August 31st, 2019: A Slice of Pizza Culture

Recently (probably as a consequence of spending five days a week in downtown Chicago), I’ve been on a quest to try and find the perfect pizza. Pizza means different things to different people.That could literally mean anything from true Neapolitan, to the frozen mass produced sort seen in Europe’s supermarkets, to the various regional types found across the US-deep dish, thin crust and so on.

Pizza to me comes in three distinct types: the stuff from a 1970s recipe book we had as kids (which is delicious if inauthentic, and still worth the calories even now); the milky-doughy personal sized sort that came in bags of 10 in 1980s Britain; or the authentic stuff I remember enjoying with friends in Salerno in more recent years, and then in the UK once Franco Manca had expanded its reach.

Only in part thanks to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, pizza has become embedded in recent decades in popular culture. Pizza had its own show on the Vice network in which New York pizzaiolo Frank Pinello travelled the US in search of the best pizza. And in an age where online shows have become popular, pizza fan Scott Weiner and pizza man Mark Iacono came up with their own take on the format, with Scott travelling New York City looking for more and more bizarre versions of the pizza slice to bring back to Mark for evaluation. Such shows have increased my appreciation of how diverse a food pizza is across the United States, as well as expanding my culinary etiquette to include understanding the New York fold (though I can’t bring myself to do that to a Neapolitan pizza!). What I didn’t realise until recently though was that the United States has its own national pizza museum. The museum was founded in 2015 by Kendall Bruns and hosts a collection of pizza related memorabilia as well as displaying a condensed history of pizza in the US. The bright, colourful collection is clearly a labour of love and well worth a visit.

Spending an afternoon surrounded by all things pizza-related led me to wonder how, with no wood burning oven at home, one can recreate an authentic Pizza experience with minimal investment. I conceded that perfect Neapolitan pizza crust, crispy yet puffed to perfection, was something that had to wait for those few occasions a year that merit going out to savour it properly. However, when I discovered this piece online a few days ago, I thought it a worthy way to spend some time over the holiday weekend. So tonight, i have followed the technique almost to the letter, using fresh shop bought dough, some pesto from a jar that was lying in the fridge and a ball of fresh mozzarella I was lucky to get today (and yes, I know the pesto is not entirely authentic to purists but I was tired and couldn’t be bothered to open up the pizza sauce). I get links to many food videos and articles via social media, but this particular one is well worth a read. The only difficulty I had in following the protocol it sets out was with sliding the raw pizza from the parchment paper onto the boiling hot tray.It’s also important to have sturdy oven gloves to hand to avoid accidental burns.But aside from now needing to invest in a pizza peel, I would give the resulting product 10/10 for crispness and airy puffiness of the crust.I would have liked the cheese to have come out of the oven a little more bubbling, but am very happy with attempt number one overall (besides,there is still half a ball of dough left on which to perfect this).The infectious nature of pizza culture has clearly got to me this year and I look forward to learning to appreciate it even more.

April 8th 2019: A Sunday Night Treat

This week, as is probably normal for someone who eats home-prepared food three times a day, I started to crave junk food . More specifically, fish and chips, or something similarly breaded or battered and deep fried. Being a fan of US food travel shows (and also allowing myself to selectively eat out once a week) I’m fully aware that fish and chips is available here (though it has never quite replicated the full Brit experience) and other types of carb-covered, deep fried stuff are also readily found. However, the food scientist in me generally never gives in to temptation, always wondering what the frying medium is and also why the portions have to be so big.

Lunch out last Saturday was a civilized affair at Eataly in downtown Chicago, at which I had chicken schnitzel. This satisfied all the same cravings that fish and chips tends to, being breaded, crunchy and hitting the spot in the way only deep fried foods ever seem to. It set me wondering whether I could replicate this experience at home, for a sunday night treat. And so, tonight’s experiment was born. It turns out this experience can be replicated pretty easily at home, with a few simple ingredients.

