Pizza Deliveries

[Vigile]

Over there the pizzas are smaller and thinner and they don't put nearly as much glop on it, though there's much more variety in terms of ingredients and whatnot, and it's not considered truly true pizza unless the person making it got a certification from the Italian government after going to a special pizza chef school. Many Italians can go on and on in great detail about how the crust, cheese, etc., is supposed to be, and will almost sound like wine snobs. If made a certain way it can even count as "healthy", and otherwise it's not seen as particularly unhealthy unless you get one with four different cheeses on it or something.

 

My favorite is the one that has asparagus fanned out from the middle and a fresh egg dropped in the center that cooks from the hot dough after it comes out of the oven.

 

After living there a while I took a trip to Zurich where they had a Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut tasted great at the time as it was American food. I can't even put Italian pizza in the same category as American pizza. They are just too entirely different.

 

I have admittedly become a food snob after traveling too. One thing I noticed my last visit to the US is that all the restaurant and snack food that I used to like so much now just tastes bland and greasy and overly salty.

 

Domino's saved me in India btw. Indian food is awesome, but after 3 months you are just dying for a change and Domino's delivers in Goa.

[Vigile]

Anyway, I find that pizza from a local independent shop is well worth the extra cost compared to the national chain stores. When it comes to food for enjoyment as opposed to mere sustenance, I want it from somebody who sells their product based on taste and quality, not the cheapest price and a free liter of Pepsi.

 

When living in DC our rule was the grungier the restaurant, the better the food. And we had some world class food in that town averaging only $10-$15/plate. It's a good rule, go to the mom and pop places. Keep the small business owners working and if you're picky, get much, much better food and service than the slop slopped out by 15 yo kids with acne problems.

 

[Midnight-mindwanderings]

I mostly hate American Pizza. I will eat it if its all there is but rarely more than one slice. I grew up in Europe so maybe that is why. I also tend to think American food is too salty though I don't mind the greasiness. If I have to choose a pizza chain it would be Old Chicago take out. Cicis and Little Caesars both make me sick. I had amazing pizza in New York once (never lived there just visited). When I order delivery I get either Domino's pasta bowls or the pasta from Pizza hut or hot wings. I've never really seen a quality problem with delivery except perhaps poor slicing.

[Vomit Comet]

My favorite is the one that has asparagus fanned out from the middle and a fresh egg dropped in the center that cooks from the hot dough after it comes out of the oven.

 

Whoah! I don't remember that one. Must be a regional thing? Sounds worth trying at least once.

 

The best pizza I remember having had salami on it made from wild boar, and that was the only topping. Perfection itself.

 

The last pizza I had in Italy before I had to come back (about a week and a half ago) was a white pizza with buffala cheese and eggplants and whatnot on it. Superb.

 

After living there a while I took a trip to Zurich where they had a Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut tasted great at the time as it was American food. I can't even put Italian pizza in the same category as American pizza. They are just too entirely different.

 

In Italy there are some crappy fast food type places, usually inside large shopping malls, that's kinda similar to crappy American pizza. Usually you'll see teenagers hanging out there after school or something. One such place had something called "American pizza." It was basically just cheese pizza with... french fries on it. Yak!

 

One time when I was flying back to America out of the Venice airport, I sat next to an Air Force guy who was rotating home. He said "I can't wait to have In 'N Out Burger and Papa John's." In N' Out is a legendary burger chain that only exists in California and Las Vegas.

 

I have admittedly become a food snob after traveling too. One thing I noticed my last visit to the US is that all the restaurant and snack food that I used to like so much now just tastes bland and greasy and overly salty.

 

I definitely notice the blandness and the saltiness.

 

Domino's saved me in India btw. Indian food is awesome, but after 3 months you are just dying for a change and Domino's delivers in Goa.

 

I tried to make macaroni and cheese the last time I was over there and had a hell of a time finding cheese that approximated cheddar. I went to one cheese place and the guy got all indignant and said "this is Italy!" Also, most Italians will recoil with disgust if you describe mac and cheese to them, and they'll also gag if you describe fettucine alfredo to them. Both of those, as well as spaghetti and meatballs, are as American as apple pie.

[Guest Valk0010]

I have been pretty well burned out on fast food. I kind of am disgusted by it, because of how bad it is for you, and also I have had fast food from places enough times in my life, I think I am permanently bored of it. Only enough times you can have burger king before it becomes blegh. I still love pizza(our kind) like no tomorrow and particularly enjoy pizza buffets. I will eat fast food if there is no other way around it, besides going hungry(if I am traveling, for example). But mostly the only thing I like that is even close to fast food, is the safeway deli/asian stuff.

 

Now to the point, I have never had a problem with pizza delivery, then again I live in a small enough town, that there is only one place that delivers. Its a pizza factory.

