, though. Grapefruit or blood orange San Pellegrino or Chinotto, please.

Posted by Margaret (# 283) on :

I found my perfect pizza (improbably) in a French restaurant in Vientiane when we were on holiday in Laos. It was a four-cheese pizza with the thinnest of crusts and four French cheeses; I can't remember them all but I think one was Brie, and it was dotted with great melting chunks of Roquefort. Ahhhhhhhhh...

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

Definitely with pineapple, also pickled walnuts, anchovies, prawns, cheddar cheese, preferably on a peshwari naan base. Of course, home-made, (except the naan). Authentic? Who the f cares.

Posted by MrsBeaky (# 17663) on :

Thin crust with plenty of cheese and anchovies....I'm now craving one.
My U.S. family always drink beer with pizza and it does taste good even though I'm not a beer drinker.

(Pizza here is best avoided unless you are in Nairobi)

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

The specifics of the making are only as important as the quality of ingredients.

Tomatoes shall be those oblong ones, as adopted by Italy, but grown in your own garden, lovingly tended for several months. Basil shall be a friend to the tomatoes, both in the garden and on the crust.

The crust shall be started in the morning, with a sniff of yeast, all of the water and only 1/3 of the flour, stirred some multiple of times, about 100, all in the same direction. Then once the sponge collapses, olive oil, more flour a touch of sea salt and it is time to roll it.

The cheese must have definite and at least moderately strong flavour or you will be tempted to use too much and create a heavy mudpie of fat and starch in your belly.

The oven shall be hot, hot, hot. Quick in, quick out. And pizza shall be eaten with wine, mostly. The beer is saved for the heavy store boughten or delivery kind, where sorrows must become soggy and heavy with the crust and terrible things like pineapple lie in wait like land mines of sweet death. If you want pineapple, what stops you from jelly beans?

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

There are two orders of pizza: real - freshly made - and shop bought. I think you have to judge each in its category.

There's a local brand here which offers a Haggis Pizza.

Waitrose do a range of regional pizza, which are generally good.

M&S pizzas are disappointingly bland.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

Tesco Finest pizzas are surprisingly good, they do a very tasty mushroom, ham and mascarpone version.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
Sadly, not in Japan or other countries where eating cheese is not the norm. Japan does not make good pizza.

No cheese? No pizza? [Eek!]

OK, I'm definitely not visiting Japan.

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

I don't believe in platonic perfection. There are many incomparably wonderful pizzas.
I grew up in New York, so I'm a thin crust believer, preferably from wood fired or coal oven. I've not tried charcoal, but I suspect it would be good as well. Chicago style or Sicilian thick crust can be good, but it's very easy for it to become terrible. I like the sauce not to be too sugary and generally the mozzarella in modest amounts and not a cauldron of glop.

A slice of cheese pizza from a New York street pizzeria is often great. For toppings on a pizza, SMOG is good; sausage, fresh mushroom and onion and if they are freshly made, roast peppers.
If fresh real tomatoes are available tomato and basil perhaps with prosciutto. One the East Coast, a clam and parsley pizza is a nice change.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
Sadly, not in Japan or other countries where eating cheese is not the norm. Japan does not make good pizza.
No cheese? No pizza? OK, I'm definitely not visiting Japan.

They do have cheese (and pizza), it's just not very good. Japan and much of Asia are mostly lactose-intolerant, which is why there isn't a cheesemaking heritage. But please do visit Japan, they have such delicious food, even if it doesn't involve cheese or pizza.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
My understanding of it is that Italian pizza is a quick street snack which you buy by the slice. I'm physically incapable of eating an entire pizza, so a slice or two will do just fine.

There's (at least—I suspect there are more) two kinds of Italian pizza: pizza al taglio, which comes by the slice, and pizza al forno di legno, wood oven pizza, which is whole and unsliced. British pizza, I've noticed, tends more towards the latter (it's a whole, unsliced, knife-and-fork affair, with one pizza per person), with American pizzas tending to come sliced, and often shared.

I'm almost surprised nobody's mentioned St. Louis style pizza, which, the one time I had it, gave me inexplicable cravings for years afterwards—a cracker-like crust, basic tomato sauce, decent toppings, but a buttery cheese unique to the area, Provel. God knows if there's any actual cheese in it (I think there is) or if it's just the most weirdly delicious plastic ever invented, but there's nothing else like it.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

If you want a street snack then Calzone is probably best. They are like a folded pizza, rather like our pasties. Utterly unsophisticated but easy to eat in the street.

Posted by basso (# 4228) on :

My first shipmeet was for NoCal pizza (as Kelly always bills it).

I mentioned having eaten a pizza (Trentino, from a local chain called Amici's: Mozzarella, Parmesan, Crumbled Feta, Baby Spinach, Red Onions, Pancetta (Italian Bacon), Herbs, and Meyer Lemon Olive Oil (No Tomato Sauce)) They make theirs on a thin crust in a wood-fired oven.

Kelly asked "when's the meet?" and threw in a couple of [Eek!]

for emphasis. The meet happened a couple of weeks later and I've never looked back.

Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :

Papa John's tried out a wheat berry crust several years ago but it didn't catch on, sadly. My wife and I loved that crust! It was nutty and a little bit chewy. I also love the pizza from the Seattle PCC markets. When I lived in Seattle in the 1990's, they didn't sell pizza by the slice but when I was visiting last July, some friends took me back there and I got some slices of freshly made organic pizza. Yet another reason why I'm planning on moving back to the Seattle area!

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :

When I was a student, we took an Italian friend out to an Oxford pizzeria. He was deeply appalled when one of our party ordered a deep pan pizza with mushrooms and pineapple: "You eat fat pizza with fruit on it??"

He spent the rest of the evening chewing through his thin crust margherita in grim silence.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Did anybody break it to him about Chicago Style?

And I hate pineapple on pizza. I hate pineapple in anything other than fruit salad and ambrosia.

[ 09. March 2014, 17:46: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Ferdzy (# 8702) on :

A pizza I made myself that had a cream sauce topped with wild leeks, mushrooms and fiddleheads stands out as one of the best I've ever eaten.

On the other extreme, Mr Ferdzy and I ordered an 8-vegetable pizza in Spain once. I should mention that green vegetables are surprisingly hard to get at restaurants in Spain. Anyway, we were excited! 8 vegetables! However, it turned out that only one of them was green - the olives. I forget exactly what the other 7 vegetables were, except that one of them was canned beets. [Ultra confused]

Posted by Pancho (# 13533) on :

I'm a simple guy. I don't ask for much. I only ask for extra sauce, extra cheese, extra pepperoni, extra Canadian bacon, extra sausage, extra chorizo, extra mushrooms, extra olives; bell peppers, anchovies and who knows what else.

From "30 Rock":

quote:

Liz Lemon: Hey, Jack! What's up?

Jack Donaghy: That woman you met this morning in my office is not a colleague of mine. We are lovers.

Liz Lemon: Ohh… That word bums me out unless it’s between the words meat and pizza.

[ 09. March 2014, 19:25: Message edited by: Pancho ]

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Did anybody break it to him about Chicago Style?

And I hate pineapple on pizza. I hate pineapple in anything other than fruit salad and ambrosia.

I don't think Chicago-style had hit the UK high streets in 1989. [Big Grin]

But with you on the hating pineapple thing. A thoroughly disgusting fruit. Though banana is one of my favourite pizza toppings.

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

quote:
Originally posted by The5thMary:
...I also love the pizza from the Seattle PCC markets. When I lived in Seattle in the 1990's, they didn't sell pizza by the slice but when I was visiting last July, some friends took me back there and I got some slices of freshly made organic pizza. Yet another reason why I'm planning on moving back to the Seattle area!

Several restaurants in Seattle have imported Neapolitan wood fired ovens and are making thin crust pizza with it. There are now enough of them that the price has dropped from super expensive to moderate and they usually use very high quality toppings. I don't think there's a whole wheat one though, I am not sure the Italian Certification board would approve. [Smile]

Posted by The Rogue (# 2275) on :

Round.

And I choose a different one every time - it would be boring to always have the same.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

quote:
Originally posted by EloiseA:
Nothing beats scrocchiarella (crispy thin crust) Roman-style pizza from a wood-burning oven, topped with a few anchovies, pecorino cheese, fennel seeds and a grinding of black pepper.

Welcome to the Ship, EloiseA.

Please make me a pizza!

Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :

Home made thin crust, covered with sliced roma tomatoes from the garden, small pieces of cheese and topped off with a few fresh basil leaves.
Best with a cold beer.

I did once taste a pizza with onion and potato on top and was surprised to find it quite good.
Fruit of any kind does not belong on a pizza.

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Graven Image:
... I did once taste a pizza with onion and potato on top ...

The Chicago Pizza Pie Factory in Belfast once served cabbage-and-potato pizzas on St. Patrick's Day* and they were much less nasty than they sound.

There's a pizzeria here that does one with steak, red peppers and avocado, which I admit sounds rather odd but is, in fact, delicious.

* They also offered a cocktail that was meant to represent the Irish flag, which involved layers of crème de menthe, Bailey's and some kind of orange liqueur, which was exactly as nasty as it sounds. [Ultra confused]

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

One of my favorite pizza places near my work does a pie with very finely mashed potatoes instead of sauce, along with sausage and black olives. Surprisingly (unless you know the place), it's pretty durn good.

Posted by ExclamationMark (# 14715) on :

The perfect pizza stays in the packet. Most of them look like road accidents

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

Alright you snobs, who don't like pineapple on your pizza, I'm willing to make a concession - chopped figs. But the pickled walnuts stay!

Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
Alright you snobs, who don't like pineapple on your pizza, I'm willing to make a concession - chopped figs. But the pickled walnuts stay!

I'm with you on the pineapple, Quetzalcoatl, down to the massively inauthentic naan pizza, although the Arachnid household does have a takeaway rule that pizza shall not be ordered from any establishment also providing kebabs and curries (nor curry from anyone providing pizza). No good will come from it.

