This being the weekend, something in a lighter vein:
Pizza is essentially the perfect food. Well, so long as you aren't lactose intolerant or have problems with gluten. NPR spotted a study of why different cheeses diverge in looks and taste when baked. Seriously. In a paper called "Quantification of Pizza Baking Properties of Different Cheeses, and Their Correlation with Cheese Functionality," researchers found that, among other things, the reason why mozzarella is so unique of a topping has to do with the way it's prepared. The cheese bubbles and browns because of its inherent elasticity due to stretching. In contrast, cheddar isn't as ideal because it isn't very elastic, thus it doesn't bubble as well. The same apparently goes for Edam and Gruyere, too.
http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/30/mozzarella-pizza-cheese/
[Abstract]: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-3841.12540/abstract
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 31 2014, @05:53PM
Limburger cheese on pizza.
(Score: 1) by Kymation on Sunday August 31 2014, @07:53PM
I have mod points. Why is there not a "Bleah!" option?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 31 2014, @10:09PM
Certainly isn't "Flamebait" as short of launching it into the sun, I sericously doubt anyone wants to apply heat to Limburger.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday August 31 2014, @05:53PM
From the second link,
The unique browning patterns on mozzarella come from the way it bubbles, James says. Since it's made by repeatedly stretching and molding fresh curds, "mozzarella has a lot of elasticity," she explains. "If you look at it under a microscope, you see it has these channels of fat surrounded by protein."
It seems to me that you have some leeway here to modify the taste of the cheese while keeping that technique more or less intact. For example, could a soft cheddar be treated in a similar manner to get a stretchier cheddar cheese?
(Score: 1) by iWantToKeepAnon on Sunday August 31 2014, @07:32PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 3, Interesting) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @09:16AM
or example, could a soft cheddar be treated in a similar manner to get a stretchier cheddar cheese?
Unfortunately not, mozz is is made at a higher temperature with thermophilic bacteria, soft cheeses are made with Mesophilic culture at a lower temperature.
(Score: 2) by khallow on Monday September 01 2014, @01:57PM
Well, the article mentions special treatment of the mozzarella cheese with mechanical stretching as well. That appears like it could be applied to other soft cheeses as well. For example, heating the above cheddar cheese a bit and then subjecting it to the same mechanical processes?
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @08:20PM
Yeh I said that wrong. It doesn't develop that elasticity without the high temperature.
Cheddaring [youtube.com] is whole other thing.
(Score: 2) by marcello_dl on Sunday August 31 2014, @06:00PM
The real reason why mozzarella is the ideal pizza cheese is: it's not a pizza with whatever else.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday August 31 2014, @06:04PM
LOL, Pizza being a quasi-Religious issue, I'm not sure its safe to tread here, other than to say there is enough room in the world of pizza to accomodate all tastes and all utensils [time.com].
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by khallow on Sunday August 31 2014, @06:26PM
Tell you what, why don't you guys get together and decide whether it's an Italian or American invention? The survivors of that fight (be sure to put it on YouTube) can then tell me all about how mozzarella cheese is the one true cheese for pizza.
(Score: 2) by marcello_dl on Sunday August 31 2014, @06:50PM
It's not my problem if other countries call something with the same name as something else for marketing reasons, just don't expect I relax my definitions to please others. For example, in this household Gigabyte is still 2^30 bit.
(Score: 4, Funny) by maxwell demon on Sunday August 31 2014, @07:06PM
Others would call that 128 Megabytes! ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by marcello_dl on Monday September 01 2014, @03:15PM
In this household a bit is very capable.
(Score: 2) by tynin on Sunday August 31 2014, @07:08PM
And not just mozzarella, but buffalo milk mozzarella. Noticeably better on pizza than cow milk mozzarella.
(Score: 3, Funny) by HiThere on Sunday August 31 2014, @07:37PM
But have you ever tried to milk a buffalo?
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Funny) by tynin on Sunday August 31 2014, @07:50PM
Only after treating them by taking them out to buy something nice, followed by a wonderful dinner. Anything less would be rude!
(Score: 2) by khallow on Monday September 01 2014, @01:49PM
Well, that is true. We wouldn't be able to find our own asses with both hands, if it weren't for someone official telling us what a pizza is. We should honor these unsung heroes with a slice, once we figure out where the pizza is supposed to go.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 01 2014, @03:07PM
> once we figure out where the pizza is supposed to go.
In the mouth. You're welcome.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Sunday August 31 2014, @07:40PM
The original proto-pizza was invented by Roman legionaires stationed in Israel during Passover. They had to do SOMETHING to make that **** matzo taste decent, so they started piling stuff on it. Just when and where along the line that turned into an actual pizza is a matter of definition, and somewhat arbitrary. So I'll accept Chicago. But they did it by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by digitalaudiorock on Sunday August 31 2014, @08:28PM
...and good real mozzarella at that. That's what kills me when I see adds for these God-awful chain pizza restaurants talking about having 4 or 5 different cheeses...sacrilege.
