 People’s heads are exploding. Just a few pictures on Facebook, and some simple remarks peppered with snark, and…WOW! Who knew that a New York-style pizza could cause such a stir? It’s like people are seeing fire for the first time. And here’s the irony: if you read Free The Pizza! (sub-title: A Simple System For Making Great Pizza At Home Using The Oven You Already Have), you have the potential to make a pizza that’s far more interesting than a New York Slice.
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 Introspection is good, right? But I probably spend way too much time having thoughtful internal debate about things like, “Is it possible to make a banh mi pizza?” Or, “Is there a place for leftover shrimp and andouille gumbo on a pizza, or will it require a spoon?” “What about a deconstructed clam chowder pizza?” I haven’t done the banh mi pizza yet. But I have tried the other two, and I can say they were moderately successful. But there’s a man whose pizzas are over-the-top inspiring. They make me consider pushing the limits of what “belongs” on a pizza. A Little Book About Pizza Saves This Guy A Bunch Of Money And Gives Him Something To Do With His Son8/12/2022  “Okay my first outing with the oven, the pizza steel and Blaine’s book. It was AWESOME! Thank you! So much easier than making pizza on my Big Green Egg, and saved me a fortune from buying a wood pizza oven!”
That is the email I woke up to one morning earlier this week. A gentleman named Frank sent it through the Free The Pizza website, along with a photograph of one of his pizzas. It's the photograph at the top of this post. (That's prosciutto under all that arugula, in case you're interested.)  As a pizza geek, I'm always thinking about what I can do differently on a pizza that pushes the boundaries without being ridiculous. While I don't like to publicly disparage other people's pizza choices, I do believe that gold leaf on a pizza is asinine and represents decadence gone wrong. There, I said it. Gold leaf aside, the field is open. I do believe things should be done with balance and insight. And that's one of the reasons I admire Peter Reinhart. He is the thinking-person's pizzaiolo and bread geek. I admit that I've barely scratched the surface of Mr. Reinhart's newest book, Pizza Quest. But as I was reading it this morning in the wee hours, I skimmed the table of contents, I was aghast. There, in the recipes, was the pizza I've been contemplating for about a year: Low-Country Pizza. |
AuthorBlaine Parker is the award-winning author of the bestselling, unusual and amusing how-to pizza book, Free The Pizza. Also known as The Pizza Geek and "Hey, Pizza Man!", Blaine is fanatical about the idea that true, pro-quality pizza can be made at home. His home. Your home. Anyone's home. After 20 years of honing his craft and making pizza in standard consumer ovens across the nation, he's sharing what he's learned with home cooks like you. Are you ready to pizza? Archives
September 2023
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