[Neon Genesis]

Speaking of unhealthy fast food, the last time we went to Burger King, I checked the calories chart they had up and they said their triple cheeseburgers had something like 1000 calories in it. I know I'm going to stay far away from that. It's like a heart attack waiting to happen.

[Vigile]

 

 

I tried to make macaroni and cheese the last time I was over there and had a hell of a time finding cheese that approximated cheddar. I went to one cheese place and the guy got all indignant and said "this is Italy!" Also, most Italians will recoil with disgust if you describe mac and cheese to them, and they'll also gag if you describe fettucine alfredo to them. Both of those, as well as spaghetti and meatballs, are as American as apple pie.

 

I think most American Italian is an Americanized version of Southern Italian food. I've not been to Sicily but my wife has and she said the food there isn't nearly as good as it is in the North. It could have been her choice of restaurants though. When I took her across the North I took her to places I or my friends knew that had world class food.

 

You can get cheddar here in Russia now btw. Check out this mac and cheese recipe. The Italians would likely appreciate it more than Kraft: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/quick-tomato-macaroni-cheese

[Vixentrox]

I spent 6 months in Italy and the pizza was good but I wouldn't call it any better (or worse)than what I buy from a pizza chain. It was just a different and equally good style. The other Italian dishes were also good and slightly different in style and presentation than what you get at Olive Garden.

[MagickMonkey]

It's funny, but I never made the connection between mac n cheese and Italian food. My grandma makes the BEST mac n cheese EVER. She doesn't use cheddar. I think she just uses velveeta or maybe sliced American cheese. Whatever it is, she makes it taste great. If I were to describe some of the stuff she cooks, it would seem quite mundane. However, it always tastes wonderful. The two great grandmothers I was lucky enough to get to know where the same way. Simple food, simple ingredients, always made from scratch, phenomenal results.

 

My wife seems to have a similar gift. She's great at improvising. One time, she made something that had chicken, rice, grated orange peel, and I don't know what else - it it kicked ass. I tried talking her into making it again, and she could not remember how she made it. She basically just pulled the recipie out of her ass. Restaurant's are great every now and then, but it's hard to beat good home cooked meals.

[Vigile]

The other Italian dishes were also good and slightly different in style and presentation than what you get at Olive Garden.

 

Ugh, I can't even look at Olive Garden after living in Italy. Overcooked pasta, bad wine, and sauce that likely gets shipped in in frozen blocks. But then I lived with a group of Italians that were food and wine connoisseurs - one roommate even wrote her PhD thesis on how soil chemistry affects the taste of the grape - and I ate very, very well there.

[R. S. Martin]

Wow! I never knew one could write 30-plus posts based on Pizza alone. It shows how very culture-based food is. Culturally, I'm a transplanted horse and buggy Mennonite from the farm, trying to figure out how to live without a garden and barn with which to produce my own food from scratch. That is "scratch" as in seed (possibly home-grown, or not) and fertilized animal as in naturally or artificially inseminated so that your food grows from the soil and on the hoof, etc.

 

In learning how to survive in the city I have discovered pizza in the grocery store. Home-delivery pizza? I'm not sure what that is.

 

And it's a breakfast food? I eat it for supper.

 

Seems I've still got a ways to go. Or is it because all of you are American where things are done differently than in Canada?

[MagickMonkey]

Wow! I never knew one could write 30-plus posts based on Pizza alone. It shows how very culture-based food is. Culturally, I'm a transplanted horse and buggy Mennonite from the farm, trying to figure out how to live without a garden and barn with which to produce my own food from scratch. That is "scratch" as in seed (possibly home-grown, or not) and fertilized animal as in naturally or artificially inseminated so that your food grows from the soil and on the hoof, etc.

 

In learning how to survive in the city I have discovered pizza in the grocery store. Home-delivery pizza? I'm not sure what that is.

 

And it's a breakfast food? I eat it for supper.

 

Seems I've still got a ways to go. Or is it because all of you are American where things are done differently than in Canada?

 

Leftover pizza is sometimes used as a quick breakfast food, but not generally considered proper breakfast food. In other words, people eat it for breakfast, even if it isn't actually classified as a breakfast food.

[R. S. Martin]

Wow! I never knew one could write 30-plus posts based on Pizza alone. It shows how very culture-based food is. Culturally, I'm a transplanted horse and buggy Mennonite from the farm, trying to figure out how to live without a garden and barn with which to produce my own food from scratch. That is "scratch" as in seed (possibly home-grown, or not) and fertilized animal as in naturally or artificially inseminated so that your food grows from the soil and on the hoof, etc.

 

In learning how to survive in the city I have discovered pizza in the grocery store. Home-delivery pizza? I'm not sure what that is.

 

And it's a breakfast food? I eat it for supper.

 

Seems I've still got a ways to go. Or is it because all of you are American where things are done differently than in Canada?

 

Leftover pizza is sometimes used as a quick breakfast food, but not generally considered proper breakfast food. In other words, people eat it for breakfast, even if it isn't actually classified as a breakfast food.

