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A History of Pizza

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Re: A History of Pizza

#91

Post by grumpydba »

potatofarmer45 wrote: post #3

"Some even had tomatoes on top. Only recently introduced from the Americas, these were still a curiosity, looked down upon by contemporary gourmets". Well that settles it. Next time a pizza traditionalist blasts me for having pineapple on my pizza, I'll counter that he shouldn't have tomatoes on theirs.

> Well that settles it. Next time a pizza traditionalist blasts me for having pineapple on my pizza, I'll counter that he shouldn't have tomatoes on theirs.

I don't think it's a matter of tradition. It's a matter of taste.

Re: A History of Pizza

#93

Post by blacksmith_tb »

wirrbel wrote: post #59

There is a lot of mysticism over the origin of Pizza. In fact, it's probably a very straightforward kind of dish that probably has been invented multiple times, of course with varying toppings and maybe a few other differing ideals. Basically if you have a wooden oven to bake bread, baking is risky. If the oven is too hot, the bread will become burnt before being thoroughly baked within, if you put it in too late, th…

Flatbreads are of course very, very common all over the world. Anywhere that people had access to grain they would have been standard, though yeasted ones mostly require wheat (or rye). Just from baking myself I would say that some of the appeal is not having to wait for multiple risings, punching down, and kneading - just mix flour, water, yeast, and throw it in a hot oven to have fresh bread in a few minutes.

Re: A History of Pizza

#94

Post by CrazyStat »

dagw wrote: post #36
lordnacho wrote: post #19

The abomination created by putting pineapple on pizza is either Canadian or German: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_pizza Dig a bit more and it seems the German claim is a bit stronger. The postwar years were difficult in Europe.

Living in Sweden, I can assure you that pineapple doesn't even come close to making the top-10 of abominable things you can put on a "pizza"

I remember a banana and curry powder pizza I had in Stockholm about 15 years ago.

It was interesting. Absolutely vile cold though.

Re: A History of Pizza

#95

Post by hansthehorse »

shantly wrote: post #55
arethuza wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can think of a few contenders for best pizza that I have had (mostly in Italy) - but the worst was undoubtedly a ghastly slice of horror that I purchased at the big conference centre in Atlanta - the pizza topping had been burnt and this was remedied by heaping on more cheese and mystery meat to obscure this fact.

Worst pizza I've ever had was from a shop just off the Metro at the foot of Montmartre in Paris. Just a normal pizza, no weird toppings. I managed two bites (I was very hungry or bite two would not have been attempted). Second worst was when I first had Imo's without knowing what provel was. I think I got through almost half a slice on that one. You must have to grow up eating it to find it edible. The next few ranki…

The best pizza I've ever found was inside the Manhattan terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. This was over 50 years ago so who knows now. Growing up in the mid 50s and early 60s pizza was 15 cents a slice and a coke to go with it was a dime so my Mom would give my sister and I a quarter each and we would walk down the block to the local pizza parlor for a Saturday lunch treat. Large soft pretzels were a nickel each or 6 for a quarter from push cart vendors. It was a good time to grow up.

Re: A History of Pizza

#97

Post by ofrzeta »

ryanlol wrote: post #37
benj111 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say "pizza traditionalist" you seem to mean 'someone with functioning tastebuds'. :)

Why is it always pineapple in pizza? Why not lemon for example? I don’t understand the whole pineapple pizza lobby, it’s just not a particularly good fruit for pizza.

Though not strictly pizza Chris Bianco has lemon, rosemary and pecorino focaccia in his cookbook https://www.bakingsteel.com/blog/lemon-and-rosemary-focaccia

Re: A History of Pizza

#98

Post by dragonsngoblins »

ryanlol wrote: post #37
benj111 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say "pizza traditionalist" you seem to mean 'someone with functioning tastebuds'. :)

Why is it always pineapple in pizza? Why not lemon for example? I don’t understand the whole pineapple pizza lobby, it’s just not a particularly good fruit for pizza.

I'm curious but are you living somewhere far from a place with a tropical climate?

In Australia pineapple on pizza is a really common thing. The only person I've ever met who didn't like pineapple on pizza just doesn't like pineapple at all in any context. Over here it is also pretty common to have pineapple on burgers.

My Canadian born girlfriend (who mostly grew up here) has told me that when she visited Canada at 14 and was shown a mango over there she didn't recognise it as a mango because it was so small and weirdly coloured compared to the ones we get here.

I'm beginning to think the objection to pineapple on pizza comes from people not having access to halfway decent pineapple

Re: A History of Pizza

#99

Post by ThePadawan »

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #72
ThePadawan wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorely disappointed about the English language Wikipedia article on Toast Hawaii. Yes, it was a post-war German invention, but it was also so much more than that. Just the fact that the German-language article [0] has a three-paragraph section "Reception" should tell you that. It's a symbol of post-war economic growth that a household could afford both ham and cheese and exotic fruit for a single meal. It didn't…

> ihn 1955 in Deutschland erstmals vorstellte. So it would be an anachronism in scene set in 1953 Germany?

The paragraph goes into further detail that this was seemingly the first public appearance (so to say) on TV, but it might have been previously made by his mentor Hans Karl Adam.

So if the scene is set in '53 and mentions "Oh I just saw this on TV", then it would definitely be anachronistic, otherwise it's entirely in the realm of possibility.

Re: A History of Pizza

#100

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

ThePadawan wrote: post #99
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ihn 1955 in Deutschland erstmals vorstellte. So it would be an anachronism in scene set in 1953 Germany?

The paragraph goes into further detail that this was seemingly the first public appearance (so to say) on TV, but it might have been previously made by his mentor Hans Karl Adam. So if the scene is set in '53 and mentions "Oh I just saw this on TV", then it would definitely be anachronistic, otherwise it's entirely in the realm of possibility.

The scene is set in '53, and it's more like "poor child, you've had a bad day. Let's have something to cheer you up ... Toast Hawaii!"

And we're pulling faces at the TV.

https://metawitches.com/2019/06/30/dark-season-2-episode-2-d...

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