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Pizza!!??

#41
FL Knifemaker said:
You see.........we cannot make bread like they can in NYC or pizza crust. If you order a meatball sub down here, the bread can't stand up to the sauce. Within a minute the bread turns to MUSH. The bread technology from NYs' Arthurs Ave. does not exist here :mad: Even when NYers MOVE here and open up a pizzaria, it doesn't work.
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We have the same problem out here in California. The problem isn't "bread technology", the problem is lack of authenticity. Back in NY, the guys at any shop worth going to know that you brush a bit of olive oil on the face of the bread. And the bread should be Italian bread, lightly toasted. The oil makes the bread resistant to soakage. Out here in California, a meatball sub is usually served on the wrong kind of bread, it's soggy, the sauce doesn't taste right, and it's next to impossible to get it with mozzarella cheese. It's sad because a decent meatball sub is not hard to make. You just have to know how to do it!
 
#43
I'm not from NY but rather it's giant suburb, NJ! and I've eaten plenty of NY pizza (and NJ pizza is essentially the same).

I believe this qualifies me to answer the OP's under condition #1 question despite being from the Garden State:

Pizza should have a thick dough but not so thick that you can't eat 3 slices if you really try, 2 should be enough though. This dough must be properly cooked (slight burn marks on the bottom are usually a good indicator) not mushy, not dry, just right. The slices should be large enough/just thin enough to fold in half, as this is how you eat NY style pizza.

Cheese should be ample (unless you are going for a traditional sliced mozzarella pie or something similar).

Toppings should be applied liberally, sausage should always be the Italian kind, not the shredded stuff.

Crust should be thick and chewy but not dry. Also the pie shouldn't be covered in excess flour or whatever, I hate when pizza is over floured and just coats your mouth in grit.

The sauce is the clincher, the sauce should be a deep red and have a thick consistency, a sure sign that your sauce is too watery is a light color, or your cheese sliding off the pie.

...you will find plenty of places even in NY/NJ where these conditions are not met, but when they are you will a booming business and get a damn good meal.
 
#44
The best pizza I've found is surprisingly in Oklahoma. There's a series of pizza restaurants (mostly in college towns) called Hideaway Pizza and it seriously beats out the pizza places I've been to in New York, Chicago, and St. Louis.
 
#45
My question is since when was Chicago south of the Mason-Dixon line? :P

I had no idea there were such pizza connoisseurs...pizza is cheap and good, what more do you want? I eat Tombstone pizza's regularly, occasionally go to Mesa (a NY style place with insane toppings thats about $3 a slice), but I am a broke college guy.

Chicago style or Deep dish is where its at for going out for pizza though, although I never do.
 
#46
Chicago "pizza" requires a plate, knife, fork, pile of napkins and a lot of patience as they take so long to cook. NY pizza can be eating while dodging gunfire without getting sauce all over your shirt. Chicago "pizza" is not really pizza at all, ask some one from Italy what they think, they'll tell you. In NY you go to lil Frankie's or Peppe's Pizza Paninni or Grimaldi's or that new guy on East 12th street. In Berkeley CA you go to Pie In The Sky.

What constitutes a great slice? Fresh high quality ingredients.
 
#47
While i love a nice giordano's pie, living here, this is not the type of pizza you can eat on a regular basis. I more often buy thin crust pizza than deep dish, part of it has to do with price, because it doesnt necessarily fit a college budget. When i do get to eat deep dish, its a hell of a treat.

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chicago pizza > ny BTW... :ninja:
 
#49
JmJ said:
Chicago pizza requires a plate, knife, fork, pile of napkins and a lot of patience as they take so long to cook. NY pizza can be eating while dodging gunfire without getting sauce all over your shirt. Chicago pizza is not really pizza at all, ask some one from Italy what they think, they'll tell you. In NY you go to lil Frankie's or Peppe's Pizza Paninni or Grimaldi's
or that new guy on East 12th street. In Berkeley CA you go to Pie In The Sky.

What constitutes a great slice? Fresh high quality ingredients.
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You won't get sauce on your shirt because with one flap the slice will fall apart. Dodging bullets with a NY slice?!?! That slice will be flapping like a banner.

And yes, a NY style if probably more like one that you'd get in Italy. But, who cares? I'd much rather carry a cellphone than a pager, even though it's not as "old country".

Chicago Pizza > All other pies
 
#51
DudeistMonk said:
Jive man you have to fold it..unfolded it'll be all over the place...flapping as you say...Fold that sucka up and you can eat it on the subway during rush hour.
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That's what wimps do: fold under pressure ;)

In my neighborhood, most of the thin crust pizzas were cut into smaller squares. I can dodge bullets without flapping, or folding.

I dare say it because I find it to be true.
Chicago > NY for thin crust.
 
#52
About 15-20 years ago both Pizza hut and domino's opened up restaurants here in argentina... they only lasted 3, maybe 4 years. I suppose most people didn't like that style of pizza. But mostly, there are some great pizza restaurants here.
When i was at shcool though, i loved to go to this pizza hut local that had an "all you can eat" policy...
 
#53
They've done studies which show that no matter what "style" pizza one makes, blind taste tests generally prefer the texture of pizzas made with New York tap water the best.

