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You seem to only have problems with NY pizza and people's allegiance to their pizza. Not Chicagoans, Pennsylvanians, or any other fans of their own regional pizza.
This thread is not about Pizza loyalty. It's about hatred of NY.
How original...
I don't care whether or not Chicago-style deep dish qualifies as pizza or pie or something else entirely. It's delicious, and I crave it. Oh, yeah, and I eat it using flatware.
I take pizza very seriously! It just may be my favorite food.
I prefer regular-to-thin crust. Don't really care for thick crust... it's like eating bread instead of pizza. I usually get one topping (pepperoni). Sometimes I will just order a cheese pizza, no toppings.
Fortunately, there are quite a few good pizza parlors in my area and even within a 3-mile radius.
Here are some photos I have taken over the years...
People take being from [fill in the blank - New York, Chicago, etc.] so seriously. That demand that food be made the 'proper way' - ie, where it's done where they're from - is simply a manifestation of tribalism.
One sees the same thing with Chicago dogs and the silly ketchup taboo, or 'real' Texas chili, or BBQ sauce from Kansas City versus Memphis. And we all remember how it was the end of the world when a certain candidate in 2004 ordered a Philly Cheesesteak with - gasp! horror! - Swiss cheese.
It's tribalism, nothing more.
You know....you're right about that. .....Of course you do , you said it.
Also vaguely related as an off shoot might be thinking...."This place (name your town) has no good .....(name your food)"
A co-worker from Texas has lived in the DC area for well over a decade...and STILL hasn't found "good barbecue!"
I went to Arizona, and ordered Chinese food...WORST chinese food in my LIFE! A friend said who the heck goes to AZ and orders Chinese....all that southwest cooking and you order Chinese take out....that's what you get! They said you live in MD right? Would you go to Des Moines and order crab cakes? Don't order Chinese food in Arizona!
FLEET, I take my pizza seriously, too. it's in the running for my favorite as well. But having lived in Italy, I know only certain places will serve authentic Italian thin in the middle kife-and-fork pizza. Soooo, I don't expect that...and CERTAINLY not from ANY take out places.
Though I can't eat dairy, which means I haven't eaten pizza since early childhood, so maybe I'm just bitter.
I agree that pizza really is overrated...and i also agree with the OP that people seem to take it way to seriously for it to be such a simple, basic food....its really just the same thing everywhere you go, with some people choosing to throw everything under the sun on top of it...but at the end of the day its all just melted cheese, crust and tomato sauce...from there you can put a ham sandwich on top of it and still call it a pizza...pizza is such a basic food that Ive seen people make it with flatbread, pita bread, crackers, biscuit dough, crossaint dough...just anything that they can throw tomato sauce and cheese on top of....for this reason i find pizza to be one of the most boring foods there is...its just far too easy to slop together some tomato sauce and cheese on top of some sort of "crust" and convince yourself youre eating pizza....
I think the affinity most people have for pizza is a learned affinity stemming from a time when most people were children and their parents celebrated every single special occasion with pizza & pizza parties...i think, while its definitely a good food, really, if it werent for this association that pizza has with being a relatively cheap way to feed several people as well as its childhood association with fun times/gamedays/toys/college parties/birthday parties/chuck e cheese etc, i honestly dont think most people would be so spastic about pizza.
Eating pizza with a knife and fork is offensive. New York pizza is the bestest and most authentic. Real pizza doesn't have a bunch of toppings. Deepdish pizza isn't real pizza. Etc.
All stupid things people say and for some reason fervently believe. I've been to Italy, the birthplace of pizza, several times and everyone there was eating thick, toppings-covered pizza with a knife and fork. It's saucy, moist, floppy and got all kinds of stuff piled on top. No one eats it with their hands over there. And how did New York pizza become the be all, end all for American pizza? Here in Los Angeles every New York transplant opines the loss of the greatest pizza. I used to live in New York City and I had pizza all over the city. Some of it was really good, most of it was really bland and/or forgettable. Mulberry Street Pizza in Beverly Hills is supposed to be the most authentic New York pizza in Los Angeles but it's just big slices of mediocre pizza and it's run by an orange guido who won't shut up about how awesome his pizza is. "We import water from Brooklyn to make the crust. This recipe is over 100 years old. You've never tasted pizza this good outside of Noo Yahk."
