In Search of Great Pizza

I love pizza, and because of that I’m on a new quest, a Search for Great Pizza! The Great Pizza Search (GPS).

Before retirement, my quest was bike camping (which I’ve still not done!), and then it was buying a camper (we’re on our 3rd in 4 years)!

Then when I first retired, it was biking from north Florida (south Georgia, Alabama) to south Florida; that’s ended since I believe I was pushing fate on some of the roads that I biked.

Then it was, and continues, to bike somewhere to take a picture of an old post office. This is done in honor of my father who was a mail man.

For those who know me, I launch a new quest about every year. My quests usually relate to riding my bike, on some pseudo epic adventure, with the goal of “biking somewhere to do something.”

Then it was biking 60 miles, 60 times between September and December 2019. Then I got sick…

Also, over the past year or so, I started to dive into sourdough bread baking. Though this is not necessarily bike related, my creations routinely made it into the hands of my bike friends as gifts.

The creation of the dough and fermentation and their health benefits have intrigued me. More recently, the interest in fermentation has lead me to think about making kimchi, sauerkraut, and now sourdough pizza.

And yes, I’m quite impulsive, though not likely to the detriment of my family or others. I’m simply an antsy person, rarely satisfied, and have become more so since I’ve been diagnosed with health issues.

I love pizza. I’ve loved it since I was a baby. I have bought and made pizza for 50 years. My all time favorite was my Aunt Theresa’s; square, flat, tomato, olive oil, and parmigiana cheese. Very simple, lots of flavor! I can taste it in my mouth as I type.

Having visited Italy multiple times in the past 5 years, I’ve come to appreciate how much better pizza is in Italy. Not a little better, WAY, WAY BETTER. From “hole in the wall” places in nondescript neighborhoods in Rome, to my true pizza mecca – NAPOLI! BTW – don’t believe youtube or the web, every pizza in NAPOLI is better than the next. In other words, I’ve never had a bad pizza in NAPOLI, and everyone of them is better than anything I’ve had in the USA (except for Aunt Theresa’s).

Since moving to Rochester, NY 38 years ago, I’ve seen the pizza scene here change dramatically. When I first arrived, the neighborhood pizza shops flourished. My favorites being Captain Tony’s and Bay Goodman. Though Captain Tony’s still exists, it doesn’t seem the same. In the place of the small shops, national and regional chains. Although I like Salvatores, I’d say it’s the best of several so-so places for me.

But since surgery, I stayed away from both bread and pizza (though I’ve introduced sourdough bread back). Thus, I started thinking about making sourdough pizzas. This led me to a YouTube site by Vice called Munchies, and specifically, a set of videos on pizza (https://www.youtube.com/user/Munchies/search?query=pizza).

As a result and as of today (June 22, 2020), I’m launching my “Search for Pizza” both in making my own sourdough and biking to pizza shops.