The Best Pizza Topping in the World
It’s your choice….
Sorry folks, question time again! You have to pay your way on this blog 
Having already ‘grilled’ you about your Breakfast habits, I’ve got another question.
I am currently working on a new dining concept for one of the food outlets in the company I work for, it will be an informal eaterie but the intention is to offer well prepared, fresh dishes which are easily recognisable but have been given a modern touch. One such idea is to offer a selection of upmarket pizza’s. Not your usual ‘cheese and tomato thin and crispy’ but something a bit different.
I really like pizza but it has to be a good one, a decent base with a well made tomato sauce and some interesting toppings, pizza has been done to death, I know, but how many of them are any good? Where is the initial seasoning on them I wonder? Manufacturers seem happy to dose everything in salt but forget the pepper! So few of them, including restaurants bother to try something different, we can’t all like ham and pineapple can we?
So the question is; what is your take on a good pizza? What should it have on it? When I make my own it will always have anchovies, capers, chilli and a good salami or chorizo. I love the saltiness of the anchovies and capers and they work perfectly with salami and chilli, it’s so moorish!
What about cheese? Should it be mozzarella, parmesan or a standard cheddar? Would you prefer goats cheese for example. What I am looking for is something you cannot buy in a supermarket, the type of pizza you wish you could buy in a supermarket or restaurant.
So if there are any Italian-American’s out there then please get in touch!
some that I have used in the past:
sliced kalamata olives
artichoke hearts
choritzo removed from the casing and crumbled
and a personal favorite, sauteed leek and bacon
razor clams are kinda good as well - depends on your mood
September 25, 2008 @ 2:06 am
Also, always mozzarella - add some pecorino to it if you wish, or used smoked or buffalo, but the main cheese should be mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella - none of the pre packaged shit.
September 25, 2008 @ 2:10 am
Miles
I rarely eat pizza but if I do I’m a sucker for the predictable pepperoni.
Any spicy sausage typr topping.
That said were in in arestaurant that had Dave’s suggestion of sauteed leek and bacon I’d order that !
Cheers
Rod
September 25, 2008 @ 7:24 am
Miles,
I’ve tried Buffalo mozzarella and very fresh and pleasant it was but don’t think I would miss it. Parmesan however is a different matter, I love it. Soggy pizza with piles of topping does nothing for me so I’d keep it thinnish and baked traditionally (how do they do it… is it a wood burning oven?). New toppings then… well the cheesy, mustardy Welsh Rarebit topping I spotted the other day looked tasty. I’m into these ’sweet onions’ that I found recently and because they are sold next to the Spanish variety, I assuming they must be different? Anyway I love caramelized onions possibly with a light creamy cheese? Roasted veg with baked garlic? Truth is Miles, on the rare occasion I order a pizza I like to taste strong tomato, herb and parmesan, boring though it might be…… it’s getting the flavoursome tomatoes in the first place which isn’t always easy.
Cid
September 25, 2008 @ 9:47 am
Pizza - my favorite food! These are some of the combinations we’re enjoying lately.
Fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato slices, fresh basil (no sauce)
Sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, mushrooms, mixed cheeses (whole-milk mozzarella, asiago, parmesan), mixed herbs (no sauce)
Sausage, marinated tomatoes, red onion, fresh mozzarella (no sauce)
Pepperoni, red onion, roasted garlic, mozzarella
If you want more ideas, I could send you some links to menus at our favorite places.
September 25, 2008 @ 11:48 am
Something of a purist here too Miles, but my Bolongnese blood (don’t let the married name fool you) predisposes me to the classics.
My hands down favorite is good Florentine pizza with fresh spinach, good, tangy buffalo motz and roasted pine nuts. Favorite variations include some home prepped sun-dried tomatoes or a few wild mushrooms when in season as well.
I love to watch as cuisines adapt to changing cultural times - but I think that the pendulum has swung out when it comes to pizza when there is satay pizza (true, at least in the US we have it, with hot peanut sauce and lime). Getting back to the Italian classics with quality, superfresh ingredients or creating a few from basic ingredients (like roasted garlic and balsamic-pickled peppers) might be a welcome reintrodcution of the dish.
Using local ingredients when authentic and available would be very on-trend as well.
September 25, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
Dave,
Leeks and bacon-that’s a new one on me and I would never have thought of it. Chorizo is always a winner and the razor clams sound great-wouldn’t have thought of that either!
Thanks for the input.
Miles
September 25, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
Rod,
Pepperoni, salami, chorizo-they’re all good aren’t they? I still remember the pepper salami we used to eat as boys in Germany with some nice tomatoes-bring it on!!
Miles
September 25, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
Cid,
You make some interesting points there, soggy pizza is a loser, everytime. Tomato, basil and parmesan is always a winner and simple is good. Roasted onions with olives and anchovies and you’ve got a classic French pissaladiere-now we’re talking
Thanks for the help
Miles
September 25, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
Entangled,
You’re making me hungry!! They sound like wonderful combinations, thankyou very much. I see you avoid the tomato sauce on two of them but then you have delicious tomatoes so why bother?
Thanks again, it’s much appreciated.
Miles
September 25, 2008 @ 4:08 pm
Laura,
Satay pizza is a step too far. Why mess about with one of Asia’s greatest street foods? You are right, it comes down to great ingredients and knowing when to stop. The problem is that we have become so far removed from the original pizza we would probably turn our nose up at one now.
Many thanks, Laura
Miles
September 25, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
Miles
Dave’s leek and bacon keeps coming back to my mind
Rod
PS: I bet I’ve seen more pizzas than anyone else here !
September 25, 2008 @ 6:15 pm
Rod,
It might be wise to tell the reader (note single-plural would be deceitful) you were an engineer in the food manufacturing industry and not a pizza chef. They might start phoning their orders through!!
Miles
September 25, 2008 @ 8:05 pm
If you think that authentic and locally sourced won’t fly with your target market, do something shamelessly commercial to market good food:
The personality pizza
Have them take a short scratch-off quiz that will lead them to the pizza complementary to their personal qi.
Quality is all - Marketing is just words.
September 26, 2008 @ 1:13 am
Rod,
I almost called you out on the pizza - being a New Yorker, and having worked in a pizzeria - and then I remembered a post on fish sticks and a vision of thousands of frozen pizzas crossed my mind. It’s amazing, for all the fame of NY pizza how hard it is to find a good one.
Dave
September 26, 2008 @ 1:35 am
Dave
I think it was about 250,000 a day going out the door - I could never understand who ate them all - ran 7 days a week as well !
Regards from England
Rod
September 26, 2008 @ 7:11 am
Laura,
What an original idea! Thankyou, I might well give that a go.
Thanks again
Miles
September 26, 2008 @ 5:29 pm