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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: 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.