Pizza was created on...
June 17, 2014 10:46 PM   Subscribe

 
Do they really never say how many pizzerias there were?
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 11:06 PM on June 17, 2014


According to Wikipedia, the thing created in 1889 was the Margherita.
posted by pompomtom at 11:33 PM on June 17, 2014


I like pizza.
posted by mazola at 11:44 PM on June 17, 2014 [8 favorites]


Smells like a Shock Top viral ad attempt.
posted by Punkey at 11:57 PM on June 17, 2014 [11 favorites]


It's an ad. Shouldn't they be paying us something?
posted by benito.strauss at 12:01 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Gimme Pizza
posted by not_on_display at 12:06 AM on June 18, 2014 [4 favorites]


"oh my god... this is such an amazing idea" i thought.

then i realized that anamanagucci was the soundtrack, and i was like "hey i *know* those guys. well, it makes sense that their music would be involved given their 'pizza into space' video and the brooklyn thing"

then i noticed some other familiar faces in the video. hey i... know that multiple face mask. and then some of the others. wtf!

then it dawned on me...

god damnit, those motherfuckers didnt invite me to an EVERY PIZZA PARTY :C
posted by young_son at 12:36 AM on June 18, 2014 [14 favorites]


I ate pizza from the original New York pizzeria. First I went to Famous Ray's. Then I went to Original Famous Ray's. There were four of those. Then I went to Famous Original Famous Ray's. Then Original Famous Original Ray's. Then Original Famous Original Famous Ray's.

I ate a lot of pizza that night. But I'm pretty sure I ate pizza from the original New York pizzeria.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:42 AM on June 18, 2014 [8 favorites]


Does exactly not what it says on the tin. Seriously. What was that?
posted by vapidave at 1:11 AM on June 18, 2014


I mean, not that I mind but I wanted pizza.
posted by vapidave at 1:15 AM on June 18, 2014


What is about pizza that everybody delivers it? It's the wheel shape, right?
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:23 AM on June 18, 2014


What if people decided to celebrate pizza's 125th birthday by ordering pizza?

I mean, c'mon. Do something a little special. Order a friggin cake.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:27 AM on June 18, 2014


I ate pizza before it was cool.

I still have the blisters on the roof of my mouth.
posted by iotic at 1:40 AM on June 18, 2014 [42 favorites]


I think both of those statements are VERY VERY VERY untrue

New Yorkers often suffer from pizzagnosia, a cognitive deficit which makes it impossible to recognise that anything anywhere else is, or has ever been, actual pizza.
posted by Segundus at 1:47 AM on June 18, 2014 [5 favorites]


According to Wikipedia, the thing created in 1889 was the Margherita.

And even that is an urban legend. So basically this is viral marketing bollocks hung off an urban legend.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:15 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


In New York they give you these slices of pizza that you can't eat without a plate and a knife and fork and they tell you that you're supposed to eat the slice by folding it. And they're proud of that.

"You've got to fold it." They tell you that. Smugly. The way only New Yorkers can say it. Without any compassion whatsoever for the fact that you saved up your money so you could visit the Big Apple and see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and you just spent two hours in line to see the first and three hours to see the second. And you're just tired and you want a goddamn slice of pizza and fucking New York pizza expects you to do something extra just to eat it.

Fuck you New York. Your pizza is just a the idea of a calzone, incompletely formed.
posted by twoleftfeet at 2:18 AM on June 18, 2014 [10 favorites]


Yeah, fuck all of this.

Except for pizza.

Chicago style, natch.
posted by ShutterBun at 2:35 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


mazola: “I like pizza.”
I want to state unequivocally that I support mazola's bold stance on this subject.

not_on_display: “Gimme Pizza
I was sorely disappointed this wasn't a "Gimmie Shelter" parody.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:59 AM on June 18, 2014 [5 favorites]


you heathens with your disdain for new york pizza make me sick. pizza must be celebrated in all is myriad glorious forms!
posted by young_son at 3:20 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


Up here in New England, so many small Massachusetts towns have a "House of Pizza" restaurant--Dedham, Marlboro, Northboro, Southboro, Westboro, Provincetown, Reading--that I grew up thinking they were all one big House of Pizza chain, but there isn't one. It's just a favorite naming convention, and I guess whoever opens in a town first gets to stake his or her claim. The name is all over New England and has spread, with variants, to other regions.

Anyway, here's what the Ramones, New Yorkers to a man, think about pizza.

