Yeah, sure. Didn't have any plans for lunch. I haven't had pizza in some time, years in fact, with good reason.
She had Domino's deliver, she had several of these:
Sigh. I remembered why I haven't had pizza in a few years. I spent too much time in Italy in that time, and had pizza there.
I was a frequenter of Shakey's Pizza place in Bend growing up. It was fine then, have them put a bunch of stuff on top, it was fine with a coke. But then I went to Italy......
Wood ovens, thin crisp crust, fresh mozzarella di bufala (water buffalo mozzarella), a simple tomato paste and a few basil leaves and a dab of local olive oil. My daughter and I had it for the first time in Venice for lunch. We were served each a pizza, looked at it and took a bite. We wondered why we'd ever eaten anything else. The 22 year old girl across the table looked at it after a bite and said "I want to marry the cook and have his babies". I shrugged. "You've got my blessing."
But seriously, if you've not had pizza in Naples, Rome, Florence or wherever in Italy....do. I've been to 'good pizza' places here in the US, in Brooklyn, San Francisco, and they are fine, but they don't match up.
Hey, dude, sounds like a good idea! Just as soon as I rake together the dough (intended - I'm shameless) to travel to Italy, I'll make homegrown pizza my first meal in the Motherland.
ReplyDeleteDo you recall the French bread of New Orleans - the po'boy loaf - that thin crust, airy soft interior that you can find only there? Part of it is the natural yeast that floats around the city then mingles with whatever starter they use, to manifest magic, to bring heaven to earth in a 'pain baton' worth selling your soul to taste. omigod-omigod-omigod!
Mostly I remember the bignet's I'd get with a big cup of coffee, that and the oysters and crawfish.
DeleteDaughters with great quirky senses of humor. Everybody should have one. I do.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but then there's the fact-checker one just below. She chased me off facebook (actually it was boring) now follows me around like Spock correcting Kirk.
DeleteUh. You've had pizza quite a bit more recently than a few years. With us. Several times.
ReplyDeleteFine, fine, so I exaggerated a tad. Artistic license......
DeleteMy daughter might say something like that. Sans the offspring part.
ReplyDeleteI do have in my possession a book of Italian pizza recipes, although, in the typing of that, I can imagine you patting me atop the head and saying in a soft voice;
"That's so cute..."
Heh.
DeleteSeriously though, I've read it has to do with something they do with the dough, and letting it set a day before using. That, and the fresh ingredients. Fresh mozzarella is key.
In reference to my blog today
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear more about your wife
That happened to us when we went to Venice. My husband isn't really a pizza lover but, four of us shared a pizza in a quiet little restaurant in Venice and it was amazing……. hardly any crust, tomato sauce, buffalo mozzerella and basil …. nectar and nothing like any pizza that I've had before or after { apart from ones in other Italian cities } !!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteWe, youngest and I, had pizza there at a similar place...we were in a b&b on Lido Is, and I had some ecellent cuttlefish pasta in Lido.
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ReplyDeleteCount me in with those who have to save up for plane fare. Meanwhile, I'll just have to keep my fond memories of Hot Lips in Portland. I prefer not to discuss Halifax, NS pizza.
ReplyDeleteHeh, I remember Hot Lips, also Blondie's in Berkeley. Memories of a time past. The best steak I've ever had was at the Ringside on Burnside, with my son. Their Onion rings were good too.
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