# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 250
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4983 "2025-09-16T22:37:51Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > The “-style” ending is US ~~exceptionalism~~ provincialism. It’s the American dialect of English. The details of pizza variants might also be provincial (I consider New Yorkers to be determinedly so), but the particulars of demonym construction aren’t evidence of it. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4984 "2025-09-16T23:14:06Z")
The best pizza I even had was in the back streets of Rome (near the Campo de’ Fiori); they were huge in diameter, razor-thin, fairly crisp (so a slice was self-supporting), just a few ingredients, and so utterly delicious we ate almost nothing else that week! Whether they count as “Rome-style pizza” I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4985 "2025-09-16T23:14:38Z")
I think also that place names in Latin languages lend themselves better to demonyms. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4986 "2025-09-16T23:37:31Z")
What sort of few ingredients? My great-grandfather was a baker, who emigrated from Rome to the US. His notion of pizza was “Dough, olive oil, and little fishies”. Though of course that was a century or more ago. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4987 "2025-09-16T23:49:57Z")
Well it varied I guess, and I’m reaching back 15 years, but the classics like tomato base and basil, spicy sausage (not exactly pepperoni I think, maybe hot salami), probably anchovies, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4988 "2025-09-16T23:57:04Z")
There is [Tokyo style pizza](https://www.foodgal.com/2024/11/tokyo-eats-part-i-savoy-pizza/) fer sure. [Swedish style pizza](https://blog.slicelife.com/the-weird-and-wonderful-pizzas-of-scandinavia/L). German pizza, more a convergent evolution than a German adaptation, is called [flammkuchen](https://daysofjay.com/2022/06/20/flammkuchen-german-pizza/). Just right off. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4989 "2025-09-17T11:19:59Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > There is [Tokyo style pizza](https://www.foodgal.com/2024/11/tokyo-eats-part-i-savoy-pizza/) fer sure. When I think of pizza in Japan, I think of corn and mayonnaise. > **[Corn Pizza — Okawari by Azusa - easy and simple Japanese home cooking recipes](https://www.okawarirecipes.com/recipes/corn-pizza)** > > Corn Pizza Recipe Inspired by Japanese Family Dining One unforgettable taste that my kids brought back from Japan was from Saizeriya, a popular Japanese family-style restaurant chain. They came home talking about Saizeriya’s Corn Pizza, a... ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4990 "2025-09-17T12:39:14Z")
And cheese surely, you can’t have pizza without cheese, right? RIGHT? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4991 "2025-09-17T13:32:01Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Well it varied I guess, and I’m reaching back 15 years, but the classics like tomato base and basil, spicy sausage (not exactly pepperoni I think, maybe hot salami), probably anchovies, etc. Sounds good. I’d been experimenting with thin crust pizzas this summer with varying success. I think the biggest issue is when I’m baking the first one, my wife is assembling the next one, and she likes to load up the cheese and toppings, which makes the pizza too heavy to come off the peel. I understand anchovies are polarizing, but I’ve never had any on a pizza. They’re quite nice when stuffed in a leg of lamb - they add a nice salty/umami flavor. Does any one know what they add to pizza? Pepperoni is (AIUI) an American thing. It’s simply a hard salami with red pepper added. > [@dtilque](#): > > “If you want to see true audacity, do an image search for ‘Altoona-style pizza.’” I just did this and am now questioning my sanity. I shouldn’t be surprised to see such a monstrosity coming from a region that puts french fries on a salad. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4992 "2025-09-17T13:43:39Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > makes the pizza too heavy to come off the peel Put more flour on the peel. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4993 "2025-09-17T13:53:39Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I just did this and am now questioning my sanity. I shouldn’t be surprised to see such a monstrosity coming from a region that puts french fries on a salad. The American cheese is an abomination, obviously, but there’s nothing wrong with bell pepper on pizza. One of my favorite pizza topping combos is bell peppers, eggplant and red onions. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4994 "2025-09-17T14:19:31Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > They’re quite nice when stuffed in a leg of lamb - they add a nice salty/umami flavor. Does any one know what they add to pizza? Salty/umami flavor. Also a wee lot of fishiness IMO. It’s the fish equivalent of pepperoni. I have occasionally used a single anchovy filet in a very large stewed recipe of some sort that calls for it, where the fishy notes will disappear into the background. But the thought of a dozen of them on a pizza fills me with (to my mind perfectly justified) horror. They’re just too overwhelming. I like fish, but not fishy. Really, small oily fish just haven’t been my jam since I reached adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4995 "2025-09-17T14:47:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > One of my favorite pizza topping combos is bell peppers, eggplant and red onions Let’s not share food. 😆 I am allergic to eggplant (my throat swelled up last time i tried them), and cooked bell peppers make me feel ill. Red onions on pizza are acceptable, but i will probably pick most of them off. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4996 "2025-09-17T15:07:32Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Put more flour on the peel. I’ve tried that with a little success. The best results I’ve had so far is to put the un-topped crust on a screen tray and par baking it for a minute to set the bottom. You can’t leave it in the oven for too long, otherwise it’ll start rising - eliminating the whole thin crust thing. > [@Alessan](#): > > The American cheese is an abomination, obviously, but there’s nothing wrong with bell pepper on pizza. One of my favorite pizza topping combos is bell peppers, eggplant and red onions. I don’t know about the eggplant, but I’m with you on the peppers and onions. The American cheese is what takes it to the culinary equivalent of cyclopean architecture and non-Euclidian angles. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4997 "2025-09-17T15:25:27Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > Put more flour on the peel. > > I’ve tried that with a little success. Is your dough too tacky? When we make pizzas, we keep the counter well floured. And flip the dough often while shaping it, so that its surfaces are not tacky. When ready to put toppings on, we then brush off the flour on the topside, brush on olive oil and then top to the guests tastes. The bottom remains heavily floured, which comes off when moving in and out of the oven. (Outdoor oven that can be disassembled makes cleaning easier.) We used to allow guests to work the dough, but too many had trouble. Most can actually put toppings on, but some even have trouble with that. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4998 "2025-09-17T16:17:10Z")
I’ve had surprising trouble finding a good mozzarella for making pizza at home. Whole Foods in my area used to carry a good whole-milk, low-moisture variety, but hasn’t for a while. I’ve had decent results with Tillamook, but can’t always find it. I mean, how hard can it be to find a good, basic mozzarella for pizza? This isn’t some specialty gourmet item I’m looking for. It’s not Venezuelan beaver cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4999 "2025-09-17T16:17:47Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Most can actually put toppings on, but some even have trouble with that. I think that’s the issue. She loves her some cheese and will keep adding until she cannot see any sauce, resulting in a very heavy pizza. And now I want pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5000 "2025-09-17T16:26:32Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I mean, how hard can it be to find a good, basic mozzarella for pizza? I gather that what’s commonly sold in supermarkets doesn’t qualify as “good” in your opinion? If bargain brand shredded mozzarella doesn’t make the grade, possibly look into the higher quality stuff that is sold as blocks that you grate yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5001 "2025-09-17T16:33:03Z")
Oh, NEVER pre-shredded. It’s coated with a starch (I think) to keep it from sticking together. Some are too soft to grate easily, some don’t brown very well, some don’t have quite the right flavor… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5002 "2025-09-17T18:07:51Z")
We have a “lovely little cheese shop” (called Fromagination) where you could go in and ask what’s best for a particular recipe/pizza type. Of course, you’ll pay more for that, but the next time you might know what to look for somewhere cheaper. But we also have pizza places (mostly little Italian bistros) that do a much better job than we could at home, so I’m going to leave this to the experts. Like I do with wine-making and distilling and _moules et frites…_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=249) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=251)