Text 15284, 80 rader
Skriven 2008-10-19 17:40:12 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana
========================================
Italian food is ubiquitous in American cuisine, having been 
quite thoroughly assimilated in the 150 years since the first 
great waves of Italian immigrants arrived here in the 19th 
century. And no Italian food has been more thoroughly 
Americanized than pizza, that savory flatbread which has 
taken a place beside hamburgers, hot dogs, and apple pie in 
the American Food Hall of Fame.

For many pizza lovers, the Northeast is the capitol of American 
pizza, especially in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, with their large numbers of 
Italian-American residents. And there, almost central to this 
pizza-heavy region, is New Haven, where perhaps the best pizza 
in the US is made.

There are three amazing pizzerias in New Haven: one on State 
Street (Modern Apizza Place) and two on Wooster Street (Pepe's 
and Sally's.) Each have their strengths and weaknesses. On this 
visit to New Haven, we stopped at Pepe's because I'd been 
jonesing for a Clam Pie for months, and that's Pepe's specialty.

Pepe's is a busy place, and one nearly always has to wait in line 
to get in. Even though we arrived a little after 3:00 on a Friday
 afternoon, there were already two parties in front of us. We took 
a seat on one of the benches in the foyer, and it wasn't long 
before we were being shown to a booth.

It's not a fancy place. Founded in the mid 1920's, very little 
has changed in the eighty-some-odd years since Frank Pepe's 
first tomato pie slid into the now-famous brick oven at the 
back of the building. The walls are immaculate white, the roomy 
straight-backed booths finished in black, which matches the 
painted tin ceilings. Brass numbers on the walls identify each 
booth. And the menu is simple: pizza, in three sizes (small, 
medium, and large.)

Each of us ordered a different small pizza to get a taste across 
the spectrum. My wife Maryanne got a pepperoni/mozzarella, my 
daughter Lynn a spinach/bacon/mozzarella, and I ordered a clam 
pie with anchovies.

A small pizza at Pepe's is a 10-inch pie if you ask your waitress. 
What actually comes out of the oven is somewhat larger, however. 
New Haven style pizza has a very thin crust and is irregular in 
shape. At Pepe's, each pie is hand-formed, topped, and slid into 
the superhot coal-fired brick oven on a long-handled wooden pizza 
peel. Maryanne's pepperoni pie was topped with tiny, delicious 
slices of pepperoni, the perfect amount of mozzarella cheese, 
and the barest kiss of tomato sauce featuring pieces of flavorful 
fresh tomatoes. Lynn's spinach/bacon pizza was similarly perfect, 
with the same spare spread of tomato sauce, a touch of mozzarella, 
crisp pieces of thick-sliced bacon, and green stretches of chopped 
spinach. The thin crusts were soft near the center of the pies, but
 crunchy-crisp along the edges. Because of the high heat of the oven,
crusts generally come out somewhat darker than the mediocre chain-
store pizzas so many people order from huts or dot-covered tiles. 
The smokey, crunchy, almost-burnt crusts are a special treat all by
 themselves. Lynn, who has eaten pizza from NYC to Boston and all 
points in between, said that hers was probably the best pizza she 
has ever tasted. Maryanne praised her pepperoni pizza as well even 
though she prefers a thicker Connecticut Valley style crust.

As delicious as their pizzas were, however, I reserve special
 praise for the clam pie. There is nothing at all like it. The crust 
is lightly brushed with a bit of olive oil, then sprinkled with 
chopped garlic, freshly shucked clams, grated hard Italian cheeses, 
and a light sprinkle of dried herbs. It's simply amazing, and well 
worth the drive downstate from our home near the Massachusetts state 
line. I added anchovies for an extra fishy bump, but I'll leave them 
off next time; as much as I love anchovies, the salt kick was a 
little strong when combined with the grated cheese.

---
http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/ - Dave's Cupboard - Food and 
Restaurant Reviews; If I post it here in NCE, you'll find it 
blogged with photos at Dave's Cupboard.

http://bacon-labels.blogspot.com/ - A gallery of bacon package labels.
(The extra shelf in Dave's Cupboard.
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)