To me, living in the NY Metro area, what makes a great pie is the crust... a soggy crust will ruin a pizza, and too much bread is just too filling. A thin crust that supports the slice, except just the mere tip may droop. The crust should have a bit of a doughy taste, but shouldn't overpower the rest of the pizza. The sauce should be flavorful, yet not overpowering either, and the cheese should be stretchy, not gloppy, and flavorful without being overpowering.

A good pizza has a balanced flavor of sauce, crust and cheese, and the toppings should generally cover about 50% of the area of the pie, leaving the flavor of the pizza to come through.
 
#54
I've had some pretty darn tasty pizza where I hail from (Philly area), but 'round here near North Myrtle Beach there's this place called Gino's which is pretty close to NYC style- sauce is just right, enough crisp to the dough but floppy enough that under the weight of the cheese it just collapses when you pick up a slice, and it drips. If your pizza doesn't drip grease everywhere, fuggeddit. Oh yeah- it's wicked as breakfast the next morning served cold. Mmmm.....
 
#55
We have a pizza restaurant chain here called Fox's Pizza Den that makes their crust between a New York style and a thin crispy style (bendable but firm but with a slight crunch). They have a bacon (not Canadian bacon) pizza that tastes incredible. Real bacon on anything is great but on a pizza it just makes it that much better.
 
#56
this thread agrees with what i have learned, its all about where you grow up. i grew up on ny pizza. it is my standard. it beats all. unless you are from chicago, then you think those "one slice is a meal" deep dish pizzas are the bomb. in iowa i learned that pizza is just bread and cheese, it is not haute cuisine and as such, it doesn't matter as long as it is warm and in front of you.... BAH! i am a ny pizza snob, and proud of it!

worst pizza i have had has been in the midwest. and cutting it into squares, i just can't hang with that.

best pizzas i have had:
any mom and pop shop in the city
napoli's in poughkeepsie, ny (i haven't lived there in 25 yrs but i still remember the phone: 471-9213. it left an impression)
escape from ny pizza in portland, or
zelda's in sacramento, ca (chicago style, but so much more)
and now, vesuvius in ames, ia (finally, we have decent pizza!!!!)
 
#57
MatticusMania said:
Hacienda Heights Pizza Co. for a somewhat deep dish styled pizza, bready, COVERED in toppings. Damn tasty.

When I lived in West Covina it was Baldwin Park Pzza Co. (same company)

Otherwise its $3.99 Pizza Co. A thinner pizza (optional vegan crust) that at $3.99 for a large cheese, is miles ahead of any chain pizza place.
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Ha, one of my old bands had a house near $3.99...we ate a lot of that stuff! Not great, but CHEAP! Have you been to Barro's in Diamond Bar? It's not as good as when they were on Valley in La Puente but still pretty tasty.

I don't know what style it is, but I love a thick, tasty crust. With a lightly crispy outside and an inside chock full of chewy, fresh-baked-bread goodness!
 
#58
EBodious said:
this thread agrees with what i have learned, its all about where you grow up.
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Your comment seems to be the case. Regional food preferences are what they are.

Lots of Yanks put macaroni in chili--never done down here, where we know what chili is supposed to be. The best chili has beer, brisket, chili powder, and a number of peppers. No beans. Simple as that.

Yanks know next-to-nothing about barbecue--to them it is cooking burgers on a grill, or another name for a summer outdoor party with grilled food. To any self-respecting Southerner, it is a specific food: a quality pork shoulder, smoked with hardwoods for hours upon hours, pulled or sliced carefully so as to afford time to remove any gristle, and then treated with one of the many very localized types of sauces whose recipe is generally secret. And to a Texan, it is smoked beef brisket--and we forgive them for this slight failing, as we all know real barbecue is made from PORK, even though good smoked brisket is fine.

Smoked ribs are not barbecue--they are barbecued (verbal) ribs, but they rate at the highest level of the art. I am from Memphis, and Memphis dry ribs are one of the signature rib styles. Again, real barbecued ribs are pork, not beef....

Grilled burgers, dogs, chicken, etc., are not barbecue at all.

You can be as snooty as you want about local food styles.

Well, I agree with one of the prior posters who said there is no such thing as "bad" pizza--just good pizza and better pizza because it jibes with what you grew up liking and find acceptable to your palate.

Oh, and in my experience, people from New Orleans think food from anywhere else (possibly with the exception of a few others parts of Louisiana) is barely edible.

Viva la difference. :hiding:
 
#60
Solution: Bagel Pizza
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Yeah, well, you can't get a really GREAT bagel outside of NY, too, so....
Though Noah's out here in CA is pretty good. Nothing beats Y & T's.

As for pizza, I'm a transplanted New Yorker. Nothing is like NY pizza.
napoli's in poughkeepsie, ny (i haven't lived there in 25 yrs but i still remember the phone: 471-9213. it left an impression)
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I know it well.....born and raised in Po-Town. Tina's is pretty good, too....

However, I like Deep Dish, too...and my current faves are the pizzas made by Cheeseboard in Berkeley, CA...though they don't really resemble any "classic" pizzza most are familiar with....they're always meatless, and often tomato-less --"Sacrilage," you say? Meh...perhaps....but still, good eatin'. Tasty!

Worst pizza I ever had was on Haight St at a place that's now closed....there was SAND in the pizza. They used spinach, and didn't wash it. (And BTW, I'd NEVER order a spinach pizza--but my wife, well..that's another story...)
But aside from that, I've never met a pizza I wouldn't it.

Though, like a Zachary's deep dish for example, I may be chowing down tums later.....
 

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