Pizza

[rick]

Here you go Colin:

Allrecipies.com - Death by Chocolate

Rick

PS I'm presently enjoying one of the true gifts of the season: mint chocolate M&M's. I'd describe how wonderful they are, but the description would get some people WAAAYYYYY too excited.

[E.J.]

You can order your chocolate pizza from HERE

[Cole Parker]

I'm learning lots about pizza I didn't know. I didn't know, for example, that anyone would ever put lettuce on pizza. But one bright fellow here said arugula belongs on pizza. Give Me A Break!

Most of us seem to prefer meat. I do too. Pepperoni adds a bite of spice, a certain zing, to a pizza that really seals the deal.

There were some wonderful sounding pizzas listed here. Makes me drool, imagining them.

One of the great disappointments I found when I moved to Southern California was that no one here seems to know how to make pizza. The taste of a pizza produced on the East coast of this country is completely different from one made here. I've spent a lot of time thinking why, and the only thing I can come up with is a supposition. I think they use olive oil in making a pizza in the East, and they don't here. That would make a significant difference in taste, and I think it's one of the things we miss here.

That peanut butter and chocolate pizza sounds almost too good, but it also doesn't sound like pizza. Pizzas have no business being sweet. That's why I'm so against pineapple on it. It sweetens, and so perverts, the taste of a pizza.

By the same logic, white pizzas can be wonderful. I especially like the sound of one with prime rib and caramelized onion. That must be wonderful. But, is it pizza?

I never gave my preference when I posed the original question. What I always order is a thin crust pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and Canadian bacon. And extra sauce. If it were an East Coast pizza, I probably wouldn't need to specify extra sauce. Here, I do.

I also will sometimes order the special, or the de luxe, or whatever they call it where they dump the whole worktable on the thing. I agree with Graeme. All those flavors, and you can really taste every one.

I've never had a Chicago style deep dish pizza. I haven't been in Chicago for almost 60 years. People I respect tell me a great Chicago deep dish pizza is something to behold. I haven't, so far.

If someone knows where I can get a really good, East coast style pizza in LA, please tell me. I miss them.

C

[Graeme]

I

One of the great disappointments I found when I moved to Southern California was that no one here seems to know how to make pizza. The taste of a pizza produced on the East coast of this country is completely different from one made here. I've spent a lot of time thinking why, and the only thing I can come up with is a supposition. I think they use olive oil in making a pizza in the East, and they don't here. That would make a significant difference in taste, and I think it's one of the things we miss here.

That peanut butter and chocolate pizza sounds almost too good, but it also doesn't sound like pizza. Pizzas have no business being sweet. That's why I'm so against pineapple on it. It sweetens, and so perverts, the taste of a pizza.

By the same logic, white pizzas can be wonderful. I especially like the sound of one with prime rib and caramelized onion. That must be wonderful. But, is it pizza?

As an aside, the pizzas you generally get in USA and Australia bear very little resemblance to the pizzas you get in Italy, the theoretical home of pizzas. So, is what you get in the USA really pizza?

I don't find pineapple on pizza makes it sweet. It adds a tang to the taste, but the flavour is still dominated by the other toppings.

[Cole Parker]

That's a fair question, Graeme. My answer is very subjective. Pizza is what I think it is. Italian pizza isn't the sort I prefer. I was in Italy this last summer and I found most of the red tomato sauce, no matter what Italian region it came from, exceptionally similar, and bland. I was disappointed. I prefer the American version. I've had Italian style pizza here, and I prefer ours.

Because it's the original doesn't define it for me. I think of pizza as the stuff I grew up with, allowing for some subtle variations. I've never had Australian pizza, but if it's significantly different from ours, I wouldn't think of it as pizza, I'd call it Australian pizza. It might be great stuff, and I'd be wiling to bet it is, but to me, it wouldn't be pizza.

Whether you put lettuce on it or not.

C

[Graeme]

Whether you put lettuce on it or not.

LOL -- I've had pizza with rocket, which is, I think, part of the lettuce family. But it was largely used as herb, rather than a basic food item.

[rick]

Having had pizza in Europe, Japan, and here in the States, I think my overall favorite is still thin crust, New York style, pepperoni pizza. We have a place downtown Denver that is a typical New York style hole in the wall, but damn, they make good New York style pizza.

My second favorite is the thin crust South Philly I mentioned earlier.

I've had Chicago style deep dish, and while I like it, especially the cholesterol special (meat and lots of it), few places outside of the Chicago area do it right. They also do a great stromboli there. It's definitely worth a visit just for the pizza.

Garbage pizza's (everything on them) are good too, once in a while, as long as there's no sardines. All that cholesterol is raising my blood pressure just thinking about it! (You just have to eat it fast before all that grease congeals.)

