Eat This: Fry Me To the Moon

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Fry Me To the Moon

I have recently been referred to as "the pizza guy" by my friends. I have absolutely no idea why. And everybody seems to have a suggestion for what the pizza guy should try next. I love everybody's enthusiasm. I'll just feel bad if I go to somebody's favorite pizza place and then give it a horrible review because it's greasy or not as crispy as I like. Then I turn from the pizza guy into the bad guy.

Among these recommendations, I get lots of texts and facebook messages telling me about a new pizza variation that somebody just stumbled on. Breakfast pizza, Indian pizza, Vegan pizza. They all exist. And I'm more curious than anybody, but I don't think it's really fair to include them in my search. Nobody in their right mind would say these are the best pizzas in New York. Maybe the weirdest.

One variation I was intrigued enough to try was deep fried pizza. That's right - you heard it correctly - deep. fried. pizza. Chip Shop in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn is a British pub/restaurant where they will literally batter and deep fry anything. In addition to pizza and the usual cod and haddock, they also fry hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, cherry pie, and a number of candy bars. And although it's not listed on the menu, I have a feeling they also fry an artery or two.

You can't help but laugh as you eat this pizza. It's just sort of ridiculous. It tastes pretty good - kind of like a really rich and battery mozzarella stick. The tomato sauce and most of the cheese gets lost, but who cares when the batter is this delicious.

I guess, it's official. I have to be the "pizza guy" to travel to Brooklyn specifically to try a deep fried slice. Either the pizza guy or British. It's crazy to me - the Brits have both Shakespeare and deep fried snickers. Where did we Americans go wrong?

Is Chip Shop's deep fried pizza the best pizza in NY? Come on, in all fairness, I'm not giving this a rating. It's almost not even pizza anymore. It tastes really good and if you're a fan of fried foods and heart attacks, then I urge you to give it a try.

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Pizza, Pizza

Which came first - the cheese or the tomato? The answer isn't nearly as mysterious as the much publicized chicken and egg debate. The first pizzas in Naples were known as tomato pies and were really food for the poor people. Cheese didn’t become a popular pizza topping until later.

When Genaro Lombardi (perhaps Gino to his friends?) opened his grocery store in Little Italy in 1905, it was the tomato pies that he sold to local workers. The pies cost five cents but if somebody was not able to scrounge up the nickel, they were allowed to pay what they could afford and Gino would cut them a piece worth that amount. Hence, the birth of the slice.

Lombardi’s was the first pizzeria in New York. And it’s a fact that two of Gino’s employees went on to open other famous pizza institutions in New York that still serve Neapolitan pizzas today. Antonio "Totonno Pero" was the first pizzaiolo and probably the culinary genius behind Lombardi’s famous pizza. In 1924, he packed his bags and opened his own shop, Totonno’s, in Coney Island. John Sasso was also an employee of Gino's who left with his own entrepreneurial ambitions. John’s of Bleecker Street still has huge lines down the street in the West Village.

Rumor has it that Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri also worked at Lombardi’s prior to trekking uptown to Harlem (before the express trains existed) and opening his own pizzeria called Patsy’s. Patsy had a nephew named Patsy Grimaldi who trained with him and eventually opened his own place under the Brooklyn Bridge called Grimaldi’s. As you can tell, these guys were not terribly creative when it came to naming their stores.

These five self-centered Italians are still the heroes of pizza. They paved the way for everybody else who has entered the pizza race in New York. And it’s because of them we have such delicious pizza today.

There’s no question that New York pizza is the best, freshest in the country. Could it be the vast population of Italian immigrants in New York at the turn of last century? Could it be the skill of New York’s chefs over the rest of the country? Most likely it has to do with the city’s water and its rich mineral content. New York has some of the best tap water in the country. Surprise, surprise. Whatever the reason is, the pizza in New York is tops and I’m off to find the best pie in town. Pizza, I’m ready to... Eat This!

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Fry Me To the Moon

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