Pizza Talk

I want to talk about pizza dammit.

Let me preface today’s lesson by letting you know Pizza Hut, Dominos, Little Caesar’s or any other fast food styled pizzerias are not pizza. Just because you drown it in cheese and sugary tomato sauce doesn’t make it pizza. Yes its edible (barely), no it's not pizza. Real pizza making is an art. It’s not frozen, processed or stuffed.

I’ve been on a pizza kick lately. I’ll admit, I LOVE New York style pizza. Thin crust, sweet marinara, mozzarella and cured meets. Where I grew up in New York this was somewhat hard to find. As you may or may not know, New York is a big state. Believe it or not, NYC is the smallest part and I hate it. From the accents, the tall buildings, the constant smell of piss and having to wash your hands after touching anything are just a few of the reasons. But pizza, they hit out of the park. The only kind that trumps it is Napoli Style wood fire pizza. The grana padana. The great bambino. The big shebang. The real mutha fuggin deal y’all and I'm about to drop some damn knowledge in your mind.

Napoli or Neopolitan style pizza is defined as (totally copied and pasted this from Google): Neapolitan pizza is defined by a very specific dough recipe (dictated by law in Italy) and there are many sub-species depending on the toppings. Margherita is the most famous sub-species, with just tomato sauce, cheese, basil, garlic, salt, and olive oil. It has law dedicated to its perfection. Shame on you for ordering your pizza with an emoji.

Here in Vegas, two places do it better than the rest, Settebello and Pizza Rock. Wood fire ovens reaching temps of up to 900 degrees baking pies to absolute perfection. Charred dough, sweet san marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. There’s nothing better. Yes, the pizza can be a bit floppy but that’s why you fold it in half and eat twice as much. I’m drooling just thinking about it. As I’ve said before, when it’s right it’s right. Both have won multiple awards but the most impressive of which is Pizza Rocks own Tony Gemignani won the World Champion Pizza Maker at the World Pizza Cup in Naples, Italy. I’ll stop right there and let you reflect on that…..

Oh, and one more thing, NEVER trust a pizza place that doesn't use San Marzano Tomato's. It's not pizza.