Numero Uno

My friend, Nic, recently wrote in her blog about making homemade Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (wish I knew how to embed links but I don’t so you’ll just have to click on the link for Nicolle on the right). Her account was full of photos and totally got me craving pizza (damn you, Nic, for not including the recipe). That craving led to a little deep thinking on the subject.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to reach this conclusion but pizza is, hands down, THE perfect food.

Nutritionally, it’s got your breads, fruits, vegetables and dairy covered. Add some meatballs, pepperoni or, dare I say it, bacon, and you’ve got the meat food group in there as well. And the olive oil is good for your heart. It’s a whole meal in a triangle!

It’s extremely versatile. What other food do you know that can be made with any kind of vegetable (mushrooms, garlic, eggplant, broccoli), any kind of meat (beef, pork, fish, foul, shellfish), and virtually anything else (pasta, corn flakes). Plus, the most amazing combinations seem to work on a pizza. Bacon and onion? Ham and pineapple? Garbage pizza with everything but the kitchen sink? Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. There’s regular pizza, breakfast pizzas (bacon & eggs, corn flakes), dessert pizzas with chocolate and fruit.

Just layer on the sauce, lots of cheese and anything else you can think of. Pizza is even good cold the next morning.

It’s also so convenient. Grab a slice and go. Eat it like a New Yorker by folding the slice in half lengthwise and you don’t even need a plate or a napkin. Utensils? Who needs ‘em. Pizza is downright ingenius.

Best of all, pizza is FREAKIN’ DELICIOUS! Kids, teens, adults, old folks – everyone loves pizza. What’s not to love? I looked it up and Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day or about 350 slices PER SECOND. That’s a shitload of pizza.

Some other neat facts:

-- On average, each American consumes 23 pounds or 46 slices of pizza each year (I’m way over my share).
-- The most popular topping is pepperoni, accounting for 36% of all pizza orders.
-- Pizza is a $30+ BILLION per year industry.
-- There are approximately 70,000 pizzerias in the U.S. (that’s 17% of all restaurants!)
-- Approximately 3 BILLION pizzas are sold each year in the U.S.

It’s an international hit too! Some favorite worldwide pizza toppings:

-- India: pickled ginger, minced mutton and “paneer” (a form of cottage cheese)
-- Japan: mayonnaise, potato and bacon together; eel and squid
-- Brazil: green peas
-- Russia: “mockba” - a combination of sardines, tuna, mackerel, salmon and onion (Tic tac, anyone?)
-- Pakistan: curry (big surprise)
-- Australia: shrimp and pineapple
-- Costa Rica: coconut (I thought they were just big meatballs!)

And did you ever notice how pizza has this amazing way of always smelling appetizing any time. You could’ve just eaten a 9 course meal at the city’s top restaurant. If you stroll by a pizza place and get a whiff, you know you want some. As full as you are, there’s always room for a slice.

If you’re like me, you’re totally jonesing for a hot slice of heaven by now. I know what I’m having for lunch.