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UndercoverPages t1_irbjb6k wrote

I like the author Robert Sietsema. He has covered the New York food scene for decades formerly for the Village Voice, reporting on spots with no-frills-but-still-delicious food. A lot of the places he reviews are hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the outer boroughs with hard to find regional cuisines. That being said, I also go to Sally's every week and enjoy some char on my pizza.

The headline is a little misleading. His take is a little more nuanced. He's not pro-char, but he isn't entirely anti-char. I interpret what he wrote to be lamenting that expensive pizza places will make a poor quality, overcooked pizza and use the word char to excuse it. The bubbles on the pizzas in the pictures are indeed indicative of lack of quality control.

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ObiWan_Cannoli_ t1_irfatm2 wrote

Damn you and your reasoning, forcing me to actually read the article and understand his perspective. Yeah he seems to be talking more about boutique places than Sallys, Pepes, and your lot. And for that part I don’t disagree with him. Some places are fucking wild with prices, toppings, and quality all in the name of the Naples Staple.

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Apryl3821 t1_ird3cfl wrote

Say more about bubbles? What are the characteristics of high-quality charred pizza?

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UndercoverPages t1_irddr7w wrote

Food is a subjective experience. So if you enjoy air bubbles in your pizza, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Savor your food and don't worry about what other people say. However, they detract from my enjoyment of pizza. Let me explain why.

From my perspective, air bubbles negatively impact the pizza in two ways. The first is that the air bubble stretches out the dough. This stretched dough is much thinner than other parts of the pizza. Especially if you are cooking in a very hot oven as is the custom in New Haven-style pizza, this causes the area to cook faster and dry out before the rest is ready. In fact, these spots will be crunchy when the pizza is done.

The second drawback to bubbles is that they create a slope. When the cheese and sauce heat up, they will flow down off the bubble. So, on the bubbly spots there is no cheese and very little sauce. Since the dough is also dried out in that spot, it's like having a lightly tomato-flavored, crunchy, pita chip in the middle of your slice. There's nothing wrong with pita chips, but it's not the experience I am looking for when I have pizza.

As far as what makes a high-quality charred pizza, the key is finding the happy medium. There is a difference between burned and charred. The black char should be a dusting or a light coating on the outer layer. The analogy that comes to mind is grilling meat. You can make a juicy steak if you grill it on very low heat for a long time, but it won't be very flavorful. Those black stripes from the heat of the grill give the meat a different flavor and texture. However, that doesn't mean that a darker steak is better. There is a point at which you are drying out the meat and burning it.

The ideal for me is a light dusting of black char, with the crust still chewy and moist. If the crust on a pizza is dry and brittle, then it is overcooked.

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