Paper Palate

The arrival of my latest cookbook coincided nicely with the downfall of serious quality control at my local pizza joint. Sure, I’d been a loyal customer for a couple of years, but lately you just have no idea how your pie is going to be cooked; and I’m a crust guy. So when American Pie by Peter Reinhart of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice fame hit my countertop, I was excited to start making my own pies at home. Nervous to be sure, but excited.

We’ve all suffered through the “homemade” pizza, which is why, according to the book, the vast majority of pizza consumed in the U.S. is frozen. Even a frozen DiGiorno is better than a typical homemade pie, even if cooked on a pizza stone. I was hoping, reaching, grasping for something that could bring good pizza into my home.

I started into the book’s lengthy anthropological section, in which the Reinhart heads all over the country, tasting different styles and relating them all to his mythical White Whale of pizza. It gave a great overview of the development of pizza across the country, and I definitely related to a lot of the stories. The Inspiration had arrived, and now it was time to get to the goods.

The recipe section contains a lot of general instruction on how to get the best performance from your oven, how to deal with any pizza scenario, and the philosophical outlook that Reinhart approaches the art with. He’s a gifted instructor, and these types of hints are, in my opinion, the most useful part of any cookbook. (sidenote: my own cooking is inspired by many, but largely self-taught) He basically says “If you want to make world class pizza, first love the pizza, and then follow these simple rules.” I can dig it.

I started with the New York Pizza Dough, since Lombardi’s in New York is my White Whale. I’m from Seattle, and I’ve only been to New York once, but the mark that pizza left on my mind is indelibly etched. The dough is simple to make, and resulted in mind-blowing pizza. When I first learn new techniques, I like to pare them down to the simplest parts, to make sure I master each bit before moving on to the next, so my first 5 pies were all just cheese and tomato sauce. I wanted to be sure I followed the rules, and got the crust I was looking for. I was not disappointed. The crust had a huge puffy rim was full of air bubbles and beautifully golden, a thin crisp center with just the right amount of snap, and a fantastic tanginess that left me picking at my 2 year old’s pieces on her plate. (Bad Daddy!)

By now I’ve read the whole book, perusing many of the recipes while cooking some of them. They have all been so shockingly good that we’re currently eating homemade pizza 2-3 times a week and I’m still loving every minute of it. I started his recipe for Sourdough Starter, and my sponge is looking pretty good so I may have some results from what I would consider to be the hardest recipe in the book soon; Sourdough Pizza Crust.

Rating: 10 thus far. I’m in love.