I live in central NJ, and the fact that places like (especially) Papa John's actually exist here absolutely blows my mind. I mean FFS...who are all these people that don't realize they're in the epicenter of the pizza capital of the planet?? You can't throw a rock without hitting a great pizzeria. I guess maybe people moving from other places gravitate to what they know(??). In any case, no fucking wonder local food / culture is dying.
(Score: 2) by cmn32480 on Sunday August 31 2014, @10:34PM
AMEN! I miss real pizza since moving out of NJ. Hard to find a decent place in Maryland. Now I'm hungry. Thanks a lot.
"It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson
(Score: 3, Funny) by Marand on Sunday August 31 2014, @10:40PM
Having lived all over the east coast over the years, I've noticed that even the franchise joints in NJ have better pizza than average. Compared to what the pizza is like in a lot of states (franchise or not), you could do a lot worse than an NJ Papa John's or Domino's. Seriously, there are some terrible pizza joints out there, and that's going to influence people's opinions when deciding whether to try local or not. Same is true with subs, too. The local NJ places have awesome subs, but even if you're stuck going to a Subway it's usually good by Subway's standards.
And, as good as some of the local joints are, quality still varies. Sure, I've had some incredible pizza in NYC, NJ, and even Philadelphia, but I've also had some mediocre or even terrible pizza, too. It's not always easy to find out which places are the good ones, and sometimes people just want a pizza they know will be edible, rather than risking having a shitty dinner. Then you also have to consider hours of operation, delivery policies, pricing, and custom menu items. (Domino's has those weird "sandwiches" that are pretty good, for example.) There are a lot of factors that help keep the franchises in business.
As an example of the quality variation of local pizza: some of the best and worst pizza I've had came from local places in Philadelphia. The best was this joint on the outskirts of the city line, while the worst was in one of the Philly suburbs. That suburb was weird: pizza place was owned by Indians, Chinese restaurant owned by Italians, and I don't know wtf owned the Mexican place, but they weren't hispanic of any type. All three places were terrible, too. It was like the Highlander movie in restaurant form, where everybody had the wrong accents.
(Score: 2) by Marand on Sunday August 31 2014, @10:48PM
Oh, and since it wasn't clear: in NJ I go for the local places almost every time, definitely. The primary exception is I occasionally get the urge to have that crispy thin crust that Domino's does.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday September 01 2014, @07:24PM
You find the crap chain pizza restaurants in poorer neighborhoods where their low prices win customers. They can sell a "pizza pie" for 5 bucks or have specials where you can get three pies for $15. Compare that to spending $15+ a real pizza parlor for a pie or four bucks for a specialty slice. My neighborhood demographic changed a lot over the past 15 years. It used to be that the only chain pizza restaurant was a Pizza Hut in a nearby shopping center. Now within the last 5 years we have a Papa Johns, a Little Caesars and a Domino's complete with bullet proof glass barricaded counters within walking distance, sad really. The biggest insult was the local Hess station remodeled and built a quick stop market with a Godfather's Pizza inside. Meanwhile right across the street is a fantastic pizza joint with some really amazing specialty slices. Thankfully the godawful's closed within a year and was replaced by a Dunkin Doughnuts.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Valkor on Monday September 01 2014, @12:36AM
Provolone is the best pizza cheese there is. Way less fat while being just as "elastic" and full of flavor.
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @01:26AM
Provolone is smoked mozzarella
(Score: 4, Informative) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @01:25AM
Some little known facts about pizza napoletana
1 The pizza making process was invented in Naples and hasn't changed in over 600 years. They invented pizza and they get to decide what it is.
2 Pizza napoletana is cooked in about a 500°C oven, it cooks in just over sixty seconds. Most of New York's best pizza is coked at a similar oven temperature.
3 At those oven temps the water will turn to steam creating bubbles before the dough sets (it's an extremely wet dough btw). That's why pizza napoletana is soft and fluffy. Anything cooked for ten minutes at 250°C is at best a flatbread and probably more accurately a flavoured biscuit.
4 At those oven temps the dough will develop black spots called leoparding, however the surface temperature of the pizza should not exceed 70°C. There should definitely not be any browning or bubbling of cheese.
5 Ever since they've had water buffalo they've been making mozzarella di bufala, but for all of that time they've been using fior di latte (cow mozzarella). Both of these are fresh white cheeses (bocconcini is "little mozzarella") which have SFA to do with the dried cheese most of the world calls mozzarella. About the only thing they share is thermophilic bacteria and milk (the high temperature is what makes mozzarella stretchy).
