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New Contributor: TXCraig

Pizzablogger — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:49:21 +0000

I’m proud to introduce Craig Lindberg, a.k.a. TXCraig, as a contributor to this website. The Houston, Texas resident has an Italian wood-burning pizza oven in his garage and the pizzamaking chops to make what are some of the best looking pizzas this pie-lovin’ fool has seen–anywhere.

: Margherita with sausage & Clam pizzas

Craig has a passion for pizza, cooking, fishing, wine and hunting, so there may be any number of topics he may bring up here….like Bill_SFNM, Craig has an open forum here. If you want to learn more about TXCraig, definitely check out his Home Pizza Heroes interview for in-depth details on his awesome home made pizzas. Welcome aboard Craig!

Pizza Lexicon: “Gourmet” or Enthusiast Beware

Pizzablogger — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:36:58 +0000

While eating pizza out of town at yet another place billing itself as a “gourmet” pizzeria and yet again being disappointed, I’ve come to the conclusion that a pizzeria self-promoting such a thing is bullocks, or at least close to it.

The facts still remain:

1. Not a single one of the great pizzas I have eaten came from a place which advertised themselves as “gourmet”.

2. I have never been served a memorable pizza at a joint billing themselves as serving ”gourmet” pizza or as being a “gourmet pizzeria”.

typical look of many "gourmet" pizzas

Many people have posited to me that I am a fan of gourmet pizzas because of the seemingly upscale or strange topping combinations I may order in pizzerias I like. It’s all really a matter of your pizza perspective, but this is not the case. In fact, many of the newer pizzerias with wood-fired, coal-fired or other high heat ovens are not “gourmet” or “upscale” at all. If anything, they are decidedly throwback, more old-school pizzerias that realize respect and attention must first be given to the dough or you don’t have a good pizza–at all. Their use of higher quality toppings merely represents their respect for ingredients and a desire to compliment the crust underneath just like old-school pizzerias have been doing for generations.

Most of the gourmet places I have bumped into utilize the wrong kind of oven (often conveyor ovens), cook their pizzas for too long and throw goofy, unbalanced combinations of toppings on top of a bunky crust. That ain’t gourmet folks, that’s just baloney.

There are surely exceptions to this rule and I’m not saying every single one makes crappy pizza, but the pizza hairs on the back of your neck should snap to attention whenever you run across a joint slinging the “gourmet” label. There’s simply no need for the constant advertising hype and gimmicks. Just make great pizza and shut the ‘eff up already!

New Contributor: Bill_SFNM

Pizzablogger — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:39:46 +0000

I’m very excited to welcome Bill_SFNM as a contributor to this website. The Santa Fe, New Mexico resident has spent decades baking pizzas and chasing that elusive perfect pie. Bill’s passion for food of all types is contagious…from foraging porcini mushrooms in the woods in his area to cooking delicious foods in the Earthstone wood burning oven in his outdoor kitchen and capturing it all with beautiful photos and video footage, Bill is about as deep a well spring of insight as you are likely to find. Like a true aficionado, Bill would tell you he still hasn’t gotten it down pat yet — but such is the madness of pizza and, in particular, naturally leavened doughs.

bill's superb craftsmanship

Bill’s pizza journey started during a rainstorm while he was living in Panama some 45 years ago. Ducking under an awning to escape the drenching, Bill stumbled upon Pizzeria Napoli and was snared by the allure of wood fired, Neapolitan pizza. His journey continues and you can learn some more from the conversation Bill and I had for a Pizza Obsessives article which was posted on Slice. Bill has an open invitation here–so pizza, bread or other topics are all fair game! Welcome aboard Bill.

Disclosure

Pizzablogger — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:11:42 +0000

For full disclosure’s sake, one of the primary reasons I shut down this site in the summer of 2011 is the possibility that I may be involved in selling pizza to the public in Baltimore in some capacity. Nothing is certain, but I do have a couple of irons in the fire. I felt uncomfortable in how people would view my often critical eye when writing about other pizzerias in Baltimore if they knew I might be involved in the same business.

But, the fact of the matter is that most pizza joints are the same now as they have been for decades — they by and large suck. Not just in Baltimore, but even in venerated pizza cities like New York City. Sure, compared to many other areas, New York has a lot of very good to great pizzerias, but when looking at the sheer number of pizzerias in New York City (around 2,000) the percentage of pizzerias in New York that are actually worth visiting is less than 5%.

home made marinara pizza

So there it is. My reviews will be continue to be honest. Nothing is gained by bashing other pizzerias, as the Baltimore area needs as many excellent pizza places as possible. However, this is a website for honest, enthusiast perspectives on pizza…and I’ve now eaten far too much excellent to great pizza, and made some pretty damned good pies at home, to not get pissed off at pizzerias just looking to put out an “acceptable” product in the hopes of increasing the number of units sold. Pah!

My time is currently limited and this blog, as previously mentioned, will be run on a “part-time” basis. However, I’m also looking to add a few other contributors to the site. All of the people I am interested in having become a contributor have two things in common; they have all visited very high quality pizzerias and know what great pizza tastes like and they all are very avid and knowledgeable home pizza makers who have more pie making experience than myself. I hope they are interested in contributing here from time to time.

Breakfast: Juicing

Pizzablogger — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:31:28 +0000

My juicing ingredients this morning

A pizza eating fool needs to prepare for those pizza treks where I may visit three, five, ten or more pizzerias in a single day. One of the best ways to prep for such an onslaught to the sytem, which can be akin to a boot camp of intestinal fortitude when the pizzeria count gets above five in a single day (I’ve done thirteen pizzerias in one day before), is to eat very clean as often as possible.

Pictured above is my typical amount of breakfast over the past two weeks. The ingredients vary, but this morning’s juice:

5 carrots (organic)
1 celery stalk with leaves(organic)
1/2 beet (organic)
1.5 granny smith apples
1/5 pineapple
2.5 stalks of kale, with leaves (organic)
1/2 lemon
handful of spinach (organic)
handful of pea sprouts (organic)
quarter inch piece of ginger

I also had a half cup of Quaker old-fashioned oats to go along with this.

Big doses of mico-nutrients and running clean in preparation for a new pizza trek to start the new year, and the newest edition of this blog, with a bang.

Weekend Pizza Eating: Where Did You Go?

Pizzablogger — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:13:55 +0000

potato & margherita pizzas from chazz: a bronx original

I made another visit to Chazz: A Bronx Original in Harbor East and had a potato pizza and a margherita. I’m getting a gauge on the overall consistency here and will be posting my impressions on the coal-fired pizzas from Chazz this winter.

Where did you go eat pizza this weekend? How was it?