Let's swing BOTH ways

California is not the only state guilty of crimes against pizza. It blows my mind to see what they've done to my humble slice back in Noo Yawk. How about chicken marsala pizza? Salad pizza? Pizza with fried chicken on it?I have seen these things, my friends, and they displease me greatly. Thank goodness I still know a few places to go to get an honest slice.

One of the strangest events in my life was entering a California Pizza Kitchen in the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ ... not 15 minutes from Tony Soprano's house! It just seemed like such an anomaly ... sprouts and crudités dancing on a pie in the heartland of pizza! Oh, the shame of it!

Still in all, similar to you and James, as much as I personally reject these Frankenpizzas, I still say that they have their place in the wasteland of comestibles for those who are so inclined. We just don't have to eat them.

Oh, please, don't you have any sense of order? Shoudn't there be a sense of "place" in a pizza. Shouldn't a pizza speak of it's origins? I mean really, do we want fruitbomb pizzas? Stand up for what's right for a change! I know there is a philisophical quote to insert here about good people standing aside and doing nothing, but I can't pull it out of my head. Besides it's all parody anyway.

Pizza terroir, James???

[James Roscoe]

Pizza terroir, James???

What don't you get about paody? Of course I may have strayed into sarcasm. It's a very fine line.

Oops, I think I missed the sarcasm too. Time to get back to the weekend grading.

Oh, please, don't you have any sense of order?

Gee, and I thought I was the one who spent two decades of his life living in Germany!?

My sense of order begins where personal freedoms infringe upon the rights of others. But, hey, if it doesn't hurt anyone, then do whatever blows your hair back.

I am free to eat and promote what I deem to be traditional pizza, close to what you like. But why stifle innovation? I mean who was the first winemaker who thought to toss a little Merlot into a vat of Cabernet Sauvignon or vice versa? When did tomatoes arrive in Italy? Long after the invention of the pizza as a flatbread! Where would we be today if someone had forbidden putting them first tomatoes on that first pie!?

[James Roscoe]

Oh, please, don't you have any sense of order?

Gee, and I thought I was the one who spent two decades of his life living in Germany!?

My sense of order begins where personal freedoms infringe upon the rights of others. But, hey, if it doesn't hurt anyone, then do whatever blows your hair back.

I am free to eat and promote what I deem to be traditional pizza, close to what you like. But why stifle innovation? I mean who was the first winemaker who thought to toss a little Merlot into a vat of Cabernet Sauvignon or vice versa? When did tomatoes arrive in Italy? Long after the invention of the pizza as a flatbread! Where would we be today if someone had forbidden putting them first tomatoes on that first pie!?

It's a joke! Or is the joke now on me? The internet is a lousy place for parody and sarcasm.

I was also born with way too many Germanic genes. I completely understand how the Germans took to the Nazis after WWI. (They promised order and they delivered.) That doesn't excuse it. I just understand it. Some of us are born with an innate need for order. It's a very Germanic trait, although that, like all generalizations, is gross.

Pizza terroir, James???

What don't you get about paody? Of course I may have strayed into sarcasm. It's a very fine line.

Oops, I think I missed the sarcasm too. Time to get back to the weekend grading.

Nah, I got what you meant, James. Just feeding the flickering flames in return, thassall.

Actually, it might be an interesting discussion to consider pizza tipicity (regional styles), rather than terroir, which would require local ingredients. After all, we already have the general categories of "New York Style Pizza", "New Haven Style Pizza", "Chicago Style Pizza", and "Neapolitan", "Sicilian", etc. But those aren't very carefully defined usually.

Hey, this place could be the Wikipedia of the food world----we could define these things however we want!!!

And don't mind Barlettano: he reverts to his Deutscher persona sometimes and gets rigid. Happens whenever he thinks in German, you know. Just tell him to be more Bavarian and less Junker Prussian. Alles ist ordnung! Achtung, Baby!

[James Roscoe]

Actually, Gary spent way too much time with the Swabians, the Scotsmen of Germany. In fact the German joke is that the Swabians got kicked out of Scotland for being too cheap!

The fact remains, the internet does not translate humor well and I hate those stupid smiley face things.