The best proper pizza I ever had was in Italy, from a wood-fired oven, just tomato and mushroom, but from a motorway service station. How is that even possible? You wouldn't get that at Leicester Forest East.

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :

When I first discovered pizzas in the early 1980s my default pizza of choice used to be with ham, mushrooms, sweetcorn and pineapple. Sorry about that.

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

Ararchnidin

Don't tell the others, but I'm working on a bubble gum and chocolate chip cookie pizza, but there have been a few errors in production, so back to the drawing board.

Incidentally, joking apart, I do recommend anchovy and dark chocolate risotto - delicious, but the choc must be very dark, and not too sweet.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

Cheese and pineapple is a tasty combination so I don't mind it on pizza - not my favourite but I'll happily eat it. Would rather have pineapple than green peppers or uncooked onion, neither of which I can stand.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

If I may:

Never, ever put cilantro (coriander) on pizza or on anything else. Or I will personally pack up myself and go get my own pizza or anything else.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
One of my favorite pizza places near my work does a pie with very finely mashed potatoes instead of sauce, along with sausage and black olives. Surprisingly (unless you know the place), it's pretty durn good.

My mother used to make pizza out of the Greens cookbook, published by Greens restaurant in San Francisco. One of the best was made of thinly sliced waxy potatoes, thinly sliced red onion, olive oil, thyme sprigs and pungent goat cheese. Not ordinary, but delightful.

A nice way to spruce up a frozen pizza is a handful of arugula and a little extra cheese. (Wednesday night is frozen pizza night at our house, since I usually have about 45 minutes between the time I get home from work and call for choir rehearsal.)

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

I had to look up arugula. The internet says we know it as rocket. In case anyone on this side of the Atlantic is wondering.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

Mmm, coriander. I love it although have never had it on a pizza.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

/tangent

I'm beginning to think that cilantro and coriander are actually different, on the basis that so many Americans and Canadians detest the former while so many Brits like the latter.

tangent/

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I had to look up arugula. The internet says we know it as rocket. In case anyone on this side of the Atlantic is wondering.

Ah right, that's the final garnish on my inauthentic pizza, a ton of rocket.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

It's actually quite traditional in Italy, as I understand it.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

I'm fairly tolerant of almost anything on a pizza, but I draw the line at raw green leaves - whether rocket, basil, coriander or anything else.

If adding onions - and I usually do - microwave them for a minute first and sprinkle with a pinch of brown sugar.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

I cook chopped onions with tomato puree and sometimes a pinch of herbs. This forms the base sauce for my pizza. The extra-mature cheese goes on that with the mushrooms (ok, strictly speaking it's an Ai Funghi rather than a Margherita, but I eat it anyway).

I have tried other pizzas in my time including a seafood one, but always seem to come back to the same one.

Pizzas of the World. Who would have thought it was so popular in the Far East?

[ 10. March 2014, 20:25: Message edited by: Ariel ]

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

We used to make home made pizza every Sunday for dinner. Mom's dough and sauce recipe came from a transplanted Italian friend. (Pizza was unheard of in that area when I was a teen.)

We didn't get too adventurous with our toppings, it was mozzarella and pepperoni on one and just cheese on the other every time. Later, we started experimenting with veggies(no fruits, thank you!) which suited my vegetarian mother just fine.

I think we have a hostly hat trick, here!

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

I am not a fan of onion full stop, to be honest, but do like rocket on a pizza. An unfortunate experience has sadly put me off pesto though.

I'm not a huge fan of uncooked tomato sauce either, although I know it's traditional. I prefer white pizza in general anyway but if I have to have red sauce, I want a regular cooked marinara.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
/tangent

I'm beginning to think that cilantro and coriander are actually different, on the basis that so many Americans and Canadians detest the former while so many Brits like the latter.

tangent/

Apparently, the soapy taste of cilantrander is something that, with exposure, goes away; I know I, who grew up on Tex-Mex salsas and the like, can't taste it, but my mom, who didn't, sure can. Similarly, I'm guessing Brits with their curries get acclimated to the stuff, while northern Americans and Canadians, who have neither Mexican nor curries as a common dish, probably don't.

Now I'm trying to think of a pizza that would benefit from it. Other than the not entirely uncommon taco (mild salsa for sauce, ground beef, cheddar cheese, jalapenos) or barbecue (pulled pork/brisket, cheddar, sometimes jalapenos, barbecue sauce), I'm having a bit of trouble. Perhaps tika pizza, if such (no doubt) exists?

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
/tangent

I'm beginning to think that cilantro and coriander are actually different, on the basis that so many Americans and Canadians detest the former while so many Brits like the latter.

tangent/

Same plant. In general usage, coriander = Seed, Cilantro = leaf, IME anyway.
Many people do not like the leaves, but are fine with the seeds. The taste is different.
I like both, so I do not care.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
/tangent

I'm beginning to think that cilantro and coriander are actually different, on the basis that so many Americans and Canadians detest the former while so many Brits like the latter.

tangent/
Apparently, the soapy taste of cilantrander is something that, with exposure, goes away; I know I, who grew up on Tex-Mex salsas and the like, can't taste it, but my mom, who didn't, sure can. Similarly, I'm guessing Brits with their curries get acclimated to the stuff, while northern Americans and Canadians, who have neither Mexican nor curries as a common dish, probably don't.

