Why is pizza so oily?

[Skywatcher]

@Enje

pizza’s…Pizza’s…Pizza’s…pizza’s

Hello, I am from the Department of Punctuation. I’m afraid I have to confiscate those errant apostrophes.

[W.Fikere_Tomba]

@Chronos

You seem to be under the impression that tomatoes are Italian, despite the fact that they’re not native to the Old World.

From here:

The Spanish explorer Cortez conquered the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, later to be renamed Mexico City, in 1521. It is presumed that the tomato found its’ way across the Atlantic shortly after. The earliest mention of the tomato in European literature is found in an herbal written by Matthiolus in 1544 [3]. He described tomatoes, or as they were called in Italy, pomi d’oro (golden apple), and wrote that they were “eaten in Italy with oil, salt and pepper”. This provides evidence that the first tomatoes to reach the Old World were a yellow variety, and that they were introduced via the Mediterranean. Red tomatoes were said to be introduced to Italy by two Catholic priests many years later [9].

Over four and a half centuries of use in Italian cooking makes them at least somewhat Italian. Besides, Enje was talking about tomato sauce for pizza, not tomatoes in general. I would presume that Italians have been making pizza with tomato sauce longer than Americans have.

[drachillix]

@Enje

Pseudomozzarella and the kind of sausage you american guys call pepperoni or italian sausage, are about as italian as a low-riding Cadillac.
In Italy, pepperoni means ‘green chili’s conserved in oil’.

Isn’t that what us Merkins we tend to call pepperocini

[GorillaMan]

@W. Fikere Tomba

Over four and a half centuries of use in Italian cooking makes them at least somewhat Italian.

Spot on. Otherwise the Irish are denied potatoes, and India the chilli. Hardly fair.

[bouv]

@GorillaMan

Spot on. Otherwise the Irish are denied potatoes, and India the chilli. Hardly fair.

That reminds me of an episode of Good Eats:

AB: The Italians took our tomatos, the Irish took our potatos, but we still have our corn!
I think it was corn he was talkig about. Of course, it’s easy to keep corn when the rest of the civilized world only sees it as livestock feed.

[Mighty_Girl]

Authentic Italian pizza is NOT greasy. In fact, because the dough is a bit tough, and for the flavor, sometimes some olive oil is offered at the table should you wish to add it to your pizza.

We discussed that in some other thread, but it bears repeating, pizza rarely ever has more than 3 ingredients (not counting herbs and the dough). And whoever said above that Italian pizza, made in Italy, is not the best one should have his taste buds thoroughly checked. I think that people in general are losing their ‘sensitivity’ and are apparently unable to register subtle flavors anymore.

[Shalmanese]

@bouv

That reminds me of an episode of Good Eats:

AB: The Italians took our tomatos, the Irish took our potatos, but we still have our corn!
I think it was corn he was talkig about. Of course, it’s easy to keep corn when the rest of the civilized world only sees it as livestock feed.

The japanese put corn on pizza.

[Shalmanese]

@bouv

That reminds me of an episode of Good Eats:

AB: The Italians took our tomatos, the Irish took our potatos, but we still have our corn!
I think it was corn he was talkig about. Of course, it’s easy to keep corn when the rest of the civilized world only sees it as livestock feed.

The japanese put corn on pizza.

[sugaree]

@bouv

I think it was corn he was talkig about. Of course, it’s easy to keep corn when the rest of the civilized world only sees it as livestock feed.

The Italians use corn to make polenta. It’s a staple.

I’ve read that as much as a third of the fat in pizza can be removed by blotting it with napkins or paper towels. Don’t know if it’s true, but damn, it at least makes me feel healthier.

[Ferret_Herder]

@Mighty_Girl

We discussed that in some other thread, but it bears repeating, pizza rarely ever has more than 3 ingredients (not counting herbs and the dough). And whoever said above that Italian pizza, made in Italy, is not the best one should have his taste buds thoroughly checked. I think that people in general are losing their ‘sensitivity’ and are apparently unable to register subtle flavors anymore.

Hmm, this means I have to go educate the chef in a particular restaurant in Rome. The pizza seemed authentic enough (a tiny bit of sauce, very thin and whole-grain-style crust), except for the oilslick worth of grease on top. I couldn’t finish it out of disgust/nausea, and didn’t touch pizza in Italy again. I liked most everything else I had, however.