Italian pizza, in Europe, as made by Italians, is good, but as was mentioned, the sauce is rather bland. This is offset, however, by a nice crisp crust, the use of sharper flavored cheeses, and excellent meats and sausages. I survived a three month assignment in the Netherlands because of a small Italian run pizza shop near work, and great Indian and Chinese places near my apartment. The Dutch, God bless 'em, aren't very fond of spicy foods, and they very nearly killed me with blandness. (you haven't lived till you've had their version of Mexican food ) As a side note, I had to get to know the staff at the Indian place...they were afraid to cook it as spicy as I wanted it. Once they were convinced I could handle it (and that I wouldn't sue them or something), the cook took good care of me. I can't get it that hot here!

Japan has some interesting pizza's...I remember eating at Shakey's pizza in Shinjuku. They had a cuttlefish pizza! Yes, Cuttlefish! (cuttlefish are related to squid and octopus for those of you fortunate enough to have never eaten it on a pizza). I had one over there that had fish eggs and tuna on it!

I guess the true beauty of pizza is in its flexibility. Despite my personal feelings about fish on pizza, its supreme adaptability has made it a favorite the world over.

All hail that brave Italian who came up with the idea!

Rick

[Cole Parker]

Great piece, Rick.

Cuttlefish on pizza. Hard to get my mind around that. Isn't cuttlefish the one where some part of its innards, perhaps the liver, is deadly toxic? Most of the pizza chefs in LA are between 16 and 18 years old, it seems, and I wouldn't trust one of them to carefully, diligently, excise the poisonous particles before slapping the rest of the thing, tentacles and all, on my pizza. But they probably know what they're doing in Japan.

In all the times I've been to Denver, I haven't had the luck to find a good pizza. Part of the reason is that the place is 5,000 feet up and that elevation affects the way the yeast in the crust works. I've had pizzas there, but they've seemed a little weird. Next time, before going, I'll get a name and address from you. If someone is making great pizza there, and NY style at that, I want to know more about it. Maybe they're shipping the crust in half-baked from Poughkeepsie.

The Mexican food in Denver is different from what it is in LA, too. Not what you found in Holland, certainly, but it's different. I've had it in several eateries there and generally found it to be excellent. There's this little hole in the wall near downtown with only stool seating at the counter, with only a few of them, tiny place, and the food is just wonderful.

C

[DesDownunder]

I'm not a Pizza fanatic, but my favourite is from The Aussie Pizza House. They make a fabulous (vegetarian) pizza called Dangerous Mushroom.

As for arugula , I looked it up in WordWeb and got this utterly enticing definition:

Arugula : Erect European annual often grown as a salad crop to be harvested when young and tender.

Talk about fantasy food.

Our Pizzas in my part of Oz are generally all made with olive oil. We have a large Italian sub-culture as does Melbourne.

Menus often list a New York style pizza alongside Italian pizzas of various styles (Neapolitan etc.)

The biggest difference I find is in whether the topping is fresh cut or made from defrosted pre-cut ingredients. One chain here uses whole pre-cooked pizzas which are frozen and then microwaved to oblivion.

Death by Chocolate, since the demise of the original restaurant chain, is now often seen at cake shops and on restaurant menus as a special desert dreamt up by the chef. It could range from chocolate ice cream dripping with hot chocolate fudge to a whole invention of chocolate cakes decorated with yet even more chocolate cream and then sprinkled with grated chocolate all sitting in a pool of chocolate syrup.

But as my favourite food is Asian, I remember a plain Chinese restaurant in King's Cross Sydney back in the 70s. Bare tables and benches to sit on with a couple of Chinese lanterns for lighting and decoration. The food was outstanding, and very inexpensive. It was the name of the place that really got to me though, it was called The Chuck-King restaurant.

[colinian]

LOL -- I've had pizza with rocket, which is, I think, part of the lettuce family. But it was largely used as herb, rather than a basic food item.

Graeme,

In the U.S. rocket is called by it's Italian name, arugula. So you and I are talking about putting the same green leafy vegetable on pizza. It's good!

Colin

[rick]

Peppers, yes. Onions, of course. Black olives, with the right mix of toppings. Garlic is a must, in the sauce, at least. The same thing applies to basil. I like the odd Hawaiian pizza even. I must, however, draw the line when it comes to putting lettuce/rocket/arugula on my pizza pie!

[shudders]

Oh, the horror, the horror.

Rick

[colinian]

Peppers, yes. Onions, of course. Black olives, with the right mix of toppings. Garlic is a must, in the sauce, at least. The same thing applies to basil. I like the odd Hawaiian pizza even. I must, however, draw the line when it comes to putting lettuce/rocket/arugula on my pizza pie!