6 A few places in Naples still use criscito, the mother yeast. These pizza's are the very best. You start off with a tiny amount of criscito and do an 18 hour rise at 18°C. Surprisingly this ends up with a stronger sourdough flavour than doing a shorter rise with a large amount of culture. The best thing is that all that microflora eat up a great deal of starch and inflammatory compounds, many that claim to be gluten intolerant can happily eat these pizzas, very few people are truly coeliac.
I have a grilldome kamado to get to those oven temps, a 300 year old culture from an Island off Naples and a bunch of othe toys to support my pizza making habit.
Once I was reading my cheese making book and I noticed that 3L of cow milk, 1L of goat milk and 250ml of cream would get me the exact same fat to protein ratio as buffalo milk, therefore a few times I attempted to make imitation buffalo mozzarella (it's very expensive down here). Goat milk has a protein that messes with casein so it didn't form up very well but it tasted very nice!
This guy in LA is making pizza napoletana in his yard. His oven is a little larger than an neapolitan oven and he shouldn't have those black blisters but it's otherwise just about perfect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TcIO9-nFCU [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by hankwang on Monday September 01 2014, @06:29AM
I was surprised to read this number, but indeed, there is an accreditation organization that states 900 F (482 C): http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/eng_iscriviti.php [pizzanapoletana.org] .
I'm a bit skeptical though. Where in the oven should this temperature be reached? A pocket of hot air at the roof of the oven (i.e., not where the pizza is) is something different from the surface where the pizza is. And then, a material with low heat conductivity such as bricks could be quite hot but immediately cool down at the surface as soon as it makes contact with a cold object.
Anyway, a bit more googling: they say that the actual surface temperature in the oven should be 430 C (800 F): http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/public/pdf/disciplinare%202008%20UK.pdf [pizzanapoletana.org]
Why would this be better than a metal surface (with good heat conduction) at a more moderate temperature? To me it smacks of snobbish "this is the one true way because we invented this 200 years ago and there was no room for improvement".
Avantslash: SoylentNews for mobile [avantslash.org]
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @06:51AM
It's the deck surface, if you point an infra red thermometer at the surface that's the number you'd want. That VPN website is load of bollocks, it's not how the old school piazzolos do it. In a proper neapolitan oven the flame will curl over and singe the top of the pizza so knows how hot that is?
It's just the way it's been done, I don't care as long as the parameters are correct, as I said, I use a Kamado oven. Dude in the video doesn't have a traditional oven either. Modernist cuisine for example sell a metal pizza stone. If you have a top element in an electric oven that combination can work pretty well. Other people modify electric ovens so they can use the cleaning cycle to get that temperature.
The only thing that matters is that the steam makes bubbles before the dough sets, regardless of how you get there you need that sixty second cooking time.
The Neapolitan ovens do a fantastic job though. I'm not aware of any modern approach being superior. They need need a particular kind of rock that comes from nearby a particular volcano to make the deck, not any old stone will do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 01 2014, @09:37PM
They invented pizza and they get to decide what it is.
That's not how the English language works. Words are defined by usage and can change over time, they aren't set in stone.
Your comment was most interesting though.
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @10:14PM
Yes I know, however there was a purpose to putting it like that ;)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by drussell on Monday September 01 2014, @07:35AM
Until a few years ago I had the silly assumption that cheese was difficult to make at home. How silly of me!
Find yourself some rennet / subsitute (I found enough for 400L of milk for $1.69 at the local Community Natural Foods) and use Google as your friend.
A good starting place for simple mozzarella is:
http://www.food.com/recipe/ricki-carroll-s-30-minute-mozzarella-homemade-280238 [food.com]
I use this basic recipe all the time! Great for making things like caraway seed cheese, just sprinkle some craway seed in while kneading the balls at the end... Works great for jalapeno pepper or virtually any other additions/spices as well!
Great fun, EASY and SOOOOO tasty!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by drussell on Monday September 01 2014, @07:43AM
I should also mention that when I'm making fresh mozzarella for pizza, I save the whey from making the cheese and use that as the liquid for the pizza dough. MMMM! HomeMadePizzaLiciousNess! :)
Mmmmmm.... Pizza!
bacon++
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday September 01 2014, @01:26PM
The paper, article and thread all seem to be working on the unspoken assumption that stringiness and bubbliness are the only worthwhile qualities when choosing cheese for a pizza. What if I value flavour over elasticity? What if I don't like stupid annoying dangly greasy stringy bits hanging off my food while I'm trying to eat it?
I'd take a tangy, mature cheddar over a bland, stringy mozzarella any day.