A cheeseless pizza is still a pizza. So sayeth 58 percent of respondents in the "Is It Still Pizza If It Doesn't Have Cheese?" poll. I liked foolishpoolish's take on the matter. Personally, I do prefer cheese on my pies but have had some amazing cheese-free pizzas, too, notably the marinara at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, which really is a stunning pizza....
The poll earlier this week asked how you ate the end crusts of your slices — plain or perhaps dipped in something. The resounding answer was you essentially eat it plain. Fifty percent of respondents chose this option, most noting something along the lines of "it's not good pizza if you can't eat the crust as is." An additional 14 percent said they used it to sort of sop up whatever oil or grease and sauce was left on the plate, which I will take the liberty of interpreting as almost the same thing in that there's no introduction...
That was therapeutic, wasn't it? I think this week's little group session on "charring" vs. "burned" helped us all work through the issue and come to a better understanding of carbonized crust, of ourselves, and of each other. Though folks in the gimme-char (72%) and the char-it-not (29%)* camps may never see eye to eye, I think the discussion helped us all see the others' arguments, thanks to lots of great insight in the comments. * Yes, I'm aware that adds up to 101%. I think the polling software rounds up with a hand that's a little too heavy....
On Monday morning the question was whether you liked white pies. Seeing as how I rarely see them flying out of the oven whenever I'm at a pizzeria, I didn't expect this style of pizza to do so well. But, check it out: 60% of Slice'rs dig the white pies And if you add the 28% of people who think that white pies have their occasion, you've got 88% of people who either strongly favor or simply like white pies. Basically, only 11 percent of us never did white pies. Pretty strong consensus....
Beer wins this week's poll, "What Do You Drink with Pizza?"—but only by a 9 percent lead over soda. I suppose the results could also be skewed by whether you're doing by-the-slice or sit-down whole pies. But, hey, I hope nobody here is under the illusion that these things are super scientific. I was surprised by the number of comments on this one. I didn't think there'd be that much to say about pizza drink pairings, but there you go. They're worth perusing if you're looking for advice on a beer or wine to drink or serve with your...
And uncooked sauce wins by a nose. And I should note that Lorenzo wisely pointed out that any uncooked sauce, if the layer is thin enough, will cook on the pie. But there were many good arguments for both in the comments of the poll....
Folded — whether that meant the New York slice fold or the Neapolitan a libretto — made a strong showing at 30 percent with flat trailing by just a bit at 25 percent, but all of the above beat them all (including "cold" and "with knife and fork") with a 37 percent total. Which seems about right, since most of us take pizza in all its forms and adapt to eat it depending on its configuration....
And polls have closed. This week's pressing issue: Do You Prefer Fresh or Regular Mozzarella. Looks like an overwhelming majority of us prefer fresh. There was a call for buffalo mozzarella from Gianluca, who also had a lot to say about the news that Italian buffalo mozzarella may be cut with cows' milk. Good insight there from him. And a tip on using fresh, from Pizza Blogger: "How well it's strained determines how much of a 'splat' the homemade stuff is."...
Well, it's time to call time on last week's poll, "What's Your Favorite Pizza Style?" A week's worth of results are in, and the winner is New York thin crust (aka New York–style) with a 35 percent sweep. In a way, I'm not super surprised, since Slice was founded in NYC and its original mission was to explore the world of New York City pizza. Slice has expanded in scope since then to include a weekly review from Chicago, which is why I'm surprised the total Chicago vote represented only 14 percent (6 percent stuffed, 4 deep dish, and...
[Photograph: Adam Kuban] Looks like we're mostly folders. It was a 60-40 split in favor of the technique. But the binary nature of the question did not allow for such wisdom as doled out by jaysus in the comments: "I have no preference when it comes to folding a slice; sometimes I fold it, sometimes I do not. I let the slice decide." That's pretty much my philosophy on folding, too. Although, for the most part, I try not to fold because I feel that it changes the nature of the slice. Instead of getting a bite of cheese-sauce-crust,...