[shudders]

Oh, the horror, the horror.

Rick

You better stop putting basil on your pizzas then; arugula/rocket is an herb just like basil is an herb. See this article.

Colin

[Tanuki Racoon]

http://caitlinomara.com/2008/06/pizza-hut-japan/

Point. Set. Match.

Please don't puke on the floor.

[DesDownunder]

Pizza Hut Aussie style in my experience has the uncanny knack of making every one of their Pizzas taste exactly the same no matter what you order on it.

Probably just me.

[Cole Parker]

I have had a change of mind. There is something definitely worse than pineapple on pizza.

Mayonnaise!

My God! Do these people have no shame? Mayonnaise on pizza!

Excuse me while I barf!

Just imagining that is making me queasy. I may not eat another pizza all week.

Wait, a sec. Let me check. It is Saturday, isn't it?

C

[rick]

I hate to say it, but I did warn you about Japanese Pizza....

Rick

[colinian]

Pizza Hut Aussie style in my experience has the uncanny knack of making every one of their Pizzas taste exactly the same no matter what you order on it.

Probably just me.

This is not limited to Australia. Pizza Hut in my area suffers from the same sameness.

Colin

[colinian]

I have had a change of mind. There is something definitely worse than pineapple on pizza.

Mayonnaise!

My God! Do these people have no shame? Mayonnaise on pizza!

Excuse me while I barf!

Just imagining that is making me queasy. I may not eat another pizza all week.

Wait, a sec. Let me check. It is Saturday, isn't it?

C

Who sells pizza with mayonnaise on it??? Is this an L.A. phenomenon?

Colin

[Cole Parker]

Colin, you haven't been following the thread closely enough. Those pesky exams have been distracting you. Go back two or three messages.

Or, save yourself the repugnance and skip it.

C

[colinian]

Colin, you haven't been following the thread closely enough. Those pesky exams have been distracting you. Go back two or three messages.

Or, save yourself the repugnance and skip it.

C

I went back to your post that I quoted, then back some more. The only post that might have related is WBMS's post has a link that doesn't work, and he made no reference to mayonnaise; this is what I get when I go there:

Error 400

We're sorry, but we could not fulfill your request for /2008/06/pizza-hut-japan/ on this server.

So, you can understand my questioning where this mayonnaise pizza thing happens, and why I was forced to assume that it's one of those Los Angeles strangenesses that you were reporting.

Colin

[Graeme]

I went back to your post that I quoted, then back some more. The only post that might have related is WBMS's post has a link that doesn't work, and he made no reference to mayonnaise; this is what I get when I go there:

So, you can understand my questioning where this mayonnaise pizza thing happens, and why I was forced to assume that it's one of those Los Angeles strangenesses that you were reporting.

Colin

I had no problem with the link.....

It goes to the menu of a pizza hut in Japan (apparently). One of the pizza's on the menu is called the Mayo Q and the recipe list is:

Mayonnaise, BBQ?ed chicken, shredded seaweed, corn, mushrooms, and onion

When was the last time you had mayonnaise and shredded seaweed on a pizza?

[colinian]

I had no problem with the link.....

It goes to the menu of a pizza hut in Japan (apparently). One of the pizza's on the menu is called the Mayo Q and the recipe list is:

Mayonnaise, BBQ?ed chicken, shredded seaweed, corn, mushrooms, and onion

When was the last time you had mayonnaise and shredded seaweed on a pizza?

Gee, it sure sounds like something PH would sell in Los Angeles. There are people down there who eat some really weird stuff.

NOTE: I'm not accusing Cole of eating anything like this, or liking it if he did eat it by accident.

Colin

[EleCivil]

Come to think of it, this talk of lettuce-like veggies on pizza reminds me that I've tried both spinach and seaweed on pizza. Both are good, but the seaweed is better.

Of course, seaweed is good with anything.

[Cole Parker]

EleCivil, you've inspired me:

Kim-chi, Kim-chi, calling me

It tastes so very good to me

Seaweed wet whets my glee

For eating Asian greenery

And Colin:

No, I'd never think you were accusing me of eating that. People do eat weird stuff in LA, but I'm not one of them. I made shark with red bell peppers, onion, basil, lemon slices and dotted with butter for dinner last night. That's not weird, is it?

C

[Graeme]

No, I'd never think you were accusing me of eating that. People do eat weird stuff in LA, but I'm not one of them. I made shark with red bell peppers, onion, basil, lemon slices and dotted with butter for dinner last night. That's not weird, is it?

Shark is very popular in Australia, though not on pizza. We usually have it battered (beer batter is good) and deep fried. Most of it is gumpy shark, but I believe there are other types used as well.