Some of you may have caught the grilled pizza segment on the Today show this morning. While I generally dig Elizabeth Karmel's work—she's a genuine grillmaster—I can't get behind the toppings she's advising the talking headbots on Today to place on their pies. And it's not even the berry dessert pizza. I'm cool with that. It's the density of toppings and thickness of cheese she's having them load on there. In my experience, grilled pizza is a delicate thing, and you want thinness and a restrained hand when it comes to toppings. If any of you are interested, the madness lies ahead, after the jump.
Oh, those look terrible! We made grilled pizza last week with asparagus, portobellos and smoked provolone and were in heaven. That cheeseburger thing looks awful compared to that!
That lady was trying to sell the other lady something, but I can't figure out what. Was it the grill? Was it the concept of pizza? Did the lady who was rushing through have something else to do afterwards?
Man, this is why other countries hate us, seriously.
Full disclosure--Elizabeth is a friend and colleague... and I'm dismayed to read this post and comments. Certainly, everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but remember, it was morning television. A quick run-down on a subject that is almost always rushed—it’s more about entertainment than full-on cooking class.
I think Today and Elizabeth did the best they could do to showcase a range of toppings that would appeal to their audience and try to demonstrate the two-stage grilling process in just a few minutes. If you’ve ever done television, you accept things over which you have no control, such as cold, elastic dough that is tough to roll out, and move on.
The pizza book is terrific (to my taste!) and the authors do emphasize a thin crispy crust and a “less is more” topping philosophy—you just didn’t get that from this very short segment.
Amy: Thanks for the comment and the clarification. I've had great luck with Elizabeth's Taming the Flame book, and the Pizza on the Grill book actually does go into better detail about the process. I actually have the book here in the office, and I'll go through it again, grill from it, and report back.
It's sad that TV forces these limitations on great cooks and grillmasters.
Thanks, Amy, for your comment--I recognize the limitations of TV, and was thinking the exact same thing. Our voyeuristic culture makes it so easy to criticize others who are doing while we are watching. And kudos to Adam, for admitting that Elizabeth might just have been caught in the machine of morning TV. I say grill on, girl!
Oh, I have no doubt she was caught in the machine. It's a crazy machine, judging by the inane comments of the hosts and the topics they typically deal with.
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11 Comments:
"delicate [...] thinness and a restrained hand" when it comes to mainstream American food culture is, well, un-American.
simon at 3:59PM on 06/02/08
how funny. i also saw a re-run of molto mario & he did grilled pizzas today. different techniques _entirely_!!!
dmarina at 4:21PM on 06/02/08
Thick skin, too much grits/polenta, drenched in oil....sheesh, what a waste of time.
grampart at 5:24PM on 06/02/08
Oh, those look terrible! We made grilled pizza last week with asparagus, portobellos and smoked provolone and were in heaven. That cheeseburger thing looks awful compared to that!
ErikaWaz at 7:25PM on 06/02/08
That's sick. This was on in the morning? Who the hell wants to see cheeseburger pizza first thing in the morning?
I'll have a cup of ooooh-long!
mangabanga at 10:28PM on 06/02/08
That lady was trying to sell the other lady something, but I can't figure out what. Was it the grill? Was it the concept of pizza? Did the lady who was rushing through have something else to do afterwards?
Man, this is why other countries hate us, seriously.
chrisfurniss at 1:12AM on 06/03/08
I'm sure the guys at Al Forno will head over to the nearest gun shop right after seeing this.
Q80 BurgerBelly at 8:48AM on 06/03/08
Full disclosure--Elizabeth is a friend and colleague... and I'm dismayed to read this post and comments. Certainly, everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but remember, it was morning television. A quick run-down on a subject that is almost always rushed—it’s more about entertainment than full-on cooking class.
I think Today and Elizabeth did the best they could do to showcase a range of toppings that would appeal to their audience and try to demonstrate the two-stage grilling process in just a few minutes. If you’ve ever done television, you accept things over which you have no control, such as cold, elastic dough that is tough to roll out, and move on.
The pizza book is terrific (to my taste!) and the authors do emphasize a thin crispy crust and a “less is more” topping philosophy—you just didn’t get that from this very short segment.
Amy Mills Tunnicliffe at 9:27AM on 06/03/08
Amy: Thanks for the comment and the clarification. I've had great luck with Elizabeth's Taming the Flame book, and the Pizza on the Grill book actually does go into better detail about the process. I actually have the book here in the office, and I'll go through it again, grill from it, and report back.
It's sad that TV forces these limitations on great cooks and grillmasters.
Adam Kuban at 9:47AM on 06/03/08
Thanks, Amy, for your comment--I recognize the limitations of TV, and was thinking the exact same thing. Our voyeuristic culture makes it so easy to criticize others who are doing while we are watching. And kudos to Adam, for admitting that Elizabeth might just have been caught in the machine of morning TV. I say grill on, girl!
foieduckie at 3:08PM on 06/03/08
Oh, I have no doubt she was caught in the machine. It's a crazy machine, judging by the inane comments of the hosts and the topics they typically deal with.
Adam Kuban at 3:14PM on 06/03/08