Pucker up, babycakes: This stupidly simple ingredient makes for a mouthwatering pizza--literally.

 
So many scornful synonyms! Acrid! Bitter! Caustic! Unpleasant!
 
Hard to believe that these words and more are all cranky substitutes for one of the most useful and overlooked ingredients for improving a homemade pizza.
 
It seems like we rarely hear about it in connection with pizza making, and we should.

​It’s a monster killer in its own, unassuming little way.

I thought about this because I’ve been working on a new pizza recipe on a deadline that has a judgment involved.
 
The pizza must be as good as it can be.
 
 
So I did something to the pizza that elevated it in a way so surprising, it is unmeasurable.
 
(And what is the measurement scale of pizza surprise, anyway? Does the National Institute of Standards and Technology have a system for that?)
 
This pizza is rich and unctuous with several fatty components.
 
In fact, it’s a concerto of fat for fun and delight.
 
But it was also feeling just a little heavy. And rich.
 
Solution?
 
 
Break out the lemon wedge!
 
I’ve done this often enough that I should not continue to be surprised by how well it works.
 
Just a squeeze of lemon juice around the finished pizza.
 
That bright, acidic pop changes the experience of that rich and lusty pizza, giving it a little jazz hands.

The contrast provided by the acid heightens the flavors--as does (surprise!) a specific biological defense mechanism. 


Danger food!

Acid in excess can harm tooth enamel.

As a result, when your brain detects acid, it stimulates saliva production as a defense mechanism.

Acid is literally a catalyst for a mouthwatering experience. (As if the word "mouthwatering" weren't already challenging enough.) And the result of that saliva production? 

Even more heightened flavors.
 
Which got me thinking.
 
This might account for the fad of pickles on pizza. I’m not a fan--but I think I get it. It's just pizza going through another phase.
 
 
Pizza fans are seeking ever more novelty.
 
Did you know novelty in our lives is part of the recipe for mental health?
 
While routines are helpful for daily life, new things are good for keeping us sharp.
 
And surprise! Novelty is like pizza: Dopamine is involved.
 
In the Psychology Today blog from January 21, 2022 (remember those locked-down days of yore?), Alane K. Daugherty, PhD writes, “A sense of novelty activates the dopamine system directly.

"As a result, it enhances mood, positive outlook, motivation, and goal setting.”
 
 
What could be more appropriate?
 
I can’t speak to the value of pizza in goal setting or motivation. I possess neither as long as there's pizza involved. 
 
But for mood enhancement and positivity? Wow.
 
As if our glorious platters of bread, tomato, cheese and meat weren’t dopamine triggers enough, enter the additional dopamine trigger of Something New.
 
Of course, what is new also becomes old.
 
How many breakthrough moments can attend yet another creative use for ranch dressing?
 
More new things!
 
Make them count!
 
Bring on the acid!

You can't see it, but boy does it do stuff. 
 
 
“If you were told to take a favorite pizza and change it with one acidic element, what would you do?”
 
This is the kind of game The Fabulous Honey Parker and I like to invent on the fly and play for extended minutes of nonsense over morning coffee.
 
One of the first pizza discoveries in our lives together occurred in Los Angeles back in the early aughts. We lived in the thick of things around Fairfax and Melrose Avenues.
 
We were in our favorite dive bar (which was a block and a half from our house—a unique DUI prevention feature) and noticed the cook on his break.
 
 
He was at the end of the bar, eating a pepperoni pizza also topped with slices of fresh jalapeño.
 
It was also not a pizza that was on the menu.
 
We asked the bartender, “Can we have that?”
 
She said, “Sure!”
 
And a new favorite was born.
 
Because of that, pepperoni and fresh jalapeños have long been a staple topping combo in our lives. It’s just a good, solid pizza.
 
Forced to modify a favorite pizza with an acidic element, I choose that pizza and elevate it by adding…
 
 
Pickled jalapeños!
 
I would take that pizza and I would add pickled jalapeño slices along with the fresh ones, then see where that briny vinegar hot pop takes us.
 
We’ve already got the bright, crunchy heat of fresh jalapeños.
 
There’s the rich fatty cheese and the oily, zingy umami of the pepperoni.
 
If we bring the tangy, briny flavor of the pickled pepper, it’s going to cut through all of that with zip and vigor and additional, novelty-induced dopamine on top of what the pizza is already bringing to the party.
 
Not to mention the added endorphin rush of additional capsaicin. (That's the so-called toxin that gives hot peppers their spice.)
 
Peppers are fun.

And acid is your friend. Who knows where it can take you.
  
How about you? What’s your happy acid for pizza? Even if you haven’t yet done it, tell me all about it…
​
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