Now I'm trying to think of a pizza that would benefit from it. Other than the not entirely uncommon taco (mild salsa for sauce, ground beef, cheddar cheese, jalapenos) or barbecue (pulled pork/brisket, cheddar, sometimes jalapenos, barbecue sauce), I'm having a bit of trouble. Perhaps tika pizza, if such (no doubt) exists?

I have seen a spicy chicken pizza advertised as having chopped coriander (leaf) on it. In the UK many pizza takeaways are run by Turkish or Pakistani immigrants and tikka pizzas are not uncommon (and said pizza places are more often than not halal, so beef pepperoni and turkey ham etc).

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Actually, the soapy taste (or not) is genetic. I'm guessing your Dad also didn't taste soap.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Actually, the soapy taste (or not) is genetic. I'm guessing your Dad also didn't taste soap.

I've heard that too—but also that you can acquire the taste for the stuff.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

I recall cilantro and coriander making their debut here in the 1980s. I remember the restaurant and meal very clearly. I ultimately didn't eat my meal.

My mother couldn't cook worth anything but my father who spent some years growing up in Singapore made the palatable foods, mostly curries, but also Cantonese, Thia, Vietnamese etc. Lots of fusion. He made curry pizza too. But we never had any cilantro in anything. I think it must be from a specific cultural group and then expanded out of control somewhere post WW2.

I can taste cilantro at very, very small quantities. But it does not taste like soap to me. It tastes indescribably foul, with a sensation not unlike a piece of tinfoil contacting a tooth filling, plus something else rancid. I've not found anything else that tastes anything like it, and I eat virtually everything else, including arugala (rocket) and all the things "supertasters" are supposed to reject like brussels sprouts. Though we don't put brussls sprouts on pizzas, they and arugula are too expensive most of the time to buy at all.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

I can't eat onion or shallot - I get really ill so have had to learn to adapt things.

But in a tomato sauce for pizza you shouldn't have onion anyway - a little garlic and roughly torn basil at the very end but basically its just de-seeded and skinned tomato cooked down very slowly until you have just thick tomato.

Cheddar cheese on pizza [Eek!]

noooo

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Actually, the soapy taste (or not) is genetic. I'm guessing your Dad also didn't taste soap.
I've heard that too—but also that you can acquire the taste for the stuff.

Appears to be genetic-ish, same with ginger, I believe.

Stupid x-posts

[ 11. March 2014, 03:43: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
But in a tomato sauce for pizza you shouldn't have onion anyway - a little garlic and roughly torn basil at the very end but basically it's just de-seeded and skinned tomato cooked down very slowly until you have just thick tomato.

Yes, passata (which ought to be sieved, really). And if you're doing it according to The Rules™ you ought ideally to use the best buffalo mozzarella. However, this thread is about the Perfect Pizza For You Personally, so I'm fine with my own variation on a theme. It's really a sort of Ai Funghi e Cipolle* rather than a Margherita but I get intense cravings for a tomato-onion-tangy cheese combo sometimes.

quote:
Cheddar cheese on pizza noooo

You might not remember the Seventies, but you'd have had a bit of difficulty sourcing fresh basil and mozzarella in your average supermarket in those days. In fact back in the Sixties pizza was pretty rare, partly because not a lot of people travelled abroad in those days. One enterprising young man decided to sell pizza slices as a snack outside Wembley Stadium one time - the only way he could shift them was to clap two of them together and market it as a cheese and tomato toasted sandwich. We've come some way since then.

* with mushrooms and onions

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

I like coriander leaf and often have a plant on my windowsill. I use it often in curries, occasionally with pasta (I love coriander pesto), but it would never occur to me to put it on pizza which, IMO, needs something cleaner tasting on it. I would use fresh basil which is far more suited to tomato and cheese dishes.

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

It always amazes me how food generates purism/fascism/snobbery, but then I suppose everything does.

I have a Cornish friend who goes pale, then red, then very angry, if he hears the words 'carrot' and 'Cornish pasty' in the same sentence, let alone in the same dish (yes, Greggs, I'm thinking of you).

Posted by Barefoot Friar (# 13100) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Graven Image:
Fruit of any kind does not belong on a pizza.

Well, that's not strictly true. Tomato is a fruit, after all.

The perfect pizza (for me) hasn't quite happened yet in my oven. I've got a decent dough recipe, but it's not perfect and I'm still looking around for another. But it will be topped with a homemade margherita sauce, a local goat cheese that I love, sundried tomatoes (the ones packed in oil), a few pepperoni, and perhaps a dash of fresh mushrooms. And the cheese... I've discovered that using part-skim "mozzarella" just does not work. It's too dry and rubbery, and doesn't melt down properly. It has to be the real thing. Mrs. Friar and I are going to learn how to make our own this summer, so of course we'll add that to our pizza.