That's Dee Dee's only line in Rock & Roll High School; it was the one coherent sentence they could get out of him
posted by Spatch at 4:06 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


mazola: “I like pizza.”
I also want to go on the record as supporting mazola's bold stand on this subject.

In fact, I would go so far as to say: I really like pizza.

There. I said it.
posted by jammy at 4:19 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


I also want to go on the record as supporting mazola's bold stand on this subject.

I agree, except I believe it's spelled "mozzarella".
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:27 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


That's a lot of cold pizza.
posted by PenDevil at 4:32 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


I know I said this last time pizza was featured here, but I do find it extremely weird that in the USA (well US mefites expressed views of the world) pizza seems to be considered a US dish, with all it's regional variations, and perhaps some distant half-forgotten link somewhere to Italy. Everywhere else in the world thinks that pizza is an Italian dish, first and foremost.
posted by wilful at 4:57 AM on June 18, 2014


Totally NOT fighty about that, it's strictly an observation, I don't actually care one way or the other how US Americans think about pizza.
posted by wilful at 4:59 AM on June 18, 2014


I thought pizza was strictly a NY dish? It sure tastes like it.
posted by oceanjesse at 5:05 AM on June 18, 2014


I know I said this last time pizza was featured here, but I do find it extremely weird that in the USA (well US mefites expressed views of the world) pizza seems to be considered a US dish, with all it's regional variations, and perhaps some distant half-forgotten link somewhere to Italy. Everywhere else in the world thinks that pizza is an Italian dish, first and foremost.

Well, that's kind of like saying sandwiches were invented in England, so a reuben or a pulled pork bbq sandwich must be an English dish. NY pizza is a uniquely american dish, Chicago pizza is a uniquely American dish.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:32 AM on June 18, 2014 [4 favorites]


Also I live in NYC and I miss Chicago style pizza like crazy and I'm NOT SORRY
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:33 AM on June 18, 2014 [4 favorites]


Regarding NY Pizza: just because you have 172 varieties of something, doesn't mean any of them are good. See also: California Cheese.
posted by signal at 5:33 AM on June 18, 2014 [4 favorites]


I was sorely disappointed this wasn't a "Gimmie Shelter" parody.

It's just a slice away. It's just a slice away.
posted by jonp72 at 5:42 AM on June 18, 2014 [5 favorites]


Regarding NY Pizza: just because you have 172 varieties of something, doesn't mean any of them are good. See also: California Cheese.

Pump your brakes, kid. That's damn fine cheese.
posted by clockzero at 5:46 AM on June 18, 2014


Spatch: "Up here in New England, so many small Massachusetts towns have a "House of Pizza" restaurant…"

Same in Rhode Island: last weekend I dialed "House of Pizza" in my phone's list of contacts to order some pizza. After I hung up I realized that was two towns away, but I actually meant to call my town's House of Pizza. So I called the local one and then sheepishly called the first place and cancelled my original order.

Most of these places are run by Greeks. Typical New England: "Nobody makes pizza like the Greeks," they boast. What, not even the Italians?!
posted by wenestvedt at 5:53 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wouldn't this be like that "Chinese people walking past a line" thing where in the time it takes to call all those pizza places in NYC more pizza places would open?
posted by tommasz at 5:57 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


I thought pizza was strictly a NY dish? It sure tastes like it.

If you're buying pizzas that taste like NYC, you really need to find a different pizzeria.


"Up here in New England, so many small Massachusetts towns have a "House of Pizza" restaurant…"

Same in Rhode Island...


Did you guys secede without telling us?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:00 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


In New York they give you these slices of pizza that you can't eat without a plate and a knife and fork and they tell you that you're supposed to eat the slice by folding it. And they're proud of that.

"You've got to fold it." They tell you that. Smugly. The way only New Yorkers can say it. Without any compassion whatsoever for the fact that you saved up your money so you could visit the Big Apple and see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and you just spent two hours in line to see the first and three hours to see the second. And you're just tired and you want a goddamn slice of pizza and fucking New York pizza expects you to do something extra just to eat it.

Fuck you New York. Your pizza is just a the idea of a calzone, incompletely formed.
This post is like Bizarro World.

I can't help but think of when Donald Trump invited Sarah Palin to eat a "real New York pizza", and brought her to a Manhattan location of a generic national pizza chain. A chain! A national chain! Seriously! "Real New York pizza"!

And then they sat down and ate it with a knife and fork! A knife and fork!

