Friday Pizza Box 11/12/21
Greasy Frybread Edition
Welcome to this week’s Wordloaf Friday Pizza Box, a roundup of links and intel about pizza and other flatbreads.
Before we jump into the items, just a reminder about the Sicilian Slab Friday Night Pizza Party class that I am holding on 11/26 at 1:30pm EST. (There was a slight glitch in the payment processing system the other day that has now been resolved—sorry if you couldn’t get a ticket.) If you cannot make the class but still want to partake, it will be available as a video download within a day or so after the class ends for all participants.
Eat Your Pizza However You Like
How our former *president chooses to eat his pies notwithstanding, it’s fine to use a knife and a fork to eat pizza, especially when the style of pie dictates it. This recent piece at Eater is all about why pizza in Brazil demands utensils for safe consumption:
Another example is the quatro queijos, an extra-cheesy concoction of mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola, and the soft catupiry cheese. It comes piping hot, and lifting it with your hands can set off an avalanche of gooey cheese onto your lap. I would never attempt to eat such a slice without utensils, and if you happen to find yourself in a Brazilian pizzeria, you shouldn’t either.
A Good Pizza Tweet
MA Finally Gets its Pizza Due
I often despair about the state of pizza in my home state of Massachusetts, but really we do have some stellar pies here if you know where to look. Which is why I was chuffed to see MA get a ranking of 8 in Food & Wine’s recent list of the best pizzas in every state of the US:
Boston likes to play the field, but Massachusetts is home to at least three very distinctive regional styles, the first being Greek pizza, which for these purposes is only Greek in the sense that it was invented by a Greek guy who opened a pizzeria somewhere in New England. A Greek pie is a crust-forward affair, thick but when done correctly, never a stodgefest; the tomato sauce will be insignificant, and the cheese will be a blend of mozzarella, typically cut liberally with cheddar. You will find this style in every corner of the state, from The Berkshires to The Cape, where it's George's Pizza House in Harwich Port you want.
I was especially emotional on behalf of my North Shore-native pal Terrence to see beach pizza joints Tripoli Bakery and Christy’s get a nod.
Greasy Greasy Frybread
The Hulu show Reservation Dogs is one of my favorite TV experiences of 2021, and if you haven’t watched it yet, you have lots to look forward to. One of my favorite moments is this hip hop video about the Native American flatbread classic, frybread:
Working on a stove top
Greasy Frybread
Greasy Greasy Frybread
Slap that dough
Slap that dough
Watch the grease pop!
That’s it for this week’s Friday Pizza Box. I hope you all have a pizza-full and peaceful weekend.
—Andrew