Pizza stones are amazing, both for pizza and for other baked goods. Even when using a pan, a stone can help regulate the temperature in your oven.

I think wood fired ovens make the best pizza, and as soon as I can build one, I certainly will.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Appears to be genetic-ish,[/URL] same with ginger, I believe.

I never knew there were genetic variations in how people taste ginger. Can you tell me where I can learn more?

Moo

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
It always amazes me how food generates purism/fascism/snobbery, but then I suppose everything does.

Yes. Pizza isn't even posh food, but as you say, everything does.

It's the aesthetic question rearing its head again (as it did on the Art thread), in that there are expected standards which should not diverge too far before the object can no longer meet the defining criteria of what is Art, or in this case, what is Pizza. I'm not sure that the defining criteria for Pizza have ever really been clearly established, other than that for certain sub-types. Whether there is a Platonic form of the Ideal Pizza we will never know, although I'm sure that as with Art, Aristotle would have agreed that a good pizza should certainly satisfy and leave you feeling better able to handle the world, life, etc.

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
/tangent

I'm beginning to think that cilantro and coriander are actually different, on the basis that so many Americans and Canadians detest the former while so many Brits like the latter.

tangent/

My guess is our two-and-a-half centuries exposure to Indian and middle-eastern food which kicked off just about the time our American cousins said goodbye. In some ways Anglo-American food preserves early modern English tastes more than ours does. Which is maybe why we Brits often find it too sweet, too meaty, and did I say far too sweet?

It was fun being taken by an American colleague to a very downmarket Mexican-American restaurant in Houston (formica on tables, concrete floor, booze in the same kind of cheap French indestructible glasses we used to have at school dinners) and bought some spicy food with hot peppers in it, and expected to wince at the heat. Of course us Brits had been eating curries all our lives and hardly noticed.

(Now Jamaican peppers - they are too hot...)

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
It always amazes me how food generates purism/fascism/snobbery, but then I suppose everything does.

Maybe its because it isn't really that important so it lets you have a nice fun bitch session without really hurting anybody. You say something foolish about tea or coffee or beer or cheese or haggis or bread - bread! - and I can happily rant out loud without actually saying anything genuinely nasty or personal. [Razz]

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:

You might not remember the Seventies, but you'd have had a bit of difficulty sourcing fresh basil and mozzarella in your average supermarket in those days. In fact back in the Sixties pizza was pretty rare, partly because not a lot of people travelled abroad in those days.

I honestly didn't even know what a pizza was when I was ten years old.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
It always amazes me how food generates purism/fascism/snobbery, but then I suppose everything does.

I have a Cornish friend who goes pale, then red, then very angry, if he hears the words 'carrot' and 'Cornish pasty' in the same sentence, let alone in the same dish (yes, Greggs, I'm thinking of you).

Quite right too. Carrot LEGALLY now has no place in a proper Cornish pasty. Neither does minced beef. A Cornish pasty has potato, onion, swede and diced skirt steak only, all put in the pasty raw too.

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Barefoot Friar:

The perfect pizza (for me) hasn't quite happened yet in my oven.

No, it wouldn't. Your oven isn't hot enough, and whilst pizza stones help, they're not perfect.

It is, allegedly, possible to gimmick the safety interlock on the cleaning cycle and cook pizza with an oven running its self-clean cycle, which gets rather hotter than the regular cooking settings, but these kinds of antics are best reserved for people who don't mind destroying their ovens, or themselves.

Wood-fired brick ovens are wonderful things, but a little impractical for cooking a single pizza. You can, I gather, buy gas-fired ones, which are a little less hassle, but you're still looking at 45 minutes or so pre-heat time for a couple of minutes of cooking, which isn't exactly either the epitome of domestic convenience or economy.

Posted by Artman (# 18047) on :

A little over a year ago in our town, a place called "Perfect Pizza" opened, so of course I needed to mention it on this board. Overall, pretty good stuff, making the specialized ones a little more unique than just changing one meat topping and calling it a whole new name. The crust is good enough that the kids will eat it (I like crust a lot, so they often give me what they don't).

But the best way the place earns its name is that once a week, after he gets home from kindergarten, I take my youngest son there for the lunch special- 2 slices and a drink for $5.99. He loves it, and we get to have a perfect little lunch together.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Hello, and welcome, Artman - and thank you for the wonderfully appropriate post! [Big Grin]

I hope you enjoy your time on the boards. Do have a look at the board guidelines at the top of each board, as the rules can vary depending on which one you're on. And if you wanted to pop over to the Welcome Aboard thread and introduce yourself (it's not compulsory), people will be very pleased to welcome you.

Happy posting!

Ariel
Heaven Host

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

quote:
Originally posted by ken:

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
It always amazes me how food generates purism/fascism/snobbery, but then I suppose everything does.

Maybe its because it isn't really that important so it lets you have a nice fun bitch session without really hurting anybody. You say something foolish about tea or coffee or beer or cheese or haggis or bread - bread! - and I can happily rant out loud without actually saying anything genuinely nasty or personal.