Jesus. What the hell is wrong with Republicans.
posted by Flunkie at 6:17 AM on June 18, 2014 [6 favorites]


>I know I said this last time pizza was featured here, but I do find it extremely weird that in the USA (well US mefites expressed views of the world) pizza seems to be considered a US dish, with all it's regional variations, and perhaps some distant half-forgotten link somewhere to Italy. Everywhere else in the world thinks that pizza is an Italian dish, first and foremost.

This could be a cynical response to realizing that most "ethnic" food in the US isn't really from the country it's claimed to be. Olive Garden Italian, Chinese food that would never be found in China, Mexican that's really Tex-Mex at best, and so on.
posted by penguinicity at 6:18 AM on June 18, 2014


Did they rank the pizzas by mouthfeel?
posted by nonasuch at 7:02 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


But then I see all the skinny-ass hipsters all dancing in pizza towels,

I have to admit I started thinking, "geez, considering they love pizza so much most of these people look awfully thin."
posted by JanetLand at 7:27 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Sorry, New York. Pizza shows up in a poem written between 29 and 19 BC.
posted by gauche at 7:35 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


twoleftfeet: "What is about pizza that everybody delivers it? It's the wheel shape, right?"

So, can you get pizza delivered in the UK now? I remember reading that you couldn't in The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, and it blew my mind.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:51 AM on June 18, 2014


I now understand why everyone hates Brooklyn.
posted by jindc at 8:18 AM on June 18, 2014


Up here in New England, so many small Massachusetts towns have a "House of Pizza" restaurant

And they're all run by Greeks, or they were when I grew up in suburban Mass. You could get a pizza, or a Greek salad, or a grinder (a sub sandwich).

When I moved to the west, I had no idea how much I would miss the goopy greasy tuna salad grinders from the local House of Pizza.

Oddly enough, I don't miss the pizza. Possibly because I have an artisanal pizza shop walking distance from my house...
posted by suelac at 8:19 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


The secret hidden reason why you have to fold New York pizza:

ORIGinal Rays + umAMI = ORIGAMI
posted by ericbop at 8:21 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Keith Gerson: Did you guys secede without telling us?

Well, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was the first of the original Thirteen Colonies to declare independence from British rule. So, you know, we just like to get out in front of this stuff.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:27 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


And then they sat down and ate it with a knife and fork! A knife and fork!

Jesus. What the hell is wrong with Republicans.


I hate Trump and Palin as much as any good lefty, but DeBlasio (new Democratic mayor of NYC) got shit for this same thing not long after the election (notably mocked by Jon Stewart and later, sigh, defended by Slate), so it doesn't seem like a partisan pizza consumption style flaw. More like what people who are wearing $1000 suits do to minimize grease spots.

Also, this thread has gone on this long without anyone holding forth about New Haven and Pepe's? That amazes me.
posted by aught at 8:32 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]



Fuck you New York. Your pizza is just a the idea of a calzone, incompletely formed.


Jesez, the hell is this? Calm down, have an egg cream or black and white cookie or bagel with schmear or something.
posted by sweetkid at 8:35 AM on June 18, 2014


The Food Lab doesn't think too highly of New England-style pizza. Come to think of it, I hardly ever ate pizza during the time I lived around Boston. It was all pretty terrible.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:40 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


Not all pizzerias
posted by Small Dollar at 8:44 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Worst pizza I ever had: Australia.
posted by sweetkid at 8:49 AM on June 18, 2014


I wish I could remember where I was, but sometime in the last couple of years I had pizza so bad that I actually wouldn't eat it. And I am a man who will happily stick some Ellio's in the toaster oven from time to time.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:01 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


I admit that most pizza in NE is pretty bad, but the best pizza I ever had was also in NE - a place called Cleghorn House of Pizza in Fitchburg, MA, of all places. It was thick, not oily, and had a ton of cheese on it. No folding required. Cleghorn HoP is still there, but I have no idea whether they still make pizza like that. From time to time when contemplating the stuff available where I am now, I'm tempted to drive the 35 miles to find out.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:06 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, this thread has gone on this long without anyone holding forth about New Haven and Pepe's? That amazes me.

Sorry, I slept in. New Haven forever and so forth.
posted by pemberkins at 9:09 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Worst pizza I ever had: Australia.

Thailand. At least in Krabi Province in the late 90s, no matter how much you miss cheese, don't order pizza.
posted by suelac at 9:13 AM on June 18, 2014


Just in case anyone is still fooled, Shock Top is a brand owned by Anheuser-Busch. It's crypto-megabeer trying to mooch off the good name that American craft beer has built for itself over the last three decades.

