Confessions of a Cheese Rebel

I rarely eat "factory made" (deep frozen) pizzas but prefer those freshly done in one of the pizzerias.
One exemption: my favourite pizza maker (actually not on Italian but a Greek) has opened a "factory" some years ago, selling fresh as well as deep frozen products (all "handmade").

Oh my goodness. Has "factory" as a restaurant name spread to Germany? On behalf of all Americans, I apologize for the corruption.

Had a local pizza shop when I was going to college, where the chef was a Corsican of Moroccan descent. Now that guy knew how to make a good pizza.

He also made all his own bases, and his thin and crispy base was indeed thin and crispy.

Well, every pizzeria here make there own bases (We've got two in our suburbian village, at least 15 in the town)

We have some of the franchise mobs here, and I have no idea what they do for their bases (frozen or made) but they seem to think a slab of tough sponge cake is what people are looking for in a pizza base. They even specify a "deep pan" pizza base, that is even thicker again.

Enough to give you the bloats with such a bad food clash with the toppings.

I still maintain that a Lebanese pocket bread makes a great base. But maybe that's just me?

I completely agree about frozen pizza. I've yet to find one that is agreeable. You guys are into NY style pizza with thin crust and water cooked out fast and hot. Then there are the fast food pizza places like Pizza Hut, Domino's, Little Ceaser and Papa John etc.. While they do make the dough daily in the shop, none of them have that "home made" quality that an independent shop owner does.

We used to have a local pizza place called Casa Matta. They had the very best pizza I've had. But even then the pizza was only delicious if the owner made it. Some how the other employees could not replicate the taste the owner had instilled in his pizzas. Didn't take long to figure out which nights the owner worked and we got to know him and his wife pretty well.

Their base was a bit thicker than NY style, but no where near as thick as say a Chicago style pizza.

Saw a Papa John's commercial last night, in which he offered to sell two pizzas for just $8 each. What kind of double talk is that?

I always seek out a wood fired or gas "refrqctory" pizza oven in the pizzaria. They will have thiose little surprise dimples in the pizza crust that, like the "burnt ends" of a barbecue, is delightful.
Quick cooked in a really hot oven with a really hot base, thats the way.
These large SS plate ovens or the "moving chain link " ovens like Dominos uses, make pizzas that are just ok. I wont gag on em.

The Amish stores around here have tried to make pizza and its usually a disaster because they usually start out with a very sweet sauce that could be used as a topping for waffles and they dont understand the mking of good yeasty dough that is both gluteny and crisp.


I still like anchovies on mine, along with sliced onion, basil , reggiano, and very hot peppers


A frozen pizza can be made close to edible by getting a piece of sandstone or quarry tile and putting it in your oven and turning it up to CLEAN. After an hour, you can unlock the oven and put it on BROIL. Put THe pizza in quickly and let it go for about 10 min. The dough crisps up really nice aand you can always doctor the topping

Most frozen pizzas here have been precooked on stone, like in a real pizzeria, but in an electric heated oven.

Most things are improved by the addition of anchovies! Except, perhaps, banana custard and a couple of other things!

My go-to snack these days (quite over wheat-based crackers) is this 20 month aged Australian cheddar, sliced and topped with anchovy and sliced kalamata olive.

You couldn't pay me enough to eat anchovies!

I used to be like that about donkey jerky.

I've used a little anchovy paste sometimes in a few things. I'm squeamish when it comes to an intact anchovy or sardine or any number of tiny fish packed in oil.

What your saying is; you're a snowflake.

Me too. Just thinking what those teensy, tiny, little intestines are full of kind of, well. . . .

Then you clearly haven't seen how anchovies are prepped or presented.

Lemme guess. They give them little enemas?

LOL, that's funny. They are fillets, buddy.

I guess that's why they're more expensive than fillet steak.

lotwa greek anchovis, pqcked in 5 gallon bukets ar run through a mechanical de0gutter but sometimes the heads are still on.
When we eat clams and oysters , noone bothers to give em an enema.

How bout gummie bears??
They arent eviscerated. They arent even skinned