The various Gawker websites have this down to an art- publish an official ranking of any kind of food, take a strong stance that one of the more popular regional variations ranks somewhere below getting hit by a bus, and watch the clicks and comments roll in.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
Later, we started experimenting with veggies(no fruits, thank you!) which suited my vegetarian mother just fine.

But, but but..

Pizza must have tomato.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:

quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
Later, we started experimenting with veggies(no fruits, thank you!) which suited my vegetarian mother just fine.
But, but but..

Pizza must have tomato.

Not at all. Not even in Italy does all pizza have tomato - 'white' aka sauceless pizza is fairly common.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
Pizza must have tomato.

Not white pizza.

Moo

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:

quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
Later, we started experimenting with veggies(no fruits, thank you!) which suited my vegetarian mother just fine.
But, but but..

Pizza must have tomato.
Not at all. Not even in Italy does all pizza have tomato - 'white' aka sauceless pizza is fairly common.

Right, but the olives that go into the olive oil are also technically fruit. (A post quibbling over a technicality in a post quibbling over a technicality in a post quibbling over a technicality- come on guys, one more level and we have the record!)

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

The perfect pizza is whatever you choose to order at Casa Bianca Pizza Pie in the Eagle Rock district of Los Angeles just west of the San Rafael district of Pasadena. The triple storefront is on the south side of Colorado Boulevard. There are lines around the block on Friday and Saturday nights: they do not need a web-site as everybody knows them. I lived across the street from the Martorana family for more than ten years and the only perk I get is that we can pay by cheque! Two brothers from Sicily established the restaurant in 1955...

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:

quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
Later, we started experimenting with veggies(no fruits, thank you!) which suited my vegetarian mother just fine.
But, but but..

Pizza must have tomato.
Not at all. Not even in Italy does all pizza have tomato - 'white' aka sauceless pizza is fairly common.

I have actually had that, and it ain't bad. I think the default around here is to call that "focaccia" so as nit to send the locals into a tail spin.

Eta: usually served as an appetizer at parties, alongside a plate of antipasto you can layer in if you wish.

[ 11. March 2014, 23:58: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

Layer what? Real pizza has no layers!

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

That's just fine, because I wasn't talking about traditional pizza.*I was talking about focaccia. You take a small slice of the focaccia (which is kind of like deep dish pizza without any toppings, sometimes the lightest brush of marinara), lay on a slice of salami, a slice of raw mozzarella, and bite.

* although I am dying to hear what the Chicago folk have to say about layers. [Big Grin]

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Layer what? Real pizza has no layers!

Crust, sauce, cheese. Three layers on virtually 99% of all pizzas. And that's before toppings.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

That, too.

Posted by mdijon (# 8520) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
But, but but..

Pizza must have tomato.

quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Right, but the olives that go into the olive oil are also technically fruit.

While both olives and tomatoes meet the botanical definition of fruit, neither meet the more intuitive and sensible definition. Namely that if you eat it with main course, it's a vegetable (especially if cooked), and if you eat it raw for desert, it's a fruit.

So olives and tomatoes are vegetables.

Oh and by the way Mrs Beaky, on the availability of good pizza in Kenya.... combine the availability of fresh sea food and a large Italian community in Malindi and what do you have?

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

[Tangent] My Gramma, who grew up in Park City, said a favorite family dessert when she was a kid was to take a bowl of fresh snow, put sliced/ chopped tomatoes over it, sprinkle sugar and milk, and eat it like ice cream. She would sigh over the memory of the sweet tomato juice. never tried it, but she swore it was to die for.[/tangent]

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :

quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Layer what? Real pizza has no layers!
Crust, sauce, cheese. Three layers on virtually 99% of all pizzas. And that's before toppings.

Which bears out my assertion that pizza is just posh cheese on toast.

[Smile]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

[Big Grin]

Preschool teacher special-- half a (forgive me) English muffin (sort of crumpety) dollop of prepared marinara sauce, shredded mozzarella-- mini pizzas!
Don't knock them till you've tried them.

Posted by Barefoot Friar (# 13100) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

Preschool teacher special-- half a (forgive me) English muffin (sort of crumpety) dollop of prepared marinara sauce, shredded mozzarella-- mini pizzas!
Don't knock them till you've tried them.

I told my wife about that (who is herself a preschool teacher) and she snurled her nose at it. Ain't no accountin' fer taste. [Disappointed]

[ 12. March 2014, 12:56: Message edited by: Barefoot Friar ]

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

French bread or English muffin pizzas are great.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sparrow:

quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Layer what? Real pizza has no layers!
Crust, sauce, cheese. Three layers on virtually 99% of all pizzas. And that's before toppings.
Which bears out my assertion that pizza is just posh cheese on toast.

Delete posh. Where did the idea come from that pizza is posh, even by comparison to cheese on toast? It can be stylish, excellent and healthy (or in the case of the "Hawaiian Pizza", an outrage), but how a dish with such humble origins can become posh is a mystery.

