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The Water Makes the Pizza?
By
Jacob Kleinman
Published Jan 8, 2010
Modified Jan 8, 2010
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By
Jacob Kleinman
Published Jan 8, 2010
Modified Jan 8, 2010
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What makes NYC pizza so great? According to Serious Eats (the same maniacal food lovers who set out to find the best bagel in NY) it may be the water. An unbiased taste test, hosted by Mathieu Palombino, the chef/owner of Motorino, put six different pies, varying only in the water used (which ranged from Dasani, to regular tap water, to Evian) in front of a carefully selected panel of pizza lovers. Science never tasted so good!
So what were the results? Inconclusive, despite a rigorous scientific approach (possibly because the pizza was paired with several bottles of wine). Based on their findings, the only real conclusion was the not so groundbreaking discovery that "overall enjoyment of pizza crust is strongly related to how crisp it is."
Even if the results were inconclusive, the myth of New York City tap water remains strong. One commenter was quick to add that a popular pizza joint in Tampa, Florida claims to import the water for their dough directly from NY. This may be a growing trend; last summer we reported that a Florida Bakery had recreated the NY water purifying process in their own restaurant in an effort to make the perfect Brooklyn bagel. Not so surprising, considering that the city's tap water was ranked best in the state by the Department of Health. Also, check out Serious Eats' Pizza Map, a borough by borough guide to the best pizza NY has to offer.
Tagged
crust
pizza
serious eats
test
water
Jacob Kleinman
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