Midweek Modernist Pizza Report: The volume of recipes opens by defying your expectations of what a recipe book can be

3/29/2023

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 3, Chapter 12, "Iconic Recipes," Part 1
(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

Modernist Pizza
Written by Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya
Published by The Cooking Lab; First edition, October 19, 2021
Hardcover: ‎ 1708 pages, 32.7 pounds, 13.78 x 10.24 x 15.94 inches
List Price: $425.00
Amazon discount price as of 03/08/23: $294.99

It looks like intense flavor: a pizza with big, caramelized bubbles and bits of pink salmon, salmon roe and green chives. Then, there’s an extreme closeup of olive oil drizzling from a copper cruet onto a red, white and bright green Margherita pizza ready for the oven, with chunks of fresh, fat, white bufala and a deep red sauce. Next, a steel factory conveyor covered with pans of steel parts, nuts and bolts, all surrounding a golden caramelized Detroit-style pan pizza.

Even before reaching the first page of the opening chapter in Volume 3, the Modernist Pizza photography is stunning--and in the Detroit case, maybe just a little wrong. Wrenches and bolts and pizza, oh my. If you're unaware of the legacy, Detroit pizza was invented in 1946. Since the available baking pans at the time were insufficient, Detroit pizza was baked in pans from an automotive supplier. The pans were originally intended for holding small parts on auto assembly lines.

Once again, Modernist Pizza defies expectations. You’d think that Volume 3 of a three-volume set, especially with a title like Recipes, would be straightforward and without much to discuss. Oh, no. This photography is just a precursor of the ongoing Modernista intensity to come.

​Saturday Afternoon Pizza Posts

Homemade Pizza Tips, Rants, Raves, News & Nonsense--All At Free The Pizza

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 3, Chapter 12, "Iconic Recipes," Part 1​(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 11, "Baking Pizza," Part 2​(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 11, "Baking Pizza," Part 1​(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 10, "Toppings"(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)​

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 9, "Cheese," Part II​(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

Author

Archives

Categories

Saturday Afternoon Pizza Posts

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 3, Chapter 12, "Iconic Recipes," Part 1
(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 11, "Baking Pizza," Part 2
(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 11, "Baking Pizza," Part 1
(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

**The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 10, "Toppings"**
(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)

The Ongoing Modernist Pizza Review, Volume 2, Chapter 9, "Cheese," Part II
(To see the entire 50,000-word review, click here.)