Where I live we occasionally get a new pizza place that makes a New York Style thin crust. I like that style. The dough tastes like flour, you can taste the Hard Red Wheat. The sauce is never sweet, it has a thin consistency and is placed sparingly. The cheese is layered on thin and the whole experience is like eating a nice pastry. There is a respect for the "whole" in that everything is balanced so as to make a nice overall flavor.
 
If the place wants to survive in our market and if the local news food critic gives them a review and a comparison to the "benchmark" standard in town the pizza gravitates towards a sugar sweet dough that will barely rise out of it's way. The sauce becomes sugar sweet and salty and it becomes a contest to see how much can be slathered on because more is better. Then the toppings are piled on as if the only factor is how much stuff you get. The salts in the meat and the added sugar suffice for flavor and any appreciation for the simple approach of combining flavors by balancing the amount of each ingredient is sacrificed so that people can quantify how good the pizza is with their eyes rather than their tongue.
 
At some point the preoccupation with mass leads to the unseen abandonment of the Hard Red Wheat flour and the flavor of wheat disappears with the use of general purpose bread flour and too much sugar. The quality of the flavor of the cheese goes down hill because quantity is what folks are asking for. The whole experience becomes a sloppy, bad tasting, gut bomb.
 
We once went to a new locally owned authentic Italian restaurant that had just opened and was all the rave. We had salads and Manicotti for dinner. I asked for Olive Oil and vinegar for my salad... they asked around in the back and the best they could offer was Canola Oil. Authentic Deep South all the way!
 
A nice slice of North East style pizza is a real pleasure after trying to enjoy what I have come to refer to Deep South style pizza.
 
If you get up to Atlanta or down to Orlando you can find North East style every where.
 
Anyways... :-)
 
best regards,
mike
 
:-)

Great.  Now I'm really wanting some pizza!  Preferably one that looks like this:
 

so...  how did you do the first 3 miles?

Have you ever witnessed the Cheese Pizza Disappearance Phenomenom?
 
It happens at group gatherings. For example; A group of people order 6 pizzas. 5 of them are piled high with everyone's favorite choice of meats. Double this, triple that. Someone meekly suggests that getting a second cheese pizza might be a good idea. The group collectively decides "we hate cheese pizza we want meat".
 
About 3 minutes after the pizza arrives the cheese pizza has been devoured by the meat enthusiasts. The cheese pizza always disappears first and there are usually 2 full boxes of every ones favorite combinations left to get cold and congeal.
 
It happens every time!!!
 
:-)
 

Karyn
so...  how did you do the first 3 miles?

The water is crystal clear and in the shallows it is aqua marine in color. It's tempting to jump in, but it's 50*F so I figure I'd only last about 1/4 mile.
 
:-)

mike_mccue
Where I live we occasionally get a new pizza place that makes a New York Style thin crust. I like that style. The dough tastes like flower flour, you can taste the Hard Red Wheat. The sauce is never sweet, it has a thin consistency and is placed sparingly. The cheese is layered on thin and the whole experience is like eating a nice pastry. There is a respect for the "whole" in that everything is balanced so as to make a nice overall flavor.
 
If the place wants to survive in our market and if the local news food critic gives them a review and a comparison to the "benchmark" standard in town the pizza gravitates towards a sugar sweet dough that will barely rise out of it's way. The sauce becomes sugar sweet and salty and it becomes a contest to see how much can be slathered on because more is better. Then the toppings are piled on as if the only factor is how much stuff you get. The salts in the meat and the added sugar suffice for flavor and any appreciation for the simple approach of combining flavors by balancing the amount of each ingredient is sacrificed so that people can quantify how good the pizza is with their eyes rather than their toungue.
 
At some point the preoccupation with mass leads to the unseen abandonment of the Hard Red Wheat flower flour and the flavor of wheat disappears with the use of general purpose bread flower flour and too much sugar. The quality of the flavor of the cheese goes down hill because quantity is what folks are asking for. The whole experience becomes a sloppy, bad tasting, gut bomb.
 
We once went to a new locally owned authentic Italian restaurant that had just opened and was all the rave. We had salads and Manicotti for dinner. I asked for Olive Oil and vinegar for my salad... they asked around in the back and the best they could offer was Canola Oil. Authentic Deep South all the way!
 
A nice slice of North East style pizza is a real pleasure after trying to enjoy what I have come to refer to Deep South style pizza.
 
If you get up to Atlanta or down to Orlando you can find North East style every where.
 
Anyways... :-)
 
best regards,
mike
 
:-)

I'm sorry, but it's bugging me and I'm going to have to pull a "Strummy pedantic" on you....
 
flower = "the blossom of a plant"
flour = the finely ground meal of grain, especially the finer meal separated by bolting.
 

When I was a kid I had to swim the Maine waters every summer in order to be permitted to sail with my life best off. Brr.

Beagle

mike_mccue The dough tastes like flower flour,

I'm sorry, but it's bugging me and I'm going to have to pull a "Strummy pedantic" on you....
 
flower = "the blossom of a plant"
flour = the finely ground meal of grain, especially the finer meal separated by bolting.
 

Shirley if it actually did taste like flour it would mean it wasn't cooked properly. Pizza dough is basically just flat(ish) bread, and bread should not taste of flour. 
I vote for the orriginal spelling.
 "The dough tastes like flower" = "It's bloomin' lovely" 

  Hope you're having fun. If its any consolation Mike there's probably a Mcdonalds near by.
 
   I'm getting hungry.

Thanks Beagle. :-)
 
Hard Red Wheat tastes like Hard Red Wheat... that's what I am trying to say.
 
all the best,
mike