I haven't generally bought pizza cookbooks. I did recently receive the Pizza for Everyone cookbook from the Crust Fund Pizza project - John Carruthers' work in Chicago. I LOVE IT! So much great content...and since I lived in the Windy City for a few years in the 80's I have a special spot in my heart for this one. I'll be working my way through it.
I've generally used pizza recipes that are part of other cookbooks. That being said, I'm definitely doing more pizza than ever before and would like to add a book or two to my shelf, so I'll be interested to see what others have to say.
Andrew - did you like Chris Bianco's book? Lived in Phx for more than 30 years and Chris is a character. Interested to hear feedback on that one in particular. Thanks!
Oh, darn! I forgot to put Pizza for Everyone on my stack this morning! It IS great, and I plan to talk about it more here soon. (Might even be a collaboration in the works....)
I can’t even imagine spending $425 on a book. I read about this over the weekend. Would love to hear why the publisher thought this could work. Will enjoy hearing if you review.
OMG I just love the tavern pizza. My BFF and I used to go to a little dive in LaGrange to find the best pizza there...in the 80's..LOL. Now I have to check for the one you mention above! Deep dish is on my agenda for Friday.
I love Pizza for Everyone. In addition to great information, it is just plain fun. I also like Marc Vetri's Mastering Pizza and Peter Rinehart's Perfect Pan Pizza.
I bought Pizza Camp and Pizza Czar on Kindle. It's not a great format for recipes, but it's nice to be able to quickly pull up on my phone. Still, I miss flipping through a physical book. I also have Jim Lahey's My Pizza, which I like for toppings inspiration. I've had the most luck with the dough recipes from Pizza Camp, but I like reading about process/method in all these books.
I haven't read Bianco yet but it's currently free(!) on Kindle Unlimited so I picked it up.
the first pizza book i delved into with any seriousness was Charles & Michele Scicolone's Pizza--Any Way You Slice It, back in the '90s. prolly the most recent was was Ken Forkish's Elements of Pizza, which i really enjoyed. i've also wondered about Bianco's book---whenever we visit Phoenix, Pizzeria Bianco is our traditional first stop right after we get to town. i'd love to hear more about him and what people think of his book...
Follow Chris on Instagram if you haven't already. He's done a lot for the food scene in Phoenix, he's had a couple things that didn't work and he did some rework to another concept. I can tell you from the few years I lived part time in Tucson, the city's residents were CRUSHED when he closed the Tucson restaurant. The one good thing that came out of that was that one of his main employees opened his own shop so they ended up getting similarly excellent pies back in the city. As far as I know, Chris has not yet signed a deal with another group in Tucson that was trying to get him to come back. As you might know, Tucson is a City of Gastronomy and has some excellent food.
The Gabriele Bonci book is one I paid way too much for and have never opened after a first glance through it. I did get the feeling that he omitted some key steps to success with his formula and method. The photography is beautiful and the topping ideas are good, but not $75 good! If I've got this wrong and should really be trying his formula, please comment and let me know!
I'm also a fan of Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish. There are many delicious dough options complete with flexible timelines. It makes me feel like I'm in control of the schedule instead of the dough. I also like the detailed cooking instructions flipping between bake and broil to get just the pizza I want.
I would love to have a book focusing on Chicago style pizza like the original Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due. I still shudder at the awful pizza put out by the West Coast franchises of Pizzeria Uno.
I like Jim Lahey's books in general and find them informative, practical, and great recipes. "My Pizza" is no exception and probably my go-to. But I've also enjoyed Marco Vetri's "Mastering Pizza." I use a largish wood-fired oven (cob) for my micro-bakery business and use it for making pizza on the weekends. Vetri's book addresses wood-fired recipes and also a nice variety of styles such as Naples, Roman Doughs, Pizza al Taglio, Calzones, etc. I like Vetri's casual approach, too, esp. in his instructions: " ... knead the dough like a cat would, pressing your hands and fingers into it ... observe the beauty of the dough as it comes together in a ragged mass."
Do you have an opinion about "The Pizza Bible: The World's Favorite Pizza Styles, from Neapolitan, Deep-Dish, Wood-Fired, Sicilian, Calzones and Focaccia to New York, New Haven, Detroit, and More" by Tony Gemignani?
I also love "American Pie," but mainly because I love the author's writing style. To me it communicates both technical content and a heartfelt love of the topic.
I haven't generally bought pizza cookbooks. I did recently receive the Pizza for Everyone cookbook from the Crust Fund Pizza project - John Carruthers' work in Chicago. I LOVE IT! So much great content...and since I lived in the Windy City for a few years in the 80's I have a special spot in my heart for this one. I'll be working my way through it.
