Oh, lordy! Do I ever remember the first time this NY born and bred, but currently living in Jersey girl ever ate a pizza in Western Mass. I thought it was the coming of the apocalypse. I still do, in fact.
I spend a lot of time up there. Now I just order it cut in wedges.
The pizza still sucks, however.
Nineiron: From where in Western Mass do you come? Because if you could tell me of a decent Pizza place in the Greenfield/Shelburne Falls area, I’d be much obliged. Northhampton is a bit to fasr south for my purposes. (And that place in Ashfield that’s supposed to be good? It isn’t.)
In Milwaukee, the best pizza (imho) is at a place that makes them oblong, with a very thin crust. Wedges would be difficult to handle. Squares are perfect for handling them with gluttonous glee! And this from a guy who used to think that square pizza pieces were heresy. Live and learn.
Hey, if you like this thread, you might like the previous thread on the subject. I even sent a question about this to Cecil, though he hasn’t gotten back to me. Too busy talking about fish in the urethra, it seems.
It’s the same way here in the capital district of NY. However, in Massachusetts, pizza is always in wedges. Even more proof for my theory that Western Mass is a whole different state.
IMHO is the place for polling. I’m guessing bib thought the thread was more a poll than a question with an answer.
Given the research basis and high traffic in GQ this thread really DOES fit better here.
Cut poor bib some slack, m’kay? He’s still in the probationary period, i.e. locked in a cage in Cecil’s basement, his ankle manacled to a computer desk. He gets a bowl of water, stale Doritos and one bathroom break every 4 hours. But at least he’s stopped flinching at every whipcrack.
That would suit me fine–then my taxes wouldn’t have to go to the freaking Big Dig out in Boston that I will never ever use…
Now that I think about it, though, I did have a friend from Boston way who also thought it odd that we had squares of pizza and not wedges.
So the question is, how do you have a really huge party-sized pizza? If the thing is 36 inches across, how can you possibly have wedges? It wouldn’t fit on a plate. You’re going to have an 18-inch long wedge of pizza? Seems a bit cumbersome. Or maybe the “party sized” pizza is not a popular concept in Boston/wherever else square pieces are not common? It’s somehow comforting around here that if you have people over, you can get a pizza with 40 pieces in it.
When I worked at Domino’s in Lexington, KY if someone wanted their pizza cut into square instead of wedges, we referred to it as a “Chicago Cut”. I have no idea why. I have been to Chicago and the pizza we ordered was cut in wedges.
Here in Connecticut, we have both wedges and squares… always stumped me too, because I prefer wedges (I enjoy being able to grasp the crust- seems to make things neater for me) over squares, but hey, pizza’s pizza.
Then one day, I was at a local pizza joint and realized that if you ordered a small, it came in wedges, and mediums or larger came in squares. It seems that if the pizza is really large, they assume that squares are easier to handle (and they’re probably right) than very long wedges.
Fair enough. I really didn’t mean for it to sound hostile; was more just wondering since it seemed like a cut and dry question (to me). If it really bothered me I would have written one of those Pit posts that’s titled “Bib… a word please” or whatever the in vouge way of yelling at a moderator is
My father, whose parents immigrated from Sicily, prefers wedge slices…and he likes to eat two at a time, one on top of the other, upside down. I guess this is the nearest thing to calzone that he can get in a place that has no Little Italy.
He will, if given the slightest encouragement, reminisce about how the old time bakers would sometimes make small pizzas with leftover bread dough, with only tomato sauce and a bit of cheese. He insists that THIS is how pizzas got started. But he’s happy to eat a loaded pizza.