(btw, cheese on tomato on toast with marmite is pretty good too. But that isn't posh either)

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

Surely, it's 'authentic' pizza that's posh. Its poshness is avowed by the theological fervour with which its authenticity is credalized by its adherents.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

I can't agree that authenticity == posh. Posh is so often artificial, overblown and created to impress through looks. Pizza Fundamentalists wouldn't describe themselves as posh, though their detractors might describe them as snobs.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
French bread or English muffin pizzas are great.

Thank you, dear. They are. It is best, in my experience, to toast the bread/ muffin slightly before applying the sauce, so as to prevent sogginess.

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I can't agree that authenticity == posh. Posh is so often artificial, overblown and created to impress through looks. Pizza Fundamentalists wouldn't describe themselves as posh, though their detractors might describe them as snobs.

I have consulted my colleagues in the Conciliar Movement for Pizza Liberalization (CMPL), and they are happy to accept your formulation. However, this should not be taken as carte blanche - on no account should shredded lettuce be placed upon or adjacent to Liberal Pizzas. This goes beyond liberalization, and threatens anarchy.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Thick slice of white bread, butter both sides. Smear one side with tomato purée straight from the tube. Top with slices of cheddar and fresh tomato. Bake til crispy. I lived on that when I was a student.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Necessity is the mother of invention. We used Prego in a jar, though.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

quote:
Originally posted by mdijon:

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
But, but but..

Pizza must have tomato.

quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Right, but the olives that go into the olive oil are also technically fruit.
While both olives and tomatoes meet the botanical definition of fruit, neither meet the more intuitive and sensible definition. Namely that if you eat it with main course, it's a vegetable (especially if cooked), and if you eat it raw for desert, it's a fruit.

So olives and tomatoes are vegetables.

Grilled pineapple is the mark of a truly authentic pastor taco, which throws a bit of a wrench in your sensible definition.

While looking into this, I discovered that the Arkansas state legislature had wisely sidestepped the whole debate by naming the same heirloom tomato the state culinary vegetable and state botanical fruit. That seems to be a fine way to settle things.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
Surely, it's 'authentic' pizza that's posh. Its poshness is avowed by the theological fervour with which its authenticity is credalized by its adherents.

Apparently Mario Batali has a reverse osmosis system in his New York pizza restaurant, so that he can remove all of the minerals from the water and add the appropriate salts to mimic Neapolitan water. While I appreciate that the minerals in the water actually do make a difference, I think we can all point to this as the level of authenticity that makes Pizza a bit too posh for its own good.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by mdijon:

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
But, but but..

Pizza must have tomato.

quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Right, but the olives that go into the olive oil are also technically fruit.
While both olives and tomatoes meet the botanical definition of fruit, neither meet the more intuitive and sensible definition. Namely that if you eat it with main course, it's a vegetable (especially if cooked), and if you eat it raw for desert, it's a fruit.

So olives and tomatoes are vegetables.

Oh and by the way Mrs Beaky, on the availability of good pizza in Kenya.... combine the availability of fresh sea food and a large Italian community in Malindi and what do you have?

I think South Africans with their bobotie and Moroccans and Tunisians with their dried-fruit-rich tagines would disagree heartily with you. As would anyone who enjoys apple sauce with roast pork. People eat fruit as part of a main course all the time.

Posted by mdijon (# 8520) on :

That bit is true, but they very rarely eat raw vegetables for desert.

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I can't agree that authenticity == posh. Posh is so often artificial, overblown and created to impress through looks. Pizza Fundamentalists wouldn't describe themselves as posh, though their detractors might describe them as snobs.

There are no pizza fundamentalists more fervent or devoted than New York Pizza adherents. New York pizza is not posh. Not even on the same planet as posh.

[ 12. March 2014, 18:30: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

Pizza is certainly not "posh" here (we don't use the word but I know what you mean). It's fast food. It also seemed to be the national food of Norway or at least students in Norway when my daughter was there. Frozen, put in your oven variety.

Upthread, it was stated that your oven can't go hot enough. Not sure what you think is hot enough. I make bread, pitas, pretzels and other similar products. My convection oven goes to 650°F (we use F for baking, as well as cups and ounces).

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Well that was an interesting deviance from First Evening Pizza Syndrome (strictly, it's our second, but we arrived c 11 pm yesterday) so we were in that slightly disorientated and not hugely hungry state in which a smallish pizza seems like the answer. We even got the length of being seated in a pizzeria - when I looked at the large, and rather doughy items on the plates of the people at the next table and decided it was all too much. We actually ended up at the (Holy Hand Grenade of) Antioch restaurant, having a simple kebab and a perfectly splendid Coteaux d'Aix.

I'm slightly sorry not to have the chance to sample the local variant, because this far south in France the cuisine is beginning to creep towards Italy, and, as I remember from Nice and Genoa, there are some interesting pizzaoid fusions.

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

Oooh! I think I'll go make some Marmite on toast....