I've generally used pizza recipes that are part of other cookbooks. That being said, I'm definitely doing more pizza than ever before and would like to add a book or two to my shelf, so I'll be interested to see what others have to say.
Andrew - did you like Chris Bianco's book? Lived in Phx for more than 30 years and Chris is a character. Interested to hear feedback on that one in particular. Thanks!
Oh, darn! I forgot to put Pizza for Everyone on my stack this morning! It IS great, and I plan to talk about it more here soon. (Might even be a collaboration in the works....)
Here's a link if anyone wants to buy a copy before they sell out (again) https://hi-buddy.org/products/pizza-for-everyone
I can’t even imagine spending $425 on a book. I read about this over the weekend. Would love to hear why the publisher thought this could work. Will enjoy hearing if you review.
Just wanted to pop in to say that the TMNT pizza cookbook from 2017 is shockingly excellent. (Also, thanks Sharon!)
LOL, I was like "which restaurant's name has the initials TMNT let me do a search"
Ordering a copy today!
What can I say? I'm an alley pizza guy. Of course I look to the sewers for inspiration.
OMG I just love the tavern pizza. My BFF and I used to go to a little dive in LaGrange to find the best pizza there...in the 80's..LOL. Now I have to check for the one you mention above! Deep dish is on my agenda for Friday.
The only book I've really used so far is The Elements of Pizza, which I love. Am looking forward to trying some of these other recommendations though.
Like Amy, I love Elements of Pizza. I found Bianco's book decent, but not good enough to compete with Elements.
I love Pizza for Everyone. In addition to great information, it is just plain fun. I also like Marc Vetri's Mastering Pizza and Peter Rinehart's Perfect Pan Pizza.
I bought Pizza Camp and Pizza Czar on Kindle. It's not a great format for recipes, but it's nice to be able to quickly pull up on my phone. Still, I miss flipping through a physical book. I also have Jim Lahey's My Pizza, which I like for toppings inspiration. I've had the most luck with the dough recipes from Pizza Camp, but I like reading about process/method in all these books.
I haven't read Bianco yet but it's currently free(!) on Kindle Unlimited so I picked it up.
the first pizza book i delved into with any seriousness was Charles & Michele Scicolone's Pizza--Any Way You Slice It, back in the '90s. prolly the most recent was was Ken Forkish's Elements of Pizza, which i really enjoyed. i've also wondered about Bianco's book---whenever we visit Phoenix, Pizzeria Bianco is our traditional first stop right after we get to town. i'd love to hear more about him and what people think of his book...
Follow Chris on Instagram if you haven't already. He's done a lot for the food scene in Phoenix, he's had a couple things that didn't work and he did some rework to another concept. I can tell you from the few years I lived part time in Tucson, the city's residents were CRUSHED when he closed the Tucson restaurant. The one good thing that came out of that was that one of his main employees opened his own shop so they ended up getting similarly excellent pies back in the city. As far as I know, Chris has not yet signed a deal with another group in Tucson that was trying to get him to come back. As you might know, Tucson is a City of Gastronomy and has some excellent food.
The Gabriele Bonci book is one I paid way too much for and have never opened after a first glance through it. I did get the feeling that he omitted some key steps to success with his formula and method. The photography is beautiful and the topping ideas are good, but not $75 good! If I've got this wrong and should really be trying his formula, please comment and let me know!
I'm also a fan of Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish. There are many delicious dough options complete with flexible timelines. It makes me feel like I'm in control of the schedule instead of the dough. I also like the detailed cooking instructions flipping between bake and broil to get just the pizza I want.
I would love to have a book focusing on Chicago style pizza like the original Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due. I still shudder at the awful pizza put out by the West Coast franchises of Pizzeria Uno.
I like Jim Lahey's books in general and find them informative, practical, and great recipes. "My Pizza" is no exception and probably my go-to. But I've also enjoyed Marco Vetri's "Mastering Pizza." I use a largish wood-fired oven (cob) for my micro-bakery business and use it for making pizza on the weekends. Vetri's book addresses wood-fired recipes and also a nice variety of styles such as Naples, Roman Doughs, Pizza al Taglio, Calzones, etc. I like Vetri's casual approach, too, esp. in his instructions: " ... knead the dough like a cat would, pressing your hands and fingers into it ... observe the beauty of the dough as it comes together in a ragged mass."
Do you have an opinion about "The Pizza Bible: The World's Favorite Pizza Styles, from Neapolitan, Deep-Dish, Wood-Fired, Sicilian, Calzones and Focaccia to New York, New Haven, Detroit, and More" by Tony Gemignani?
I also love "American Pie," but mainly because I love the author's writing style. To me it communicates both technical content and a heartfelt love of the topic.