| Sorry, New York City. Apologies, New Haven. The best pizza city in America is—drumroll—Portland, Oregon. That's according to the authors of the upcoming Modernist Pizza, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, who visited more than a dozen cities and ate almost 400 pies from coast to coast to come to that conclusion. "We had an inkling it would be good," says Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer at Microsoft Corp. and co-author of the monumental Modernist Cuisine. "But we were shocked at how good it was."  A Lovely's Fifty Fifty pie topped with greens, padron peppers, crushed tomatoes, green olives, lemon, Calabrian chilis. Source: The Cooking Lab, LLC He goes on to explain that "Best Pizza City" is admittedly a "fuzzy concept." "To us, it means there are multiple choices of great pizzerias, ideally in different styles," he says. Chris Bianco, in Phoenix, might make sensational pizzas, for instance, "but he's one guy. I wouldn't call it a great pizza city." Portland pizzerias, on the other hand, offer a multiplicity of genius, from New York-style pies at Scottie's Pizza Parlor to Neapolitan-style at Nostrana and creative, ingredient-driven pizzas at Lovely's Fifty Fifty. There's even a vegan standout at Sizzle Pie.  Scottie's Pizza Parlor and the square Sicilian with mozzarella, topped with tomato sauce, oregano, basil and pecorino Source: The Cooking Lab, LLC "It makes a difference if you're shooting for something good," adds Myhrvold, as opposed to trying to emulate the approaches at longstanding places that might be resting on their reputations. (Cough, New York, ahem.) "One of our other findings was that famous old pizzerias aren't very good." In fact, he says to be wary of places that tell you they are working secret family recipes. "As a general rule, they suck, compared to the pizzerias that have some driving creative force trying to make it great. It's true in Italy, also."  The Spiral Tap at Sizzle Pie was the team's best vegan pizza. It's topped with creamy caramelized onion spread, red sauce, and nutritional yeast Source: The Cooking Lab, LLC He cited a few New York classics, particularly L&B Spumoni Garden and Tomasso's, as "terrible." The three-volume, 1,700-page Modernist Pizza will come out on Oct. 5 and will include a recipe manual and enough wood-fired secrets to satisfy even the most ambitious of at-home pizzialos.  Myhrvold, a notable photograher, creates a modernist tableau of pizza. Source: The Cooking Lab, LLC
More Tasty Tidbits
| 
Post a Comment