And don't mind Barlettano: he reverts to his Deutscher persona sometimes and gets rigid. Happens whenever he thinks in German, you know. Just tell him to be more Bavarian and less Junker Prussian. Alles ist ordnung! Achtung, Baby!

Me? Rigid? I'm the one standing up for the rights of those (misguided) folks who believe every pizza is a tabula rasa and every ingredient fair game. You might even call me a culinary Edward Lorenz.

But, Hoke, you are correct in suggesting that folks not mind me. I am definitely a bad influence and an even worse bocce player.

And don't mind Barlettano: he reverts to his Deutscher persona sometimes and gets rigid. Happens whenever he thinks in German, you know. Just tell him to be more Bavarian and less Junker Prussian. Alles ist ordnung! Achtung, Baby!

Me? Rigid? I'm the one standing up for the rights of those (misguided) folks who believe every pizza is a tabula rasa and every ingredient fair game. You might even call me a culinary Edward Lorenz.

But, Hoke, you are correct in suggesting that folks not mind me. I am definitely a bad influence and an even worse bocce player.

Hey, everyone knows liberals are the really rigid hidebound ones, Gary. It's the conservatives who are really free, because they don't have to think, and make choices, and keep an open mind, and annoying, time-wasting things like that.

Yeah, I like that non-thinking stuff. Saves me lots of headaches. All I have to do is decode and read my daily orders from Newt Gingrich.

Back on topic, visiting the focacciarias in Torino was a liberating experience for me. They used an amazing variety of ingredients. Even eggs.

But I still will not tolerate kitchen-sink type toppings. Simple stuff that doesn't get in the way, that's the ticket.

[James Roscoe]

Yeah, I like that non-thinking stuff. Saves me lots of headaches. All I have to do is decode and read my daily orders from Newt Gingrich.

Newt Gingrich!?! That GD Liberal! He might as well switch to the Democrats!
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See, that kind of humor just doesn't translate well on the internet.
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Give me pepperoni or give me death! (not that there is much difference)

Back on topic, visiting the focacciarias in Torino was a liberating experience for me. They used an amazing variety of ingredients. Even eggs.

It's all your fault. Zari wants to watch the Superbowl tomorrow at my place so I need to whip up something to accompany the cheese and fruit she's bringing. It has to be simple as standing for long periods is getting to be a problem.

So I wander over Trader Joe's, spy a focaccia, and get the inspiration to make ... a pizza of sorts. Zari likes artichokes, roasted red peppers and chicken and I will accommodate her. Everything is coming from TJ's, even the sauce and the sliced mozzarella. The only thing having to do with scratch here is what I did to my head to decide on this suburban aberration. Lord, I feel like I'm channeling Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, and Robin Miller simultaneously. And it's all your fault ... you mentioned focaccia.

But I still will not tolerate kitchen-sink type toppings. Simple stuff that doesn't get in the way, that's the ticket.

As much as I reject pizza a tutta la casa, you sent me down this dastardly path. It's all your fault.

Ok, so this contribution is a little late given how this thread is going, but ... I really don't like egg on pizza... <grin>

Sliced mozzarella? SLICED MOZZARELLA???


I'm watching the game tomorrow with some assistance from the junior chef.

Hope you are not inferring that that nice looking child is related to you? Have a great day!

To those of you who abhor fruit on your pizza: it's good you weren't around when tomato sauce was first placed on pizza. What's a tomato botanically?

...What's a tomato botanically?

I think it's actually a berry fruit.

Ding, ding, ding!!!!

[James Roscoe]

Ding, ding, ding!!!!

What is a mushroom?

Fruiting body of a fungus?

[James Roscoe]

Don't even get started with pepperoni!

Sliced mozzarella? SLICED MOZZARELLA???

Yes, not only TJ's sliced mozzarella but also TJ's canned artichoke hearts, jarred fire-roasted red peppers, TJ's chicken in a tin, TJ's marinara sauce, and TJ's focaccia. With the addition of a little oregano, the whole thing was pretty darn good, washed down with some Goosecross Cellars '05 Viognier.



The sous-chef looks quite capable and I love the spatula!

No green peppers- ugh!

In my unscientific study of foods people dislike, green peppers have always ranked high for whatever reason.