# What's the deal with Red Baron pizza? Why is a German who killed people the mascot of a pizza company? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 26, 2021, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789 "2021-02-26T09:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/121 "2021-03-01T14:36:28Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > And how come we don’t have an Erich Hartmann Pizza?! Well, if we’re talking about naming pizzas after famous aces, why not [Dick Bong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bong) pizza? People with juvenile senses of humor would remember it, stoners would remember it, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/122 "2021-03-01T17:07:55Z")
I used to know a guy who had a dick bong. Called it “the ultimate test to see if you’re comfortable with your heterosexuality.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/123 "2021-03-01T17:17:26Z")
Dick Bong, Ace of Aces. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/124 "2021-03-01T17:44:19Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Well, if we’re talking about naming pizzas after famous aces, why not [Dick Bong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bong) pizza? People with juvenile senses of humor would remember it, stoners would remember it, etc… As that Wikipedia article notes, there’s a Wisconsin State Recreation Area named after Bong (a site which originally was slated to be Bong Air Force Base). The signs for the area are frequently stolen. 😃 [![](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto,h_1248,w_2220/f_auto,q_auto,w_1100/v1555928534/shape/mentalfloss/500bong_5.jpg) ](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto,h_1248,w_2220/f_auto,q_auto,w_1100/v1555928534/shape/mentalfloss/500bong_5.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/125 "2021-03-01T18:43:53Z")
I would have assumed flatbread is a generic hyperonym including pizza and Flammekueche as well as any other type of… flat bread like lahmacun, injera, Iraqi pita, papadum… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/126 "2021-03-01T18:54:04Z")
“Hi! I’m Fred Bongs, from Bongs’ Hardware. We sell all kinds of hardware here, but, please, we don’t sell bongs!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VUGaZbl4T04/maxresdefault.jpg "Ta-Daa") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUGaZbl4T04) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/127 "2021-03-02T00:57:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I do indeed. But I think that I’m correct in saying that _Flammekueche_ is not widely known in the US. Or _tartes flambees_ . In a multicultural society that prizes creativity and originality (and in which restaurants are striving to come up with something different to set themselves apart), I find that surprising. I don’t even recall this coming up on any of those restaurant shows on TV, or in the Sunday supplements. Ditto. Color me surprised that a) this exists, and b) in all my travels around the US and all the places I’ve lived, I’ve never heard of it in the USA. Flatbreads are certainly generic enough in the last 10-ish years. Whether _Flammekueche_ are flatbreads or flatbreads are _Flammekueche_ seems arguable. _Flammekueche_ are (IMO probably) a type of flatbread. But not vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/128 "2021-03-02T01:24:56Z")
They are certainly a type of flatbread, but they’re not really what is “flatbread” on a US menu. The flatbreads I’ve had at pubs were generally made from leavened dough (which flatbreads _usually_ aren’t, but not always, as pizza, pita, naan, are all types of leavened flatbreads) and they were thicker than what I’ve seen flammekueche to be. The traditional toppings are mentioned in the previous post. It’s also traditionally cooked in a very hot wood burning oven, much like Italian pizzas, and the edges have a beautiful char on them. There’s this video that just makes me drool. It’s in French, but you don’t really need to understand it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Icjc23QjU7w/maxresdefault.jpg "Gastronomie : le flammekueche, la tarte flambée alsacienne - Météo à la carte") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icjc23QjU7w) At 4:44 you can see it go into the oven and come out at 5:00 and see the results, but before that you can see the construction of it (as well as a little bit about commercial production of flammekuechen.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/129 "2021-03-02T01:39:14Z")
And this is how to make your own; this is the recipe that showed up in my Youtube feed originally about a year ago: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_fA6HA4o4iI/maxresdefault.jpg "Flammkuchen Is the New Pizza") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fA6HA4o4iI) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/130 "2021-03-02T03:19:36Z")
> [@Dinoguy](#): > > There was (not sure if it’s there anymore) a Dallas restaurant called Campesi’s Egyptian (may have misspelled it) that had the best pizza - one of those dark places with checkered tablecloths and bottles of Chianti (sp?) on the tables. Great atmosphere, there was some rumor a local Don played poker in a back room. They’re still around. Their odd thin crust pizza that was a laterally cut oval was something you could only find at Campisi’s in the DFW area until about 20 years ago, when a couple of imitators and offshoots began springing up. I’m not sure if that particular style comes from elsewhere or it is their creation. It really is a delicious pizza. Some of the offshoots/imitators are as good as Campisi’s. But yeah, Campisi’s is different from the normal Americanized Italian food. Still strongly spiced, but a different arrangement of the spices. The “Egyptian” moniker came from the original lounge, which I expect was to make the place seem exotic. When they changed to a restaurant, they just switched “Lounge” to “Restaurant” out of not having the money to change the whole sign. The only mob connection I know for certain is that Jack Ruby ate there the night before he shot Oswald, and the Campisi’s visited Ruby in jail by his request. They actually talk about it in their history: > **[Our History | Campisi's Restaurants | Best Italian & Pizza | Since 1946](https://www.campisis.us/history/)** > > Our family history in America begins back in 1904, when our great-grandparents, Carlo “Papa” and Antonia Campisi, immigrated from Sicily to New Orleans. My new base of operations has always been a strange place. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/131 "2021-03-02T05:30:43Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > At the low end, Totino’s Party Pizza, which is probably at or very near the very bottom of the barrel. Yes, same here. It is “pizza like substance” but it is cheap and more edible that crap costing many times that price. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/132 "2021-03-02T05:49:53Z")
Can you strafe upward? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/133 "2021-03-02T06:40:13Z")
Totinos Pepperoni pizza that comes already squared and with the cubed pepperoni is the closest I’ve ever come to my childhood grade school pizza memories, so i have deep respect for it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/134 "2021-03-02T16:58:50Z")
A Proustian memory. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/135 "2021-04-04T18:48:36Z")
The way **HH** used the word - no. Rather than start a new thread, I’ll just add to this one: My new favorite frozen pizza is from Trader Joe’s. Their Pizza Parlanno is a damn fine pie, for frozen. Just don’t read the nutrition label. ---
**Author:** ![DreamsOfACheetah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@DreamsOfACheetah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreamsOfACheetah)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/136 "2021-04-06T04:32:27Z")
in response to solost’s post early on: 🤨😆 🤣 🤪 I spent 10 minutes laughing at this. “Remember the a la mode”, priceless. You made my day! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/137 "2021-04-06T11:56:41Z")
Glad you got a good laugh! I lol at many comments on this board, so it’s nice to return the favor every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789/138 "2021-04-06T19:30:02Z")
I’m > [@scabpicker](#): > > They’re still around. Their odd thin crust pizza that was a laterally cut oval was something you could only find at Campisi’s in the DFW area until about 20 years ago, when a couple of imitators and offshoots began springing up. I’m not sure if that particular style comes from elsewhere or it is their creation. It really is a delicious pizza. Some of the offshoots/imitators are as good as Campisi’s. I’m still pretty salty that Atomic Pie got booted from their shopping center in favor of more trendy yuppie garbage like “Hei Hei American-Chinese”. Cultural appropriation from having a bunch of white people setting up an “American-Chinese” restaurant there aside, Atomic Pie was GOOD, and so was the adjoining ice cream shop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-red-baron-pizza-why-is-a-german-who-killed-people-the-mascot-of-a-pizza-company/933789.md?page=6)