 

Oh I see. I do that kind of thing, too. So we're not all that different after all.

[Vomit Comet]

I spent 6 months in Italy

 

Aviano?

 

and slightly different in style and presentation than what you get at Olive Garden.

 

Blasphemy!!!!!!!

[Neon Genesis]

Home-delivery pizza? I'm not sure what that is.

 

 

There are some pizza restaurants that have it set up so you can call the restaurant up from your home to order a pizza and then they send someone to drive the pizza that they cooked at the restaurant to deliver it to you at home so you don't have to go out to the restaurant yourself to pick it up.

[Vixentrox]

I spent 6 months in Italy

 

Aviano?

 

Three months at Milan and three months at Pisa.

[Vigile]

I spent 6 months in Italy

 

Aviano?

 

Three months at Milan and three months at Pisa.

 

Pisa? It's so small. I didn't realize there was a military base there.

 

My cousin was stationed outside Verona. He flew A-6s for the Navy, but I think he was at an AF base.

[R. S. Martin]

Home-delivery pizza? I'm not sure what that is.

 

 

There are some pizza restaurants that have it set up so you can call the restaurant up from your home to order a pizza and then they send someone to drive the pizza that they cooked at the restaurant to deliver it to you at home so you don't have to go out to the restaurant yourself to pick it up.

 

Thanks for explaining. I get slick shiny ads all the time with pics of cheesy-looking stuff that I suppose is supposed to get my mouth watering. Might that be for home-delivery pizza? I suspect so. They all go into the garbage because I'm not into that kind of lifestyle. Too costly for starters. So that ends it.

[Vomit Comet]

Pisa? It's so small. I didn't realize there was a military base there.

 

I didn't realize there were so many American bases in Italy. What gives!?

[Guest Valk0010]

Home-delivery pizza? I'm not sure what that is.

 

 

There are some pizza restaurants that have it set up so you can call the restaurant up from your home to order a pizza and then they send someone to drive the pizza that they cooked at the restaurant to deliver it to you at home so you don't have to go out to the restaurant yourself to pick it up.

 

Thanks for explaining. I get slick shiny ads all the time with pics of cheesy-looking stuff that I suppose is supposed to get my mouth watering. Might that be for home-delivery pizza? I suspect so. They all go into the garbage because I'm not into that kind of lifestyle. Too costly for starters. So that ends it.

Trash...ever heard of recycling

[Vixentrox]

I spent 6 months in Italy

 

Aviano?

 

Three months at Milan and three months at Pisa.

 

Pisa? It's so small. I didn't realize there was a military base there.

 

My cousin was stationed outside Verona. He flew A-6s for the Navy, but I think he was at an AF base.

We were based out of the joint civil/military airport there.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei_Airport

 

While at Milan we operated out of Milano Malpensa airport. On the side of the airport away from the terminals was a small Italian AF area. I worked out of a building that was still suffering from WW2 bomb damage; about 25% of the roof was caved in from a small bomb hit.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malpensa_Airport

[Vixentrox]

Pisa? It's so small. I didn't realize there was a military base there.

 

I didn't realize there were so many American bases in Italy. What gives!?

They were not American military bases, just civil airports that had an Italian military side to them. There USED to be quite a number of American bases but the majority have been closed for years.

[fallenleaf]

All this talk of pizza has me going wild. So I am going to make one tonight. I started the dough about an hour ago and in a couple more hours, it will be ready. It won't be as good as when I make it a couple days in advance and let it rest in the fridge but I will survive. Then I always keep a good block of cheese around so I'll grate that. And I just use jar spaghetti sauce for the sauce... I should learn to make my own; that would be really cool.

 

And then I will take this borderline unhealthy food and push it way beyond that edge. By topping it with bacon and pepperoni... yum... I can't wait. Well, I can and I will wait at least a couple hours... but I really don't want to!

[R. S. Martin]

Home-delivery pizza? I'm not sure what that is.

 

 

There are some pizza restaurants that have it set up so you can call the restaurant up from your home to order a pizza and then they send someone to drive the pizza that they cooked at the restaurant to deliver it to you at home so you don't have to go out to the restaurant yourself to pick it up.

 

Thanks for explaining. I get slick shiny ads all the time with pics of cheesy-looking stuff that I suppose is supposed to get my mouth watering. Might that be for home-delivery pizza? I suspect so. They all go into the garbage because I'm not into that kind of lifestyle. Too costly for starters. So that ends it.

Trash...ever heard of recycling

 

What's the difference? The stuff in the recycling bin goes out of the house and out to the curb and is therefore in my mind the same as garbage/trash.

 

That Waste Management sends out one garbage truck to pick up the garbage bags and another to pick up the newspapers and other blue bin stuff does not make it "not trash" in my mind. I keep "non-trash" in the house.