What other food is taken so seriously? No one ever tells me how I'm supposed to be eating anything else.
oh, I don't think this is totally true: I think a lot of people have ideas on how we shoud eat certain things. I do agree about eating pizza. Spoiled brat uses a fork, I use my fingers unless it is a really messy pizza. I tease him and tell him, only sissies use a fork, but I really don't think it make a heck of a lot of difference how one eats it. Other foods that people have opinions on how to eat: ribs, fried chicken, evem french fries and ice cream. I am sure there are many others.
I can't really say I take it "seriously" but I LOVE pizza. I might (MIGHT) eat it three times a year, if that. But when I do order it, I want what I want and I want thin crust Chicago style pizza with cheese, sausage, and mushrooms; that's all! Oh and a tall glass of Coke Zero!
ETA: (after reading the previous posts) My parents did not believe in ordering pizza, take out or even taking us kids out to eat (of course, this was 'back in the day') but we used to order it for our address but with a made up last name so if my mom was home (not working evenings) she would explain that the address was correct but no such last name; and she would usually accept the delivery. Kids do the craziest things!
Last edited by HomeIsWhere...; 04-18-2015 at 01:54 PM..
FLEET, I take my pizza seriously, too. it's in the running for my favorite as well. But having lived in Italy, I know only certain places will serve authentic Italian thin in the middle kife-and-fork pizza. Soooo, I don't expect that...and CERTAINLY not from ANY take out places.
I am glad to hear others taking pizza seriously!
I don't know of any places out here that have thin in the middle knife-and-fork pizza, but you never know. Maybe there is such a place somewhere in L.A. It doesn't matter to me. As long I have a choice of 3-4 good pizza places, I am satisfied.
In case anyone wants to know the pizzas I posted photos of, they are, in order:
Also in Italy, there's pizza as a grab-and-go snack/meal...and pizza as a sit down meal.
As a quick grab-and-go.....it's cut in rectangles, folded on itself, and wrapped in a basic white paper like a street snack
As a sit down...it's a thin-ish crust -- not too crispy, a tiny bit thinner in the middle, and with knife and fork.
I don't care whether or not Chicago-style deep dish qualifies as pizza or pie or something else entirely. It's delicious, and I crave it. Oh, yeah, and I eat it using flatware.
I like Chicago pizza. It's just a different food. But very good.
My objection was that the OP seemed to have a problem with NY.
Eating pizza with a knife and fork is offensive. New York pizza is the bestest and most authentic. Real pizza doesn't have a bunch of toppings. Deepdish pizza isn't real pizza. Etc.
All stupid things people say and for some reason fervently believe. I've been to Italy, the birthplace of pizza, several times and everyone there was eating thick, toppings-covered pizza with a knife and fork. It's saucy, moist, floppy and got all kinds of stuff piled on top. No one eats it with their hands over there. And how did New York pizza become the be all, end all for American pizza? Here in Los Angeles every New York transplant opines the loss of the greatest pizza. I used to live in New York City and I had pizza all over the city. Some of it was really good, most of it was really bland and/or forgettable. Mulberry Street Pizza in Beverly Hills is supposed to be the most authentic New York pizza in Los Angeles but it's just big slices of mediocre pizza and it's run by an orange guido who won't shut up about how awesome his pizza is. "We import water from Brooklyn to make the crust. This recipe is over 100 years old. You've never tasted pizza this good outside of Noo Yahk."
What other food is taken so seriously? No one ever tells me how I'm supposed to be eating anything else.
Maybe because its what people grey up enjoying and they are passionate about it...
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