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A History of Pizza

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Re: A History of Pizza

#42
post #24

Has "vulkanpizza" (volcano-pizza) spread to other countries outside of Sweden yet? https://imgs.aftonbladet-cdn.se/v2/images/ce5c799d-dfe7-46e7...

That looks delicious but it’s not pizza.

We also have the calskrove (Calzone + skrovmål) which is a hamburger baked into a Calzone: https://www.thelocal.se/userdata/images/article/c963e09e3d27...

Re: A History of Pizza

#43

Quick note: caciocavello is not horse milk cheese. It's a pasta filata cheese (stretched curd cheese) that is aged. It's formed into jug shaped cheeses with a string tied to the top to age it. Normally there are 2 cheeses tied to either end of the string and you hang them. It's called "cavello" (horse) because you could put it on horse back with one cheese on either side of the horse. It's essentially a drier version…

It's actually: - "cavallo" (horse) - "caciocavallo" (cheese) - "provolone" (cheese)

Re: A History of Pizza

#44

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.

> but the worst was undoubtedly a ghastly slice of horror that I purchased at the big conference centre in Atlanta Well duh. It's conference center food. Might as well complain how the worst hamburger you had was at a McDonalds in Portland.

"It's conference center food."

Believe me - I was allowing for that!

Re: A History of Pizza

#45
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That looks delicious but it’s not pizza.

We also have the calskrove (Calzone + skrovmål) which is a hamburger baked into a Calzone: https://www.thelocal.se/userdata/images/article/c963e09e3d27...

Why on earth???

Re: A History of Pizza

#46

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.

Afaik this goes back to the Toast Hawaii, which was invented by Clemens Wilmenrod, a TV cook in 1950ies Germany, and quite an interesting figure. He had no training as a cook at all, but presented his strange creations as an exotic culinary experience. Basically, when you put cooked ham, pineapple, cheap cheese and a cherry on toast in the 50ies and 60ies in Germany, you presented yourself as a cosmopolitan. He welcomed the audience at the beginning of each show as his "dear friends in Lucullus" and gave simple dishes grandiose names (according to Wikipedia, a trivial recipe for a simple Schnitzel was called "Venetian Christmas Feast").

Oh, and when someone claimed that Wilmenrod stole the "recipe" of putting an almond into a strawberry, he threatened to kill himself on live TV [0]. (He actually killed himself a few years later, though it is speculated that he was diagnosed as having stomach cancer shortly before).

[0] https://youtu.be/IAQhpI9euwg?t=130

Re: A History of Pizza

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the use of tomato paste or sauce underneath, rather than sliced tomato on top, seems to be an even later innovation.

This was done not for the taste, but so that the pizza could be prepared in advance of being served. The idea was that the tomato paste would not go bad or seep juices into the dough base. Its is actually a regression from a culinary standpoint.

I disagree. Pizza sauce means more oppurtunity for culinary expression.

Dont get me wrong, margherita is great, but to say pizza sauce is a regression is a bit silly IMO

Re: A History of Pizza

#48
Don't know how true it is, or whether it is a modern invention, but the story goes that the pizza created for Margherita of Savoy had basil, mozzarella and tomatoes to represent the 3 colours on the national flag of Italy (green, white and red).

Re: A History of Pizza

#49
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also have the calskrove (Calzone + skrovmål) which is a hamburger baked into a Calzone: https://www.thelocal.se/userdata/images/article/c963e09e3d27...

Why on earth???

Same reason Scots deep fry Snickers bars, because it seemed like a great idea to some drunk and then they woke up and remembered it was delicious.

Re: A History of Pizza

#50
post #48

Don't know how true it is, or whether it is a modern invention, but the story goes that the pizza created for Margherita of Savoy had basil, mozzarella and tomatoes to represent the 3 colours on the national flag of Italy (green, white and red).

When I was in Naples a few weeks ago I was told that the Margherita variant was created by the wife of the chef who added a single basil leaf onto the completed pizza. This pizza was served to the royal couple, where the queen (Margherita) was so taken by the creation that the chef decided to name it in her honour.

Also, the flag of Italy was only adopted in the mid 1940's, and Queen Margherita was around about 100 years earlier.

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