Everybody Loves Pizza by Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby

[ronnie_suburban]

A couple of weeks back I caught a mention of this new book by Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby (Dining Editor and Deputy Dining Editor, respectively) from Chicago Magazine. The duo are probably best-known for their weekly, on-line, Chicagoland restaurant round-up, Dish. Even though I always enjoy reading Dish, I ignored the initial mention of Everybody Loves Pizza. But, after hearing it mentioned a few more times, I decided to check it out for myself. Why not? As the title correctly states, I love pizza. In fact, I’m a pizza addict. I've made my own pies for years, But wait, I’ve already made my pilgrimage to Pizzeria Bianco and I’ve read American Pie. Why the hell do I need to read another book about pizza? Right? Wrong!

Everybody Loves Pizza is a slickly-produced, perfect-bound paperback which, at first glance, appears to be a fluff-filled novelty book. But, as they often reminded us in grade school, 'do not judge a book by its cover.' At its core, ELP is a highly informative, concisely-written and extremely entertaining volume -- and an excellent companion to what I can definitively say is my favorite food. Along its course, ELP, forgive the pun, delivers tons of facts and information about pizza’s evolution and history in the U.S.. The compelling details are supported throughout with historical photos and attractive artwork as well as a number of useful sidebars, graphs and lists.

The book is essentially divided into 3 sections. The first is a basic, historical overview which recapitulates a few theories about how pizza came to be, details its evolution, chronicles its development in the U.S., and tries to gauge where it is likely headed. This section delineates and details 4 major classifications of pizza style in the U.S.: New York, New Haven, Chicago and California. While the writers occasionally drop hints as to their own preferences, the tone of ELP is decidedly ecumenical. Ruby and Pollack admit early on that their effort will not “. . . enter the debate as to which style is best: We’re here to celebrate them all.”

I especially enjoyed how the inherent controversies within the incestuous pizza universe are presented in ELP. One common theme, which seems to pop up repeatedly, is that of disgruntled employees -- many times members of the same family -- venturing off to start their own pizzerias. Such was the case in the early stages of the pizza scenes in New York, New Haven, CT and Chicago.

Competing New Haven pizzerias Sally’s Apizza and Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana try to downplay their legendarily fierce rivalry, even as representatives from both entities admit to never having even tried pizza made by the other. On the Chicago scene, there is still a lingering question about whether Ike Sewell really came up with the concept of deep dish pizza on his own. Additionally, the time-line of Chicago pizza plays out like daytime television. First came Ike Sewell’s Pizzeria Uno in 1943. Eventually, their pizza chef, Alice Mae Redmond, left to become part of the group which founded Gino’s East in 1966. In 1971, after Sewell made it clear that he would never let one of his key employees buy into the business, that employee left to start his own pizza empire. His name: Lou Malnati. Malnati even left his father, a loyal Pizzeria Uno employee, behind when he defected. ELP also documents how the man who is widely credited with “inventing” California-style pizza today owns one lone shop while those with whom he collaborated have gone on to become multi-millionaires.

Pollack and Ruby go on to describe how the intense proprietary combativeness over pizza extends even to corporate pizza chains and retail manufacturers. In today's market, local pizzerias no longer compete only against each other. “Once you factored in the ever-growing influence of chain pizzerias, it was safe to say that the balance of power in the pizza world had officially shifted from dough-tossing, peel-brandishing pizzaioli to brand managers and marketing directors.” Great stuff!

The second section of ELP is a combination “how-to” guide and pizza cookbook. Sound advice is provided on technique and a few tips, reflecting a fair amount of pizza cooking experience, are also shared. Additionally, some resources for various hard-to-find ingredients and supplies are provided. A gaggle of experts (some who also blurbed the book, such as Mario Batali) supply the recipes in this section. I haven’t tried any of the recipes yet but they appear to be quite appetizing.

The final section of ELP is a terrific reference which lists 546 “Great American Pizzerias.” If you’ve ever found yourself in an unfamiliar town, with the yellow pages open to “Pizza,” this list will be of great interest to you. I’ve already scanned it, emailed it to myself and stored it in my PDA. While the writers haven’t personally tested every place on the list, the manner in which it was compiled seems reasonable enough. And not to completely remove themselves from controversy, P&R do finally list their Top 10 pizzerias. I was surprised by a few of their choices but hey, that’s what Top 10 lists are all about.

All in all, this is a highly informative and fun read -- and a great reference as well. While there is a tremendous amount here for the casual pizza lover, there’s also plenty for the rabid expert too. I was so inspired after reading Everybody Loves Pizza, I made a special trip to the store so I could make pizzas for the family last night.

Has anyone else had a chance to check out this book?

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[Gifted Gourmet]

Has anyone else had a chance to check out this book?

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Not yet but after your introduction to it, I will be hunting down a copy for my collection! Thanks for this "lead"! and, best of all, the used copies are only $13.25!

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks to our thorough KC-area media digester, moosnsqrl, I caught this fun piece about ELP co-author Jeff Ruby who really does have a long history of service to the pie . . .

“I had a Volvo that was in the prime of its life when I started delivering, and a year and a half later the brakes had gone out,” Ruby says. “I ended up selling it for like $600 or something like that. This was probably a $10,000 car. Delivering pizzas is a stupid thing to do if you have a car that’s not a piece of junk.”

Slice of success

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[JohnL]

Thanks for the heads up!

At the moment--IMOP--the definitive book on pizza is:

"Pizza--a slice of heaven"

By Ed Levine.

This came out last year--and is highly recommended.

Sounds like Everybody Loves.... covers much of the same ground.

However, given that Levine is a New Yorker it will be interesting to compare the two books in terms of their sensibilities.

There may be an interesting debate on the horizon!

(then again maybe not)

I look forward to reading "Everybody Loves..."

[ronnie_suburban]

Just a quick heads up that ELP will be 'featured' on the November 1 installment of Oprah:

The Queen of all Media has tipped her crown in the direction of Everybody Loves Pizza:  The Deep Dish on America's Favorite Food, by Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby. On Wednesday, November 1, Oprah will air a show that features Gayle King's quest for America's top pizzas-a mission that involved help from some of the nation's foremost pizza experts.

Smart move: the dining editors of Chicago magazine, Pollack and Ruby have eaten more pizza in the past year than any two people in America, criss-crossing the country in search of the 546 best pizzerias in country for their book . . .

Tune in to ABC on Wednesday morning-or set your TiVo. Everybody Loves Pizza takes a fascinating look at the origins of pizza and its evolution in America.

Everybody Loves Pizza on Oprah, November 1, 2006

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