This was due. Been in the making for a long time.
Pizza is one of those iconic dishes that transcends borders, languages and cultures. There’s something satisfying about the dance shared between sauce, cheese and bread. If you want to learn about its origins, Wikipedia has got you covered.
Now, most of us are familiar with what Pizza is. With globalization being such a prominent part of our internetworked existence, it's not hard to be exposed to the sheer variety of Pizzas that are out there. It’s truly a global phenomenon, and I’m eternally excited about it.
But I remember a time when it wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is now.
The Early Days
My knowledge of Pizza being a food item that you could consume, really began with just noticing this store called Pizza Hut. It looked modern, quite sophisticated and very different from what was around. My experience with international food till that point was just walking into McDonald’s after wrapping up shooting for an episode (minor flex: I was a child actor, don’t worry about it). This was the mid-2000s and international food wasn’t very common as it is today. But I always wondered what this Pizza Hut place was.
I grew up in a flat where home cooking was king. I remember helping my Mum with mise en place, every day. Going to the local food market and buying fresh produce was most certainly a planned activity and a very average thing to do in most households. But, I was determined to give Pizza Hut a go, and it was easier to convince my schoolmates than my parents.
There was a new Pizza Hut that opened shop not too far from my suburban dwelling and the plan was put into motion. My friends and I would have to do it as a celebration event to justify the occasion. There was no “oh, just going to pop into this new Pizza Hut place to try this Pizza thing out”.
These restaurants felt like luxury fine-dining. No drive-through, pick-up bits, that came way later. It was quite expensive, felt very bourgeoisie. You’d think it odd but that truly was the case, and it felt like an exotic international experience. At least I treated it that way.
So, after wrapping up our second comprehensive examinations, we found ourselves with some money in our pockets and our feet inside a Pizza Hut restaurant. It felt grand, the interior decor had pictures of these pan-style pizzas, topped with cherry tomatoes and the signature cheese stretch. As a child, this was quite enough to get you supremely excited. The menu was also a special affair, with a lot of finesse and attention given to the design and matched by the quality of service. They were doing a new promotion offer where you could get a combo meal.
A combo meal consisted of a personal pan pizza, 2 slices of garlic bread which were lathered with melted mozzarella cheese and finely chopped roasted green chillies, and a small portion of vanilla ice-cream topped with chocolate sauce.
If that sounds awesome, let me assure you, it was. And a more affordable option than ordering other medium-sized/large-sized pizzas because we could only ask for two toppings on the personal Pan Pizzas. I always opted for onions and green chillies.
The first bite into this crispy-cheesy-bread sparked an explosion of dopamine that I had never experienced. This was the first pizza that I ever had. My schoolmates had the same expression of exuberance and for a good ten minutes, we didn’t speak. We ate, with forks and knives. Slowly slicing away portions of the slice of pie that was placed on our small plates. The server would visit us occasionally to add another slice, because no one wants to see a bunch of kids try to add it themselves, fumbling over a hot-pan. We tried, and we all got pan-burns. That server was the real MVP.
That experienced was etched in our mind, and from then on, we all knew that all of our birthday parties would need to be planned at Pizza Hut.
The Chains Supreme
More shops popped up around the city. They started doing deliveries not long after. But then, something strange happened. When you ordered on the phone, you’d get your pie delivered, but the experience was inferior. The cost was the same, but you’d end up having to eat a soggy-affair. Then, Dominos entered the scene. As we transitioned into sleepovers, we’d have long hours of playing computer games, writing and recording music, watching films etcetera. Dominos excelled at the delivery game, their pizzas were made differently, and they captured my taste buds with their addition of liquid cheese. The actual restaurant was abysmal. They were tiny and not meant to serve as a dine-in experience. Their menus were a single page of paper that was laminated with plastic. A far cry from what you’d get from the Hut. So, there began the age of home-deliveries.
I should also mention that during this time, many local shops popped up, and they did okay, but you really couldn’t match the uniform taste that the chains had going for them. I think the local renditions had their charm, and I’d still give them a go. Another thing that became popular, were these pre-made frozen pizzas that you could buy from your local grocer. They were never that great but if you were in a pinch, they made do. I once ate an uncooked frozen pizza that I let sit and thaw on a hot summer afternoon as the power supply to our grid was out. Yeah, it was terrible. Still finished it.
So, so far — it’s been Pizza Hut, Dominos and some local joints.
A New World
Then, these United States of America made the impression of a lifetime. Big, boisterous, bold and beautiful.
University life was an amalgamation of many curious pizza experiences. From your mainstream regulars like PapaJs, Dominos, PHut and little Caesar’s to some unique build-your-own-pie places like MOD, &Pizza and Pie Five … to (sigh) everything at under $6 buffets like Cici’s.
I took a girl out on a date to Cici’s , vibin within that poor-university-student life.
S, if you’re reading this, I’m so sorry about that.
Throw in some frozen vibes like DiGiorno’s, CPK, Totinos, Tony’s and … Hot Pockets found across the frozen food aisles of massive grocery stores, for good measure.
Now, in my defence, when you’re completely knackered, haven’t had enough sleep and stumble into your dorm-room kitchen, a quickly microwaved hot-pocket tastes like heaven. Ask anyone who’s been to college.
La vera vocazione della pizza
After graduating from that Uni life, I found that I had time, I had a means of earning an income, and I had access to my kitchen. With that income, I went to some authentic pizza restaurants. I came to realize that there were unique pizzas that originated from different states within ‘Murica as well as different regions of the world
It felt very similar to those early days. I was rediscovering pizzas and my relationship with them. I understood that I had to find my own calling. After having tried the famed styles (New York, Chicago, Detroit etc), I finally settled on Pizza Napoletana as my go-to style.
I eventually went down the YouTube rabbit-hole and obsessively researched everything to do with what a Pizza is and what it represents. My pursuit enabled me to bake my pies, based on good ingredients and traditional techniques. I haven’t looked back ever since. Well, I haven’t looked back since May 2020, when I took bread baking and pizza making, seriously. I guess, thank you quarantine?
I’ve come to realize that, it’s not just a type of food. It’s a conversation, it’s an exchange of culture, it’s a dance of flavours, it’s an expression of skill and technique, it’s comfort and familiarity, a trip down memory lane, it is as much art as it is a science. It is iconic, a matter of tradition, of pride of heritage and joy. No one can dismiss it and most importantly, it can be, whatever you want it to be.
TL;DR — I like pizza. It started off as a luxury item that I had on special occasions as a child and blossomed into a passion that I practice more often than I am willing to admit. For the deets, you’re just going to have to read.
på allvar, vad är till och med svensk pizza