Viral ads like this are right in line with their marketing strategy. I'm not saying don't drink it, but know what you're drinking and don't let them control how you think about it.
posted by gurple at 9:14 AM on June 18, 2014 [4 favorites]


Ha, I bailed on the video before I got to the product. Who wants to watch a bunch of people eating pizza?

I don't buy or endorse "fake" craft beer, but if it's a toss-up between Shock Top and Blue Moon, at least Shock Top is union-made (I think). Otherwise, yeah, your local factory full of beardy dudes probably makes something comparable and better.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:23 AM on June 18, 2014



Worst pizza I ever had: Australia.


I see someone's never been to japan, home of the mayonnaise and sweetcorn pizza
posted by elizardbits at 9:59 AM on June 18, 2014 [4 favorites]


Smells like a Shock Top viral ad attempt.

Yeah, there sure are a lot of suspiciously prominently displayed Shock Top logos.

Not exactly, ALL pizzerias in NYC, but still kinda cool.

It's also pretty obvious that they didn't even order delivery from every pizzeria in Manhattan (which would be impossible because not every pizzeria delivers). They had people go to the pizzerias and order takeout.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 10:07 AM on June 18, 2014


Fuck you New York. Your pizza is just a the idea of a calzone, incompletely formed.

"Calzones are pointless. They're just pizza that's harder to eat. No one likes them. Good day, sir."
posted by elsietheeel at 10:24 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


japan, home of the mayonnaise and sweetcorn pizza

As a commentary on American cuisine, I think this is brilliant. I note the absence of something deep-fried, but that absence might just make the underlying statement all the more wonderfully restrained.

As a real food item on the menu, hell no. I wouldn't eat that with your mouth.
posted by gauche at 10:40 AM on June 18, 2014


Don't forget the Squid Ink pizza! THANKS JAPAN!
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 10:52 AM on June 18, 2014


Most subtly weird pizza I've ever had - New Zealand. With no mention or explanation on the menu, the pizzas contained no tomato at all. None. They were nearer to topped garlic bread than pizza.

They also thought I was clinically insane for requesting black olives on a ham garlic bread pizza, and went off to pester their bar man to see if he had olives for martinis.

Back, on subject, the idea that pizza is only 125 years old would have me laughing, had I not just had a root canal. Instead, it has me wanting pizza. *sigh*
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 10:58 AM on June 18, 2014


They use squid ink in food in Italy, too, so that isn't a Weird Japan thing.

My favorite pizza memory is that time when I went to two different national quizbowl tournaments back to back, one weekend in Chicago, the other in New York, and had the local pizza styles both times.
posted by Small Dollar at 11:03 AM on June 18, 2014


The worst by far that I remember seeing in Japan was the mayo sweetcorn pizza that was questionably crowned by a handful of cartoonishly yellow-yolked fried eggs, and it was at that point that I decided that I should at no point deviate from the already perfect local cuisine in the sad hopes of eating something more familiar.
posted by elizardbits at 11:26 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


I was sorely disappointed this wasn't a "Gimmie Shelter" parody.

Being played on Trader Joe's muzak system.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:58 AM on June 18, 2014 [3 favorites]


I was sorely disappointed this wasn't a "Gimmie Shelter" parody.

"Cheese and mushroom, it's just a slice away..."
posted by aught at 12:09 PM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


elizardbits: "
Worst pizza I ever had: Australia.


I see someone's never been to japan, home of the mayonnaise and sweetcorn pizza
"

They straight-up use Ketchup as sauce in the Balkans. And on the counter is another bottle of ketchup to put more on your slice. It's fucking mind boggling because if you're in coastal Croatia on a clear day you can see delicious food across the Adriatic Sea.
posted by wcfields at 12:23 PM on June 18, 2014


why are they throwing delicious food in the sea.

that seems wrong.
posted by sweetkid at 12:27 PM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Worst pizza experience: Paris. I was starving after walking around all day, so I got takeout from the place around the corner from my hotel. I speak some French but apparently forgot all the words for foods and in my low blood sugar stupor, I just picked something at random from the pizza menu.

It had eggs and cream on the middle of it. I took it back to the hotel room reluctantly, and then remembered I had no fork or spoon or knife and the pizza was not cut at all. I basically ripped off pieces of the crust, avoiding the eggs and cream as much as possible, and dumped the rest in the trash.

Anyway, I live in Milwaukee so you think our pizza would be Chicago-like due to the proximity, but it is not like that at all. My Chicago-raised ex thought it was horrible.
posted by desjardins at 12:55 PM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


...well, that was a waste of four minutes.

