Many years ago, an old friend and fellow native Brooklynite coined the term "pizza food" to categorize anything that is pizza-like, but most definitely not pizza. This covers pizza bagels, English muffin/pita pizzas, and frozen pizza of the Ellio's ilk. It's also used as a derogatory term for any pizza parlor fare that is, well, crap. Usage guide:
Me: "Did you try the slices over at the new place on 3rd?"
He: "Eh."
Me: "What do you mean, "eh"?"
He: "It's pizza food. Too sweet, too many foo-foo toppings."
Like that.
But into every life a little pizza food must fall, especially if you're gluten-free. Until recently, we've been at the mercy of limited options and products that are safe, but not always tasty. And while more and more fresh pizzeria options are popping up, especially around NYC, many remain unsafe due to cross-contamination. (Though not all! I'll have the scoop on some good options soon.) There do seem to be more frozen gf pizza options than ever before, but I find that most of them are (1) expensive, (2) too salty, and/or - yes, (3) pizza food.
I want pizza that tastes like it was made in Brooklyn by an old Italian guy who came over from the old country. Like it comes from a place named Nino's or Gino's or Rocco's, carried out in a white cardboard box with a little oil spot on top where the cheese hit when I tripped over that crooked curbstone on my block.
I'm this close to getting what I want. (Just need the box and the old Italian guy.) Lemme 'splain:
I mentioned here that I've been on a pizza-making spree as of late. And, by George, I think I've got it. Or, rather, them. I've found two at-home pizza options that have me delighted beyond words. And I'm going to tell you all about them this weekend. Stay tuned.
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Blog (and This Blogger's) Background
I was always an avid home cook and restaurant-goer. From my teens on, my idea of "going out" generally involved some form of social eating. I grew up with a huge extended family that regularly dined together and I was in the kitchen helping my grandmother from an early age.
I often joke that I come from deli royalty, as my family owned one in Brooklyn for almost 30 years - so there was always a ton of good food around. Seemed only natural when I started working in restaurants in my early teens, though an accident with a dull knife and my left index finger ended my back of the house aspirations along the way. I've had pretty much every front of the house position at all types of venues, including a few years at Moosewood Restaurant. In my mid-20's, I started to work in healthcare, and have always maintained a love of food and eating well. In 2010, I melded my passions for health and food by completing a master's in public health nutrition.
After being diagnosed with celiac and DH back in 2003, I didn't go out to eat for three years! I don't even remember how long it was before I felt competent enough in the kitchen again to be a gf hostest with the mostest. But that was 10 years ago; I've changed along with the gf product/knowledge landscape. Back in NYC after many years in upstate NY, I'm committed to having a social eating life again, dishing up good eats at home and enjoying what gf vittles NYC has to offer. As any gf person can appreciate, this involves a fair amount of research and planning. Seems a shame to keep all that I've learned to myself; hence this blog.
I often joke that I come from deli royalty, as my family owned one in Brooklyn for almost 30 years - so there was always a ton of good food around. Seemed only natural when I started working in restaurants in my early teens, though an accident with a dull knife and my left index finger ended my back of the house aspirations along the way. I've had pretty much every front of the house position at all types of venues, including a few years at Moosewood Restaurant. In my mid-20's, I started to work in healthcare, and have always maintained a love of food and eating well. In 2010, I melded my passions for health and food by completing a master's in public health nutrition.
After being diagnosed with celiac and DH back in 2003, I didn't go out to eat for three years! I don't even remember how long it was before I felt competent enough in the kitchen again to be a gf hostest with the mostest. But that was 10 years ago; I've changed along with the gf product/knowledge landscape. Back in NYC after many years in upstate NY, I'm committed to having a social eating life again, dishing up good eats at home and enjoying what gf vittles NYC has to offer. As any gf person can appreciate, this involves a fair amount of research and planning. Seems a shame to keep all that I've learned to myself; hence this blog.
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