So of course @jasonleow had to pick the topic of pizza, my favorite food and sadly the food I will have to give up as I embark on a journey to change my diet and improve my health.
I have liked pizza ever since I can remember. It started as a treat when I did not control the food supply, but I started to eat it more and more when left to my own devices. In seventh grade, the school cafeteria served those rectangular pizzas every day as an option. Of course I had pizza every single day along with the occasional nutty bar and chocolate milk.
I grew up in Indiana and for some reason the best Pizza Huts in the US are in Indiana. I know because I have tried them all over the country. In high school, I could devour an entire medium Meat Lovers pizza with a side of ranch dressing of course.
In college there was always one pizza place that delivered on campus and accepted the meal cards that my roommate and I both had due to scholarships. During one particularly gluttonous stretch, he and I took turns ordering Papa John’s pizzas for a straight seventeen days in a row. Large pizza, pepperoni, sausage, and extra cheese. Also, throw in an order of breadsticks with cheese dipping sauce.
I’ll take pizza pretty much anyway I can get it. Frozen is fine. What do I want on my Tombstone? Pepperoni and sausage please. Don’t forget the parmesan and the crushed red pepper. I’ll take take deep dish, pan, a true Chicago-style stuffed pizza, thin crust cut into squares, cheese stuffed into the crust, Neapolitan style, NY style, you name it. Wood-fired, coal-brick oven, fire it up! Eat by hand, cut it up and eat it with a fork, fold it, or wrap it all up and call it a calzone. I’m game!
For the most part there is no bad pizza other than perhaps Little Caesar’s or Peter Piper Pizza. I am happy with virtually all meat toppings, but when you start getting weird like adding pineapple or anchovies I’m out. Also, don’t talk to me about something called a cauliflower crust pizza.
Here is a phenomenon that exists in every office I have worked at. When there is a pizza party, invariably the ordering of the pizzas is lopsided. There are always too many of the pizzas only a few people like and not enough of the pizzas most everyone eats. No kidding one time there were twelve pizzas: 5 veggie, 3 cheese, 1 mushroom, 1 pepperoni, 1 sausage. What is that??
Some final observations. Wow it’s scary how fast I was able to churn this out reminiscing about my love of pizza. Clearly with my track record of eating it should be no surprise that it finally caught up to me. I guess the real surprise is that it took this long.
Anyway, pizza, we need to break up for awhile. I’m hoping it’s not a permanent break up. I’m going to travel the path of extreme low carb and see how my health improves. Hopefully my intolerance to carbs improves somewhat allowing for an occasional slice or two.
Until we meet again, keep the bottom crust crispy, the outer crust doughy, the crust-to-topping ratio appropriate, the cheese gooey, the toppings plentiful, and keep that ranch dressing on ice.