Your pizza crust preference

[Robin Garr]

Another welcome, Ted! Think of us as a relaxing water cooler break in your busy day ... and don't be a stranger!

Yeah, I've been really busy for quite a while now. I hope to visit more often. I've got a backlog of recipes to post, too!

Thanks for the welcome. It's nice to see you again.

Thin crispy New York style is the only way to go.

[Jenise]

Thin crispy New York style is the only way to go.

Any places down your way that specialize in this style? Pizza's a fave out-of-town meal and it would be handy to have some names.

I really don't see any reason for these "preference" threads. Unless someone states a clear, obvious, unequivocal advantage - that is patently obvious to us all - for their preference.

Otherwise we are all just saying "I like this" or "I like that." Great. So what? Really, who cares?

Lots of us are locked into what we grew up with or that thing we first encountered in a specific genre. Others of us aren't. The word "pizza" has been stretched to a degree I'm sure the originators didn't ever envision. Who cares if Chicago calls what they do pizza? Or Cincinnati? Or Topeka?

I've posted what the inventors had in mind here before. But, I don't necessarily subscribe to it myself. I like lots of different things that are called "pizza".

You know what you like and don't like.

Motion is not movement.

Never got the thick crust thing. If you want thick crust go eat a loaf of bread.. Probably a conspiracy to give the kids early heart problems "Gee, we already have the caloric and fat content of a whole buffet in this pizza, where is there left to go? What's that - put a whole wad of insipid oily cheese in the edge of the crust? Genius!"

Thin crust, hold the sweet crap on top (whoever thought that pineapple was a suitable pizza topping was an idiot). A ratio of meat to vegetable toppings of 3:1 - that's mandatory. Give me 3 meats and I'll let you sneak in some mushrooms.

Chef, Hi....

I really don't see any reason for these "preference" threads. Unless someone states a clear, obvious, unequivocal advantage - that is patently obvious to us all - for their preference. Otherwise we are all just saying "I like this" or "I like that." Great. So what? Really, who cares?

I would think that chefs and restaruateurs (including those who own pizza stands) would be interested, if nothing else because they earn their living by selling pizzas. I would also think that many people on a board such as this are interested in knowing what others like - and not necessarily with specifics as to why - in order to consider broadening their own options.

Lots of us are locked into what we grew up with or that thing we first encountered in a specific genre. Others of us aren't.

Congratulations on attaining a non-sequitor par excellence.

The word "pizza" has been stretched to a degree I'm sure the originators didn't ever envision. Who cares if Chicago calls what they do pizza? Or Cincinnati? Or Topeka? {/quote]

Indeed the original definition has been changed and to some extent has been impacted on by geography. A rather fascinating series of changes over time and place. The differences between what is calle pizza in Chicago and in Topeka may be no less fascinating than the differences found in Tuscany and Puglia.

You know what you like and don't like.

Pity those who fall into that category and have forgotten that experimentation, experience and learning are critical to the intelligent life.

Motion is not movement.

Indeed true but have we already reached that terrible point in the Third Law of Thermodynamics at which all has settled down to nothingness. Motion, even if it takes place only within the individual brain, is critical to movement.


All rhetorical comments of course. No need to respond.

Best
Rogov

[Robin Garr]

This may be one of the single most arrogant posts I have ever seen on this forum.

Casual discussion is the way forums work, Joseph. Most people are social beings and enjoy talking about things with their friends. If you don't share this preference, you're welcome to avoid the discussions you don't care for. Or for that matter, avoid the forum entirely. But please don't assume that your attitudes are shared by the majority, or assume that nastiness is widely appreciated here.

A ratio of meat to vegetable toppings of 3:1 - that's mandatory. Give me 3 meats and I'll let you sneak in some mushrooms.

Mushrooms are fungi, not vegetables.

A ratio of meat to vegetable toppings of 3:1 - that's mandatory. Give me 3 meats and I'll let you sneak in some mushrooms.

Mushrooms are fungi, not vegetables.

I was using the term in the broad 'kingdom' sense, as in animal, vegetable or mineral, not in the technical sense of does a sessile eukaryote without chlorophyl qualify as a plant (answer - no, even though fungi are normally studied in botany courses).

I am happy to call them 'vegetable' even though they aren't, strictly speaking, because then I can say I had my vegies that day. In fact from the point of view of foodies, they could almost be classified as honorary meat!

[David M. Bueker]

Joseph,

I made my own pizza on Friday (all veggies Bill, sorry) & ended up with a crust close to thin style, but not quite. It did turn out nice & crispy though. Whole wheat flour for about 1/3 of the total, then a mix of surlyn and balata. I get better backspin that way.

Joseph,

I made my own pizza on Friday (all veggies Bill, sorry) & ended up with a crust close to thin style, but not quite. It did turn out nice & crispy though. Whole wheat flour for about 1/3 of the total, then a mix of surlyn and balata. I get better backspin that way.

Too funny.

Regarding Shakey's: Our family used to go to the one in Omaha all the time. I was delighted to find one in Nashua, NH when I first moved there. Shortly thereafter the original owners of the Shakey's chain sold out. They stopped making the pizza dough on-site in favor of pre-formed pizza shells shipped in from some corporate factory. The quality of the pizza went rapidly downhill after that, and I stopped going there.

Here in New England, the ubiquitous pizza style is the Greek pizzaria style. It has a moderately thick and chewy crust (thicker than the New York style, which is also seen but less commonly). I prefer the NY/NH style, myself, or the Chicago deep-dish style.

-Paul W.

