What Matters More: the Bread or the Toppings?
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Cheese. Anyone can come up with fairly decent pizza dough. It takes time, but experiment will get you there. But good cheese? One that melts just right, at the same time, stretches without breaking too quickly AND taste awesome? That's what I'm looking for.
Burger? Gotta be the patties. Not overly seasoned, or stuffed with crap. Just salt and pepper.. Maybe garlic powder. Grilled to medium rare, just warm enough to let you know it kissed the flame. Throw away the bun! Pour some gravy and grilled mushrooms on top. Maybe some good mozzarella. Chopped steak! Goes well with few pints of Guinness!
Burger? Gotta be the patties. Not overly seasoned, or stuffed with crap. Just salt and pepper.. Maybe garlic powder. Grilled to medium rare, just warm enough to let you know it kissed the flame. Throw away the bun! Pour some gravy and grilled mushrooms on top. Maybe some good mozzarella. Chopped steak! Goes well with few pints of Guinness!
Wierd question.....
But actually I'm all about the dough. Nice thick soft dough is what I prefer. I've always known this, but I've never really thought about it like this untill now!
But actually I'm all about the dough. Nice thick soft dough is what I prefer. I've always known this, but I've never really thought about it like this untill now!
I don't mind which element stands out as the highlight, so long as all the components are above the average line. I love gluten, good fresh baked sourdough bread, or wood fired thin pizza etc etc but the meat has to be tasty and the vegetables need to be fresh, and condiments paired well...actually just shove over there a bit, I will just do it myself.
I don’t know about pizza, but great bread beats all toppings.
Give me plain lays and a side of mustard. Dip the chip slightly into the mustard and BANG! Great flavor!
Good bread or crust is rarer than good toppings, but good bread or crust is defeated by mediocre toppings. You really want both. If you've lived around a baker, you know that dough is a living presence, a personality to be contended with. There's proofing, knocking it down. My wife proposes a book by the title, "Women Who Bake Too Much, And The Men Who Love Them."
A bad sandwich can be upgraded to a good sandwich with good bread, I have eaten the crappest poboys with bad bread, breaks your heart when in PO boy country they do that.
I only eat one style of pizza, it is called Neapolitan. It is a thin crust but not that paper thin crap. It is hand tossed and only fresh dough is used. Then it is all about the cheese. I only eat cheese pizzas with extra cheese. No other toppings. If I want peppers and onions I will make a salad, I will never treat a pizza that rudely.
When it comes to a burger, I only eat the American Kobe burgers I buy at Publix. They are amazing when cooked properly, medium rare. Their texture is like budda and no other burger I have eaten has as much fat that melts into the burger and gives it a unique flavor. The only toppings I put on those burgers is Gouda or Swiss cheese and a very thin slice of onion. I use the bakery burger buns which are made fresh daily. I also put a little bit of Duke's mayo on the bun and then I am done. I will put that burger up against any burger joints best offerings. Only a highline steak joint like Capitol Grille or Berns would have a burger to beat mine.
When it comes to a burger, I only eat the American Kobe burgers I buy at Publix. They are amazing when cooked properly, medium rare. Their texture is like budda and no other burger I have eaten has as much fat that melts into the burger and gives it a unique flavor. The only toppings I put on those burgers is Gouda or Swiss cheese and a very thin slice of onion. I use the bakery burger buns which are made fresh daily. I also put a little bit of Duke's mayo on the bun and then I am done. I will put that burger up against any burger joints best offerings. Only a highline steak joint like Capitol Grille or Berns would have a burger to beat mine.
Man, you sure have some wild ideas on what's good. If need be I'll scrape the meat off of a bad bun and eat it and the fixings by themselves.
Both have to be good. The better the crust, sauce, cheeses, and other toppings, the better the pizza. I will appreciate the texture and chew of the crust, but not in place of crappy toppings.
Same with burgers. I can actually taste everything in the burger, whether the meat is fresh, whether the spices are fresh VS dried, etc, so a good bun is a plus, but not a substitute.
One of the few times I really notice the bread is when I get a hot pastrami at Langer's, famed as the finest pastrami sandwich in the US. NYC has nothing on it, let alone the rest of the country. And that #19, s well as their other sandwiches, comes with the best damned rye bread I've ever tasted. It's made by a glatt kosher bakery in the mid Fairfax district and supplied to Langers. That bread has a proper satisfying chew to the crust, melt in your mouth softness in the interior and superb texture and flavor. Combined with the finest hand sliced pastrami in the US, it makes for a killer experience. And, Langer's fries are the best in L. A.
Same with burgers. I can actually taste everything in the burger, whether the meat is fresh, whether the spices are fresh VS dried, etc, so a good bun is a plus, but not a substitute.
One of the few times I really notice the bread is when I get a hot pastrami at Langer's, famed as the finest pastrami sandwich in the US. NYC has nothing on it, let alone the rest of the country. And that #19, s well as their other sandwiches, comes with the best damned rye bread I've ever tasted. It's made by a glatt kosher bakery in the mid Fairfax district and supplied to Langers. That bread has a proper satisfying chew to the crust, melt in your mouth softness in the interior and superb texture and flavor. Combined with the finest hand sliced pastrami in the US, it makes for a killer experience. And, Langer's fries are the best in L. A.
Jesse, man you just made my mouth water. I have to cross the state and go to a joint in Miami beach for a proper Pastrami sandwich. I forget the names of these 2 places but both are in Montreal and they have some killer Pastrami.
OK, now, clarify: Are the cheese and tomato paste "toppings" or the "casing"? Or are the toppings added to the, er, top of the rest? —Pepperoni, sausage, anchovies, bacon, snails, peppers, ham, prosciutto, vegetables, etc., etc, etc.
Is it a pizza without tomato paste/sauce and cheese a pizza? Not to me, and the two make a lot of difference as to quality. So, Harris, no tomato taste?
Addendum:
While I am thinking pizza, the best way to reheat I have found so far is in a skillet or frying pan on the stove top. Anyone else have a good way?
Is it a pizza without tomato paste/sauce and cheese a pizza? Not to me, and the two make a lot of difference as to quality. So, Harris, no tomato taste?
Addendum:
While I am thinking pizza, the best way to reheat I have found so far is in a skillet or frying pan on the stove top. Anyone else have a good way?
A proper pizza has to have great sauce but it has to be used correctly so it doesn't over power the taste of the cheese and the crust. I grew up eating Pino's Pizza in Brookline Mass. It was just like NY pizza and for my first 33 years it was the pizza I ate most often.
Couldn't agree more. And not some cheap runny crap that tastes like the can it came from.
My first pizza extravaganza was in the upper East Side of Manhattan. Along the avenues in the 80's, there were tons of shops selling slices that were often amazing in size and taste. IRRC they were two bits in 1960's.....(!) —(that's 25 cents US for youngsters and foreigners.)
I reheat pizza in the sandwich press. Just fold a piece of baking paper around it to prevent too much of a mess. It does fry and flatten the toppings a bit, but it is really fast and keeps the crust crispy.
Schwartz's in Montreal. You're correct, killer pastrami. They call it "smoked meat".