For the schnitzel part, I bought some pre-prepared chicken breast scallopini (the ‘all natural’ chicken for those in the US). This is simply thin sheets of chicken breast (about half an inch thick, thus avoiding the need to hammer the meat flat). All I did was dunk the chicken in three bowls of different ingredients to coat it. The first dipping medium was seasoned flour; the second, a beaten egg; and the third some pre-packaged panko breadcrumbs (nothing special; they were found in the local Aldi). The raw breaded chicken was then shallow fried in an inch of hot sunflower oil (hot enough to brown a 1 inch cube of bread in 60 seconds, about 360 F) for about 10 minutes in total, turning carefully every few minutes to avoid burning, and then draining on kitchen paper. I also subsequently put the schnitzel into a 350F oven for about 15 minutes  to remove any excess oil. Schnitzel, when served with a side salad and a wedge of lemon, is a perfect sunday night treat, being warm, crunchy and fried, but not at all greasy.

For those who also want the ‘chips’ part of the fish and chips craving satisfied, I also made some roasted fingerling potatoes by cutting the potatoes into finger sized wedges, microwaving for about 10 minutes then giving them a light coating of olive oil and parsley and about 30 minutes in the same 350F oven. If you’re making both the chicken and potatoes, it’s worth beginning by microwaving the potatoes while preheating the oven before attempting to coat the chicken.

The junk food cravings have now been satisfied. And as an added bonus, I have two servings left, all for the price of one takeaway- so lunch for the next couple of days is ready! This experiment also inspired me to revive this blog after several years of inactivity- all in all a productive evening.

September 15th 2012: Recreating the 80s

I now have the dubious honour of being able to claim that I have lived (just about) in five decades. If you were to ask me which of these has been my favourite, the eighties wins hands down. Not only because the music and TV were better, but also because life was generally more fun and being a kid, I didn’t really have anything to worry about other than how to get hair like Boy George. As I remember it, certain dinners from the eighties were also particularly memorable. So I headed off down to my local supermarket to try and see how well I could replicate the flavour of the 80s in the present decade (a decade I must admit I don’t know the proper name for yet…)

When I arrived, I headed for the biscuit aisle, where straight away I could see some of the old favourites. I put a pack of Jacob’s Club biscuits into the trolley. I also noted the presence of Breakaway and Wagon Wheel on the shelves. So all in all, not bad. Moving on, I headed for the tinned goods. Would I be able to find my beloved Heinz Haunted House or Noodle Doodles? Well, no actually. Most of the pasta shapes in tomato sauce are now represented by modern characters such as Peppa Pig. At the last second, I realised that My Little Pony had made a comeback! So I grabbed a tin of those. Possibly a more 80s take on pasta in tomato sauce than the original Haunted House. Or at least it would be if the tin wasn’t now counted as ‘one of your five a day’. I moved on to the snacks and treats aisle (yes, it seems all we had an appetite for back in the day was trash; but then every vegetable we ate was overboiled, so they probably weren’t actually that nutritious anyway…). Plenty to choose from here. By the time I was finished I had found everything I needed to make my Mum’s classic dinner party treat (flan with a quick gel glaze); I had picked up some retro salted snacks (Monster Munch; though I noted that Discos, Chipsticks and Frazzles were also on offer). The sweets area also contained plenty of retro fodder; I picked up a Nestle Animal Bar, noted the presence of all the classic Swizzels Matlow Sweets (a Drumstick lollipop will now set you back 12p….what happened to the 10p mixture?), and I was also pleased to see some Spider Man sugar cigarattes. Which, by the way, aren’t really called that anymore, for obvious reasons.  The aisle ended with the cake shelf. A mixed bag here. For all you 80s fans out there, you’ll be pleased to hear that it is still possible to buy the classic French Fancies and Jam Tarts. However, I was disappointed that the iced flat top fairy cakes (which come with lemon, orange or chocolate icing) were missing. But I guess the hole they leave behind can be filled by Lyons classic swiss roll, which you can still get. Between the treats aisle and the freezers, the cream cake cabinet. I didn’t buy any, but am reassured to see that it is still possible to buy a cream horn or victoria sponge for those moment when nothing else but a retro fresh cream treat will do. I was good though, as by this point my trolley looked uncharacteristically like that of a junk food junkie. And I turned into the freezer aisle. I picked up some crispy potato bites (sadly not the ones with the cheese in). Birds Eye potato waffles were also on offer (they’re waffly versatile after all). I also picked up a pack of Findus Crispy Pancakes. I went to look at the ice cream section. Mini Milks, Nobbly Bobbly and Fab are all still on the market, and perhaps best of all, Birds Eye have revived supermousse. Opposite the freezers, on the shelves, a new generation are discovering the joys of Angel Delight too. By the time I got home it was time for lunch and I was pretty hungry. So I made a classic dinner of crispy pancakes, potato bites and pasta in tomato sauce. Did it taste like the eighties? Yes with a few tweeks. Back in the day, every home had a Tefal deep fat fryer, in which the potatoes and pancakes would have been thrown. Now, the packaging instructions advise you to bake them. So I did. Since the products are now reduced in fat and salt, they don’t quite taste the same. For Crispy pancakes, this can be somewhat remedied by brushing with oil and sprinkling with salt. But I have yet to find a way of making them dayglo orange. Having said that, it is all now much better for you (and the crispy pancakes are smaller, so less calorific). So I didn’t feel that guilty having a Mint Club biscuit for dessert. Especially now those have shrunken in size too (either that or my hand has got bigger!).  So maybe it’s OK to have some Monster Munch as a snack at teatime….. In conclusion, it is still possible to recreate the nostalgic flavour of the eighties, and thanks to our increasing health consciousness and appreciation for five a day, it is much better for us now than it ever was at the time. The only count I let myself down on was not buying an appropriately retro drink to wash it all down with. But I will do better next time. Rumour has it that Asda have got Um Bongo in stock……

