I thought that I would muse this time about an extremely controversial issue – what constitutes good pizza. Just about everybody has their opinion on this issue, although some people will eat anything. It should be noted that I have a very long history as far as pizza eating goes. Thus, my opinion can stand the test of time. I had my first piece of pizza back in the early 50’s. I thought that it was pretty good, and have liked it since then. This period was when some still called it tomato pie. Since that time, I have eaten all sorts of pizza, some of which was very good, and some was less than my standard. For example, in the early 60’s we lived in Elizabethtown, Pa. which is in Amish country. Upon our arrival, it didn’t have a pizza place. Then one fine day a pizza place showed up.
It opened with a sign that said “pizza ten cents a slice”. They were very large slices. They were not the best pizza I had ever eaten, but hey at ten cents a slice all was good. Besides there wasn’t any place else around. True, there were Mrs. Miller’s pies, but they were most excellent berry pies. Her pies were great to eat after the pizza. But we would most likely have had to go to Harrisburg which was some distance away to get better pizza. In any case all was not lost as we moved to Levittown, Pa. There we found our all-time best pizza in an establishment called Alvino’s. It had just the correct amount of crust, but more importantly it had the best sauce anywhere. If you ate Alvino’s pizza, everything else pales in comparison. Fifty-six years later, I still search for a good comparison. Unfortunately, Alvino’s is no more so the recipe is most likely lost in the mists of time.
Eventually The Blonde in the House and I moved across the Delaware River into New Jersey.While there, we were introduced to a restaurant in Trenton called “The Italian Kitchen” Their pizza was ok, but not the best. What they did have was very good pizza bread and pasta e fa*gioli soup. I had never heard of the soup until then, but it was great. Consequently, I have another bit of food that I have tried for years to find a place where the soup was as good. Can’t so far, and The Italian Kitchen is no more! Alas all the good places close. When we later lived in Minnesota there was a pizza place that was pretty good. I can’t recall the name, but they put pizza with pineapple on their list! Yuck! I was always wary that some pineapple would get on my pizza!
I will skip some other places where we lived – none of which had any great pizza places. Instead, I will address our present situation in The Villages. It is my opinion to start with that there is no place here that compares with the former Alvino’s. Since probably no one here ever had the privilege of eating there, you should just calmly accept my expert opinion. The situation here seems to be an argument on thin or thick crust. It should be on the sauce. A savory sauce is what carries a great pizza. It is true that thick or thin crust can be carried to extremes. A couple of years or so ago a friend raved about a new pizza place that had opened here. We went with him and bought one. I had to examine it closely to see if it had any crust. It did have something which I guess kept the pie together, but not much else.
We do eat pizza here, and have two places that we like best.One has a moderately thick seasoned crust that is very tasty and the sauce is fairly good. The other place has a similar crust and sauce, but they also serve two hot garlic rolls before the pizza arrives. Now let me give my expert opinion on what constitutes a good pizza:
First and foremost is the sauce. It needs some pizazz to it.When you ate Alvino’s, you would be chomping away and suddenly realize that you were sweating from the sauce. The sauce did not bother your stomach or anything else. It was just good!
Secondly, you need a crust with some substance. A good sauce can permeate it and make eating the pizza more of a pleasure. A thin crust contributes little!
Now you know the simple rules of a great pizza!
Barry Evans is a columnist for Villages-News.com.
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