Posts Tagged ‘pizza’
“Say it ain’t so, Joe”*…
Technology is killing off independent pizzerias in the United States at the rate of roughly 2,549 locations per year (in 2015 alone). The pizza category is being reshaped by both big new tech deployed by chains and fresh threats from sophisticated emerging brands that are taking slices of the pie from tens of thousands of ill-equipped and low-tech independent pizzerias…
The whole sad story at “How Tech is Killing Off Independent Pizzerias.”
* (probably apochrophal) plea from a young boy to “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, as Jackson left Cook County Courthouse where Jackson was testifying in the Chicago “Black Sox” scandal
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As we ask for extra pepperoni, we might recall that it was on this date in 1841 that Orlando Jones received a U.S. patent for making cornstarch. Derived by grinding the white heart of a corn kernel, and primarily used as a thickener, cornstarch is also used to keep pizzas from sticking to the ovens, pans, or stones on which they are cooked.
“There’s no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box on your lap”*…
Ingrid Kosar always dreamed about running her own business. She didn’t know what kind of company it would be, but she liked to picture herself carrying a little briefcase. As it turns out, a very different kind of bag would define her career. It’s a bag that appears on doorsteps millions of times a week for Friday family movie nights and college study sessions.
It’s the insulated pizza delivery bag, and Ingrid Kosar invented it…
Read Kosar’s captivating tale at “Life of Pie.”
* Kevin James
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As we agree with the King of Queens, we might spare a thought for William Prout; he died on this date in 1850. A physician and chemist, Prout is probably best remembered for Prout’s hypothesis (an early attempt to explain the existence of elements via the structure of the atom; memorialized by Ernest Rutherford, who named the newly discovered “proton”” in Prout’s honor). But Prout was also noteworthily the first scientist to classify (in 1827) the components of food into their three main divisions: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
“You shouldn’t have to have money to have a luxury fragrance”*…
Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.
― Patrick Süskind
Demeter Fragrance Library Introduces Pizza: a scent with notes of “tomato sauce, creamy mozzarella, a touch of oregano – perfectly balanced for the adventurous.”
To judge from the feedback, it pleases…
* Lady Gaga
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As we wear our hearts on our sleeves… and our wrists and behind our ears, we might recall that it was on this date in 1931 that Alka-Seltzer was introduced to the market. During a flu outbreak in 1928, Hub Beardsley, the president of The Dr. Miles Medicine Company (later, Miles Laboratories), had visited a local newspaper in Elkhart, Indiana, and learned from the editor, Tom Keene, that the staff seemed to be resistant to the illness. Keene explained that at the first sign of illness, he treated staff members with a combination of aspirin and baking soda. Beardsley asked his chief chemist, Maurice Treneer, to develop an effervescent tablet with aspirin (a pain reliever) and sodium bicarbonate (an antacid) as the main ingredients; the resulting tablet hit the market with an advertising blitz that has not abated to this day.
Like a big pizza pie, that’s amore…
As October, National Pizza Month, draws to a close, Flowing Data offers a rigorous examination of pizza chains across the U.S. and the relative proximity of their outlets in different areas. It’s the handiest of guides– and one to use: surely Americans can improve on last year’s statistics; surely we can do better than 251,770,000 pounds of pepperoni consumed…
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As we ask for extra crushed red pepper, we might recall that it was on this date in 1937 we– the entire population of the earth– narrowly avoided (by twice the distance of the Moon… but that’s only three seconds) obliteration as the 500,000 ton asteroid/planetoid 69230 Hermes failed to collide with our planet. (In 1989, the earth had an even closer approach, but by the smaller 4581 Asclepius.)
69230 Hermes
The perfect food, explained…
Jeff Varasano, who learned his craft in NYC, now runs a pizzeria in Atlanta– one that, your correspondent can attest, is very, very good. While that’s rare enough, what’s rarer still, is that Varasano is willing to share. And just as Jeff is generous in the preparation of his pies, so he is forthcoming– very forthcoming– in explaining how he makes “the perfect pizza.”
Readers can visit “Jeff Varasano’s Famous New York Pizza Recipe” for everything– and your correspondent does mean everything— one could possibly want to know. (The page takes a while to load, but it’s worth the wait: at the bottom is Jeff’s list of top pizzerias around the country.)
As we reach for the crushed red pepper, we might recall that it was on this date in 1938 that “Porky’s Hare Hunt” was released. The Warner Bros. cartoon was a remake by Ben “Bugs” Hardaway and Cal Dalton of a 1936 animated short by Tex Avery, “Porky’s Duck Hunt.” The earlier toon had introduced Daffy Duck; “Porky’s Hare Hunt” was the debut of (the still-unnamed) Bugs Bunny.
While Bob Clampett created the character, Hardaway’s character sheet for (visualization of) Bugs– who became Warner’s biggest star– was chosen from among several; thus, “Bugs’ Bunny”– note the possessive apostrophe… But as the rapacious rabbit became a hit, he was emancipated from his maker; the apostrophe was dropped.
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