Below, some suggestions for how to recreate some classic 80s food scenarios. Followed by a summary of the products still available and the ones they really should bring back.

RECREATING 80S DINING SCENARIOS; SUGGESTED MENUS:

• Neighbours coming round for dinner? Why not make a big batch of bolognese sauce (out of tinned tomatoes). Serve with that metre long Napolina spaghetti. For afters, you can’t beat flan topped with tinned cherries (in syrup) and glazed with Green’s Quick Gel (made up using the syrup drained from the cherries)
• Packed lunch for school? How about a ham sandwich (on Warburton’s Milk Roll), a Dairylea triangle and a packet of crisps (Monster Munch, French Fries or Skips). To drink, a Capri Sun or carton of Um Bongo
• Lunch at home in half term: it’s a corned beef (or plain cheddar) sandwich all the way, with a tin of Heinz soup (cream of tomato or cream of chicken)
• Children’s Birthday Party? How about cheesy pineapple on a stick, frozen sausage rolls, and to finish, either pear mice on a bed of green jelly or Bird’s Trifle (out of a packet)
• Children’s Birthday Party for ‘children’ in their thirties or forties? Sadly, the Beefeater restaurant chain is no longer as widespread as it used to be. I also suspect that the Beefeater is no longer the chain of choice for the discerning child to invite their friends to. But you can recreate the classic Mr Men party at home! Yes, all it needs is steak, chips and peas all round, some Mr Men colouring in sheets printed out from the internet, and as a soundtrack to it all……’superman’ by Black Lace.

EIGHTIES CLASSICS STILL AVAILABLE TODAY (OK, SO SOME ARE A SEVENTIES OVERHANG AND MOST ARE NOW NUTRITIONALLY IMPROVED):

• Heinz canned pasta in tomato sauce
• Golden Wonder Pot Noodle
• Jacob’s Club biscuits
• Nabisco Ritz
• Wagon Wheels
• Monster Munch/Frazzles/Chipsticks/Hula Hoops/Discos
• Kraft Dairylea triangles
• Swizzels Matlow Parma Violets; Black Jacks; Fruit Salad; Barratts Sherbet Dip Dab; Millions; Chewits
• Nestle Animal Bar; Nestle Lion Bar; Nestle Milkybar
• Um Bongo; Capri Sun; Dr Pepper; Robinsons Squash
• Findus French Bread Pizza; Findus Crispy Pancakes; Birds Eye Potato Waffles
• Birds Eye Supermousse; Birds Eye Arctic Roll
• Walls Vienetta; Walls Mini Milk; Lyons Maid Fab; Walls Cornetto
• Angel Delight

….AND THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY:

• Piglet Crisps
• Smiths Bovril Crisps, Jackets and Flavour and Shake
• Hi fruit drink
• Screwball Icecream
• Heinz Noodle Doodles and Haunted House
• Mighty White Bread
• McCain 10x frozen pizzas in a bag
• Kia Ora squash
• Frozen cheesy potato bites

If you have any more to add, please feel free to comment