Must be a lot of village idiots (me included) who like pineapple on pizza, otherwise pizza joints wouldn't have it on their menus.

Must be a lot of village idiots (me included) who like pineapple on pizza, otherwise pizza joints wouldn't have it on their menus.

Certainly didn't mean any offence to those that might happen to like fruit salad in the form of pizza, Larry. I said that the people that conceived the idea were a bit short in the clues department, but if there are a bunch of customers that want fruity pizzas, I guess I was wrong.

Next someone will speak up and say they like the ice cream pizzas I have seen some plces perpetrate (but those aren't really pizzas, are they?)

[Jenise]

Regarding Shakey's: Our family used to go to the one in Omaha all the time. I was delighted to find one in Nashua, NH when I first moved there. Shortly thereafter the Shakey's chain sold out to Pillsbury. They stopped making the pizza dough on-site in favor of pre-formed pizza shells shipped in from some corporate factory. The quality of the pizza went rapidly downhill after that, and I stopped going there.

-Paul W.

Don't blame you. Interesting to realize that Shakey's extended their reach that far east (though for all I know, they started there--it's just that there weren't that many chains in our childhood, except McDonalds, which seemed to have successful spread out coast to coast). Anyway, once while roaming further from home than usual on business, I chanced upon a Shakey's, which I had thought were all gone from the planet. Interested since I was newly converted to thin crusts, and hungry, I stopped and had one of the best little personal pizzas I've ever had with that slightly misshapen, obviously handmade thin crust and a particularly good, thick, wine-y tomato sauce that tasted like the sweetest months of summer. Couldn't have been more surprised or impressed--there was nothing chain-restaurant about it. Would be surprised if there are any left now.

[Jenise]

Must be a lot of village idiots (me included) who like pineapple on pizza, otherwise pizza joints wouldn't have it on their menus.

Certainly didn't mean any offence to those that might happen to like fruit salad in the form of pizza, Larry. I said that the people that conceived the idea were a bit short in the clues department, but if there are a bunch of customers that want fruity pizzas, I guess I was wrong.

Next someone will speak up and say they like the ice cream pizzas I have seen some plces perpetrate (but those aren't really pizzas, are they?)

Do you like melon and proscuitto?

Do you like melon and proscuitto?

Yes, but not on a pizza.

Next someone will speak up and say they like the ice cream pizzas I have seen some plces perpetrate (but those aren't really pizzas, are they?)

I make an excellent Gyro pizza.

[Robin Garr]

Interesting to realize that Shakey's extended their reach that far east

I'm pretty sure it started in the West, Jenise. I remember being fond of the Shakeys in Santa Monica (Santa Monica Blvd. around, um, 10th? Or a little east of there? Dunno.) I don't think they went national until the corporate ownership change that Paul mentions.

Of course even back in those days, I had a preference for local independent eateries, and we really preferred Mario's in Westwood. But Shakeys was a lot easier to run over to from our digs in Santa Monica. This was all back in the days when it was an affordable hippie haven ...

I remember Shakey's from when I was a kid and won some type of skee ball tournament there. I also remember getting sick afterwards. Must have been the combination of way too much soda, greasy buffet pizza and excitement. The thought of their chocolate pudding still gives me the shivers.

I just read the Wikipedia article on Shakey's. Back when I liked the place as a kid in 1960-64, the originators of the franchise still owned the company. They sold out in 1967 (not to Pillsbury--I was confusing Shakey's and Burger King). The big quality drop that I observed in Nashua happened in 1984 when two of the franchisees bought the parent company. Wikipedia says that as of 2008 there are still 63 stores left, nearly all of them in California, and only two east of the Mississippi.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Wikipedia says that as of 2008 there are still 63 stores left, nearly all of them in California, and only two east of the Mississippi.

-Paul W.

They apparently started in Sacramento. I found this on their website: Sherwood “Shakey” Johnson loved ragtime music. He dreamed about having a place where his family and friends could get together, share some pizza and beer while listening - and often singing along – to favorite ragtime standards. So back in 1954 he scraped together his savings and opened the first Shakey’s Pizza Parlor & Ye Public House® at the corner of 57th and J Street in Sacramento CA. There was nothing like it. People came from all over to enjoy the original thin crust pizza, ice cold beer on tap and most of all, the fun, family friendly atmosphere.

On the website, they also announced store openings including one differently titled "Shakey's returns to Norwalk, CA". Lots of deja vu there--the/a Norwalk franchise was the first Shakey's pizza parlor I ever went to.

Also while on the website, I was surprised to learn they still do the Bunch of Lunch buffet with the "Mojo potatoes" and fried chicken!

On the website, they also announced store openings including one differently titled "Shakey's returns to Norwalk, CA". Lots of deja vu there--the/a Norwalk franchise was the first Shakey's pizza parlor I ever went to.

Jeez, all this talk about Shakey's, a pizza chain I gladly left behind when decamping for NYC in '83, put me in mind of the other chain of CA pizzerias that I really didn't like: Straw Hat. A quick Google shows me that -- mirabile dictu! -- they are still in operation, too, though thankfully restricted to CA and NV.

Mark Lipton

This may be one of the single most arrogant posts I have ever seen on this forum.

Casual discussion is the way forums work, Joseph. Most people are social beings and enjoy talking about things with their friends. If you don't share this preference, you're welcome to avoid the discussions you don't care for. Or for that matter, avoid the forum entirely. But please don't assume that your attitudes are shared by the majority, or assume that nastiness is widely appreciated here.

Mea culpa, citizens. Bad mood. Times like that I should get up and take a little walk instead of posting.