I think the pizza map shown twenty seconds in was taken from Slice Harvester, who actually did eat at and review all those places between 2009 and 2011. (His favorite was NY Pizza Suprema, and while I'm not going to assert that it's the best slice joint in the city, it's certainly good pizza. And right across from Penn Station!)

Re: Boston-area pizza. Santarpio's in Eastie is worth a visit.
posted by Shmuel510 at 1:07 PM on June 18, 2014


why are they throwing delicious food in the sea

to appease the elder gods
posted by elizardbits at 1:14 PM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Who wants to watch a bunch of people eating pizza?

Well, we didn't even get that. I was hoping for a slide show of the photos they were taking of the pies and boxes.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 1:50 PM on June 18, 2014


I kept getting distracted by their clothes. Are these guys the slightly more conservative siblings of Gogol Bordello?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:08 PM on June 18, 2014


While in France many years ago I ate at a restaurant in a village that called itself a brick oven pizzeria and my stepsister and I were intrigued by the pizzas that had egg in their toppings list. We thought some hard-boiled eggs on top of pizza would be the greatest thing ever. We were also in our early 20s and really high. But they didn't put hard-boiled egg on pizzas over there as we expected; they cracked a raw egg in the center of the dough before putting it into the oven so we ended up enjoying a pizza with a fried egg core.

My wife and I got a pizza stone as a wedding present and now I'm seriously considering trying the fried egg thing after remembering it. Thank you, pizza thread!
posted by Spatch at 3:11 PM on June 18, 2014


Worst pizza I ever had: Australia.

Sadly true. If you want decent pizza here you're best off making your own. Most places make stodgy bases and put way too many toppings on.

I have witnessed but not eaten the Japanese impression of pizza. I have found decent pizza in Bolivia, Armenia and Uzbekistan though.

They straight-up use Ketchup as sauce in the Balkans. And on the counter is another bottle of ketchup to put more on your slice. It's fucking mind boggling because if you're in coastal Croatia on a clear day you can see delicious food across the Adriatic Sea.

Odd. Some of the best pizza I've ever had was in Split and Dubrovnik.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 3:17 PM on June 18, 2014


I recently found a jar of pizza yeast (which differs from regular yeast idunnohoworif) in the cupboard that I'd bought on a visit back to Canada years ago and forgotten about and I have been making my own pizza from scratch, with my own sauce reduced down from fresh tomatoes and everything, at home, and it is the Best Pizza.

It's a lot of work, but it's satisfying, and I refuse to pay ludicrous amounts of money for crappy Korean pizza any more. Until I run out of yeast.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:16 PM on June 18, 2014




In defence of pizza in Australia, I do believe that the most recent world pizza championship, held in Parma, was won by an Aussie.
posted by wilful at 8:15 PM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Stavros, pizza yeast is just yeast and flour texturizers--you're supposed to be able to make pizza dough without letting it rise. Which quite frankly, doesn't work. You can also use that yeast and let it rise (which I bet you're doing), and you'll get good results.
posted by yellowcandy at 9:18 PM on June 18, 2014


I am indeed letting it rise for an hour or two in the fridge, and it works marvellously.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:26 PM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm still kinda pissed that on my recent visit to the New York, the slice I got at Famous Ray's was barely lukewarm.
posted by malocchio at 11:01 AM on June 19, 2014


Re: Pizza with eggs on top:
I have a recipe in front of me for 'Pizza Florentine' that combines the smoothness of fresh spinach and eggs with crunchy almond flakes and breadcrumbs.
Heavenly. It is one of this house favourites.

I have tried it with both slices of hard boiled eggs, as well as raw ones. I like the latter better, as you can time it such that the yolks are still slightly runny.

While the recipe calls for a base containing not only wheat flour but also mashed potatoes, it also works very well with a bread-only base.
If appreciated, I could translate the recipe into English (memail me).

Now I really want pizza....
posted by Zigurana at 2:11 AM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]




An egg in the center of your pizza can definitely be excellent. Also, if you made a bunch of dough and have a little leftover, an egg pizza without tomato sauce makes an excellent breakfast, especially with plenty of olives. You need to cook the pizza crust very quickly with iron, steel, stone, etc so that the egg yolk remains partly liquid and you can dip the crust edges in the yolk.
posted by ssg at 8:36 PM on June 21, 2014


I had a "breakfast pizza" with Sara C a while ago in Brooklyn that had eggs and...ham I think? And other breakfast stuff? On it and it was pretty fab, as I recall.
posted by sweetkid at 1:59 PM on June 23, 2014


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