LEO's Eat'N'Blog: Pizza: The all-American snack?

[Robin Garr]

What will you get?

Peppers.

Are you sure you're not conflating pepperoni with pepperoncini?

I agree that "pepperoni" is an Italian-American convention that will get you blank stares in Italy, but certainly many of the hundreds of local and regional variations on salame that are commonplace in Italy are quite similar if you slice them into thin rounds. Not that common on pizza, but I've seen it done.

Good article, and no doubt that pizza has become americanized to the extent that a Neapolitan might not recognize what we call pizza. But, that being said it is still a food that was clearly developed in another country. The same is true with hot dogs. So, what is our real All-American snack or dish? Do we have one?

Nothing is as American as the pepperoni pizza. I am sure it has been mentioned before but don't order a pepperoni pizza in Italy and expect meat.

What will you get?

Peppers.

just checking . . .

Checking what exactly?

While I agree with Robin that Naples is the site of the first "official" pizza restaurant (in early 1800's), pizza itself can be traced back to the early Roman times (it's mentioned in Virgil's Aeneid), and back to Greece et al.

But, there was an earlier question on this site regarding a truly American food . . .

If one defines "America" as including both North and Central, then I vote for pizza! After all, tomatoes came from the America's originally, were inported into Europe by Spanish explorers, and came to Italy much later! And, in much of the world pizza still means having a red sauce somewhere in the ingredient list . . .

Good article, and no doubt that pizza has become americanized to the extent that a Neapolitan might not recognize what we call pizza. But, that being said it is still a food that was clearly developed in another country. The same is true with hot dogs. So, what is our real All-American snack or dish? Do we have one?

Nothing is as American as the pepperoni pizza. I am sure it has been mentioned before but don't order a pepperoni pizza in Italy and expect meat.

What will you get?

Peppers.

just checking . . .

Checking what exactly?

easy trigger.

While I agree with Robin that Naples is the site of the first "official" pizza restaurant (in early 1800's), pizza itself can be traced back to the early Roman times (it's mentioned in Virgil's Aeneid), and back to Greece et al.

But, there was an earlier question on this site regarding a truly American food . . .

If one defines "America" as including both North and Central, then I vote for pizza! After all, tomatoes came from the America's originally, were inported into Europe by Spanish explorers, and came to Italy much later! And, in much of the world pizza still means having a red sauce somewhere in the ingredient list . . .

pizza is universal it seems. some of the best pizza I ever had was in Paris. I swear.

[Robin Garr]

While I agree with Robin that Naples is the site of the first "official" pizza restaurant (in early 1800's), pizza itself can be traced back to the early Roman times (it's mentioned in Virgil's Aeneid), and back to Greece et al.

We're getting deep into food anthropology arcana here.

I'll agree insofar as flatbread with a topping goes back probably to the dawn of civilization. I'll speculate that even the Greeks got it from Mesopotamia, where flatbread slapped on a hot rock probably pre-dates Babylon and its neighbors.

But I don't think the flatbread that Virgil munched bore enough resemblance to the Neapolitan invention to be fairly described as "pizza."

You were checking on "easy trigger"? Did I miss something? It's hard to understand things through cyberspace.

While I agree with Robin that Naples is the site of the first "official" pizza restaurant (in early 1800's), pizza itself can be traced back to the early Roman times (it's mentioned in Virgil's Aeneid), and back to Greece et al.

But, there was an earlier question on this site regarding a truly American food . . .

If one defines "America" as including both North and Central, then I vote for pizza! After all, tomatoes came from the America's originally, were inported into Europe by Spanish explorers, and came to Italy much later! And, in much of the world pizza still means having a red sauce somewhere in the ingredient list . . .

I thought the tomato was South American in origin?

Ohhhh haha! you mean "easy trigger" as in "relax"? I was truly curious as to what you were checking. You can answer it or not without my getting angry, it just seemed odd. Seemed like a non-sequitur.

[Robin Garr]

I thought the tomato was South American in origin?

Likely so. Here's a fairly scholarly analysis that argues in favor of a source in Peru.

Ohhhh haha! you mean "easy trigger" as in "relax"? I was truly curious as to what you were checking. You can answer it or not without my getting angry, it just seemed odd. Seemed like a non-sequitur.

I truly wanted to know what you got when you ordered a pepperoni pizza in Italy. I know that a bell pepper is called a peperone and the plural is peperoni in Italian, but I was wondering if they gave you something else as a joke on americans or something. Just curious . . .

[Robin Garr]

some of the best pizza I ever had was in Paris. I swear.

I agree. I had a really good one at a place over by the Opéra where I was driven in as the closest refuge from a summer thunderstorm.

I've also had amazing pizza in Marseilles, and in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which isn't as exotic as it sounds, just about 90 kilometers east of the Italian border near Trieste.

In all the above cases, the pizzas were Italian-style, not American-style: Paper-thin, crisp crust, with toppings as a condiment, not a casserole.

Speaking of which, have I mentioned here that Caffe Classico has pizza now for lunch and dinner, and it's excellent Italian-style? Margherita or grilled eggplant, dinner-plate size, $9. Coming next week, pizza alla Bobo with pepperoni (not peperoncini ) and some other meats to be determined.

yet another reason to like Cafe Classico!

Ohhhh haha! you mean "easy trigger" as in "relax"? I was truly curious as to what you were checking. You can answer it or not without my getting angry, it just seemed odd. Seemed like a non-sequitur.

I truly wanted to know what you got when you ordered a pepperoni pizza in Italy. I know that a bell pepper is called a peperone and the plural is peperoni in Italian, but I was wondering if they gave you something else as a joke on americans or something. Just curious . . .

Ah, well I wasnt the one that ordered it. I was there on one of my lovely tours of the mediterranean with the USMC and a friend ordered it and funny enough, thought they were playing a joke on him.

Robin, I never ordered pizza in Slovenia but did travel through there on the way from Bosnia to Aviano. Can't really stop for pizza when you are in a convoy.

I can verify that the pepperoni pizza is a pizza with peppers, at least in Calabria.

It's really good, so if a tourist was given it as a joke, he probably got the last laugh.