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
Pizza is certainly not "posh" here (we don't use the word but I know what you mean). It's fast food. It also seemed to be the national food of Norway or at least students in Norway when my daughter was there. Frozen, put in your oven variety.

Upthread, it was stated that your oven can't go hot enough. Not sure what you think is hot enough. I make bread, pitas, pretzels and other similar products. My convection oven goes to 650°F (we use F for baking, as well as cups and ounces).

Yep, nowhere near hot enough for pizza. Pizza ovens are as hot as or hotter than commercial bread ovens.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Wow, I never knew that. I thought pizza ovens were just designed differently to allow more even baking, or something.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Preschool teacher special-- half a (forgive me) English muffin (sort of crumpety) dollop of prepared marinara sauce, shredded mozzarella-- mini pizzas!
Don't knock them till you've tried them.

This is true, although I go for the usual cheese-onion-tomato combo.

I'm beginning to wish I hadn't started this thread. I spent an hour this evening walking round Oxford trying to find somewhere that sold pizza by the slice. There was only one place, and their pizza slices all had salami on, which I didn't want.

I might have to get a packet of muffins tomorrow and make that my treat for the weekend.

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

One can make pizza in a lower temp oven, but the result is not the same. 750F to 800F (400C to 425C) is the typical wood-fired pizza oven range.
More than you wanted to know.

BTW, anyone who equates pizza with "cheese on toast" does not deserve to eat either.* [Disappointed]

*for the benefit of the hosts and humour impaired, this is cheek, not an insult.

[ 13. March 2014, 20:18: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
This is true, although I go for the usual cheese-onion-tomato combo...

I might have to get a packet of muffins tomorrow and make that my treat for the weekend.

That sounds yummy!

I like "stuff" on my pizza, but sometimes you just yearn for something simple. right?

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Yep. Sometimes <purists should look away now> it just needs to be a toasted muffin with spreadable cheese.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

..or toast.

Especially sourdough toast.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

Serious Eats has a comprehensive pizza section. Lots of recipes and pizza geekery as well as reviews (of both serious and mass-produced pizza).

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
Serious Eats has a comprehensive pizza section. Lots of recipes and pizza geekery as well as reviews (of both serious and mass-produced pizza).

Nice!

I particularly liked this. The New England Greek style looks to die for.

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
Serious Eats has a comprehensive pizza section. Lots of recipes and pizza geekery as well as reviews (of both serious and mass-produced pizza).

Marmite in pizza? [Projectile]

Posted by anoesis (# 14189) on :

Some random observations:

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I had to look up arugula. The internet says we know it as rocket. In case anyone on this side of the Atlantic is wondering.

They are two different plants here. Rocket (Eruca Sativa), with rounded, slightly cressy-looking leaves - which I hate. Arugula, (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), also called wild rocket by some people, with more toothy mizuna-looking leaves, which I love. Both peppery but qualitatively different.

quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:

quote:
Originally posted by Barefoot Friar:

The perfect pizza (for me) hasn't quite happened yet in my oven.
No, it wouldn't. Your oven isn't hot enough, and whilst pizza stones help, they're not perfect.

If you have a pizza stone and a gas barbecue with a hood you can do a pretty decent pizza on the bbq. Set the pizza stone over the grate part and let everything get stupid-hot. Make your pizza on a piece of tinfoil on a chopping board, then slide it off the chopping board onto the pizza stone, put hte hood down, and apply aloe vera to the burnt-feeling places on your forearms and face... pizza takes only a few minutes and produces a nice result.

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Actually, the soapy taste (or not) is genetic. I'm guessing your Dad also didn't taste soap.
I've heard that too—but also that you can acquire the taste for the stuff.

I am one who has gone from loathing coriander/cilantro and being able to detect the tiniest hint of it in a meal to one who loves it and can eat handfuls of the stuff. And yes, it tastes a lot less soapy than it did. Hasn't happened with mushrooms, unfortunately. Nor guavas. As I sit writing this, my [diary-allergic] son is working his way through a bowl of guava and coconut milk sorbet and even though I'm in a different room the smell is making me gaggy...

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by anoesis:
I'm in a different room the smell is making me gaggy...

Egg, boiled, fried or baked does this to me. My father would tell me that it was all in my head. My reply was "Yes, as that is where my taste-buds are."

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

Ah but guava has a very strong smell. It is capable of stopping me in my tracks when passing a market where there is guava among the other fruit on a stall.

No I do not hate it, quite the opposite. However if you hate it I can well believe you can smell it at a distance you would not expect to smell other foods.

Jengie

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
Serious Eats has a comprehensive pizza section. Lots of recipes and pizza geekery as well as reviews (of both serious and mass-produced pizza).
Marmite in pizza?

Doesn't sound that bad to me! But SE isn't endorsing it anyway, it's just in the pizza news section.

Posted by Mechtilde (# 12563) on :

Best pizza ever was the pizza cappriciosa at Est! Est! Est! in Rome, which I used to get growing up. The usual single serving size, tomato sauce, prosciutto & mozzarella. Then a ring of mussels (in the shells) surrounding an egg. Purest pizza heaven.

UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0