What attracted you to writing a book about pizza?
Why this particular food at this particular time?
Everyone grows up on pizza.
It was my first love and my greatest love of food.
Its also a food thats come into its own in the social media era.
I like to say that food is the new rock and roll.
You just love it like a classic song.
I think pizza needs no explanation.
We all love it; we all have a very emotional reaction.
Its our comfort food, our happy food.
Why do you think people are so passionate abouttheirpizza?
You get a very strong attachment to that pizza; thats authentic pizza to you.
Im hoping this book will help people open up to other styles of pizza that have their own beauty.
We can have many loves.
What pizza trends are you noticing, at least geographically?
Naples likes a soft-crusted pizza, which is done in a wood-fired oven.
Detroit has this thick crust, their own deep-dish pizza.
They call it the Detroit Square.
So, it is a smaller world for pizza.
Influential immigrants… People [go] to these regions immigrants, pioneers and adapt their own foods.
American chain pizza became the pizza style of the world.
Its only the millennials who brought regional pizza.
Its really craft pizza.
A lot of people do the fold, but do you know where and why it started?
Undoubtedly the fold started in Naples.
Pizza was a street food before there were pizzerias.
In Naples, they called it pizza portafoglio.
That means, pizza wallet style.
I think New York brought a different kind of fold, and that was for the slice shop.
St. Louis pizza is very crisp and thin-crusted.
You dont need to fold it.
There are many people who dont have a problem with using a knife and fork.
Technically its more hygienic, so I think folding or not folding is a personal choice.
Its part of the pizza war.
It becomes a judgmental thing.
So, in New York, if you dont fold your pizza, youre treated like a tourist.
You should eat it the way you like to eat it.
Pizza is a strong thing.
Its a passion; it evokes very strong emotionssome good, and a few maybe not so good.
