Like most Americans, I like American food. Such as pizza.
Now, I know what you're thinking: Oh, Mike Redmond, you are so silly. Pizza is not American. Pizza is Chinese. Marco Polo brought it back to Italy along with gunpowder and a stack of Jackie Chan DVDs (this was before Leonardo DaVinci invented Blu-ray).
OK, maybe not. Perhaps you're thinking:
Oh, Mike Redmond, you have it wrong again. Pizza is authentic Italian food, just like chimichangas are authentic Mexican food, chop suey is authentic Chinese food, and French's mustard is authentic French food.
All right, then. Maybe it's:
Oh, Mike Redmond, you shouldn't be eating pizza. In which case I say, "Hi, Mom!"
Anyway, I maintain that pizza has become an American food by virtue of being ubiquitous. It is found nearly everywhere and consumed by nearly everyone in this country. Our love for pizza crosses all boundaries: geographical, political, racial, and philosophical.
True, pizza originated in Italy. But I think you have to make a distinction between pizza as practiced in that country and pizza as practiced in this one - Italian pizza vs. American. It's kind of like what we call pudding vs. what the English call pudding. With us you get Jell-o. With them, you get Charles Dickens and Tiny Tim and God bless us, everyone.
And so to the Italian immigrant, pizza.
We made it bigger, for one thing, as is our practice for just about everything, including ourselves. Then we started adding things - meats, vegetables, cheeses - in such profusion that a simple Italian street food made of bread, tomato, and herbs transmogrified into a manhole cover of dough topped with half a garden and multiple preserved pig parts.
Pizza also reflects American regionalism. What passes for pizza in one part of the country would not qualify in another, and I'm not just talking New York Style vs. Chicago Style.
(Just between you and me, I think Chicago Style pizza is a mistake. I always imagine that I'm going to like it, and then after eating a slab or two (they're not slices; they're slabs) conclude that the Chicago pie is pizza as created by someone who had only heard about pizza and didn't really understand the concept. I believe this also explains that stuff in Cincinnati they call "chili").
Regionalism can be reflected in our toppings. I read the other day that people in the Midwest are more inclined to top their pizza with sausage, while people in the Northeast prefer pepperoni. California you just have to forget altogether. Those people will put anything on a pizza. (Note to California: There is a place for squid. It is called the ocean. It is not under the mozzarella.)
The same story said Midwesterners are also more likely to eat pizza for breakfast than those in other parts of the country. This surprised me. I thought all Americans loved cold pizza for breakfast. There's something about a clammy slice of claylike dough topped with hard, dry cheese and pools of congealed grease that says "most important meal of the day."
But regional differences aside, pizza is American the same way we are American. Our families originated someplace else, and we don't much resemble them anymore, because we are our own people now.
What goes for us goes for our food.
E pluribus, pizza. Also chow mein, tacos, and fries.
Apparently, it is not enough to tolerate, accept, or even endorse the gay agenda. Now, unless you tolerate and accept criminal behavior committed by gays, you are a hater.
Believe it — that is the very public argument being made in behalf of Florida high school cheerleader Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, who faces criminal charges for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Word on the street and in the media is that it will be a really bad summer for mosquitoes. Or should I say, it will be a really bad summer for humans, because it will be a great year for thirsty mosquitoes.
When Barack Obama announced his presidential campaign back in February 2007, he did it in front of the old Springfield, Ill., Statehouse in a speech full of references to Abraham Lincoln.
Ordinarily I don’t take requests, but a bunch of people have written to ask how I’m doing with my weight-loss surgery and I thought this might be the most efficient way to answer.
I am a grandmother who went to the Brownsburg graduation ceremony on June 7 and due to very poor planning on Brownsburg School’s part, I could not sit and watch my twin grandsons graduate in person. I was directed to an overflow room where I had to watch it on a TV screen and could not even take pictures.
What you are now hearing across the land is a collective whine. Blue-state Democrats are upset that Texas Gov. Rick Perry dares come and play in their sandboxes, and worse, threatens to “poach” jobs from their states.
The website Politico reports that Perry’s attempts to lure jobs to Texas are “infuriating to prominent Democrats around the country.”
I am the first to admit I am behind the times when it comes to technology. I remember way back in the olden days of the 1990s when I was actually ahead of the game. Now there are second-graders that are more tech savvy than me. I just decided to stop my forward technological progression a few years back.
College graduates facing a crushing debt – some more than $100,000 – is a very big and a very real problem.
But U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s recent proposal to deal with it won’t solve the problem. It is a cheap ploy to divert attention from the real problem.
An NPR broadcast examines the question of how communities can better prepare for tornadoes like the one that struck Moore, Okla. on Monday. The broadcast features commentary from Michael Fitzgerald, who reported a five-part disaster series for the CNHI News Service.
Commentary
Discussion
As American as pizza pie
By Mike Redmond CNHI
Like most Americans, I like American food. Such as pizza.
Now, I know what you're thinking: Oh, Mike Redmond, you are so silly. Pizza is not American. Pizza is Chinese. Marco Polo brought it back to Italy along with gunpowder and a stack of Jackie Chan DVDs (this was before Leonardo DaVinci invented Blu-ray).
OK, maybe not. Perhaps you're thinking:
Oh, Mike Redmond, you have it wrong again. Pizza is authentic Italian food, just like chimichangas are authentic Mexican food, chop suey is authentic Chinese food, and French's mustard is authentic French food.
All right, then. Maybe it's:
Oh, Mike Redmond, you shouldn't be eating pizza. In which case I say, "Hi, Mom!"
Anyway, I maintain that pizza has become an American food by virtue of being ubiquitous. It is found nearly everywhere and consumed by nearly everyone in this country. Our love for pizza crosses all boundaries: geographical, political, racial, and philosophical.
True, pizza originated in Italy. But I think you have to make a distinction between pizza as practiced in that country and pizza as practiced in this one - Italian pizza vs. American. It's kind of like what we call pudding vs. what the English call pudding. With us you get Jell-o. With them, you get Charles Dickens and Tiny Tim and God bless us, everyone.
And so to the Italian immigrant, pizza.
We made it bigger, for one thing, as is our practice for just about everything, including ourselves. Then we started adding things - meats, vegetables, cheeses - in such profusion that a simple Italian street food made of bread, tomato, and herbs transmogrified into a manhole cover of dough topped with half a garden and multiple preserved pig parts.
Pizza also reflects American regionalism. What passes for pizza in one part of the country would not qualify in another, and I'm not just talking New York Style vs. Chicago Style.
(Just between you and me, I think Chicago Style pizza is a mistake. I always imagine that I'm going to like it, and then after eating a slab or two (they're not slices; they're slabs) conclude that the Chicago pie is pizza as created by someone who had only heard about pizza and didn't really understand the concept. I believe this also explains that stuff in Cincinnati they call "chili").
Regionalism can be reflected in our toppings. I read the other day that people in the Midwest are more inclined to top their pizza with sausage, while people in the Northeast prefer pepperoni. California you just have to forget altogether. Those people will put anything on a pizza. (Note to California: There is a place for squid. It is called the ocean. It is not under the mozzarella.)
The same story said Midwesterners are also more likely to eat pizza for breakfast than those in other parts of the country. This surprised me. I thought all Americans loved cold pizza for breakfast. There's something about a clammy slice of claylike dough topped with hard, dry cheese and pools of congealed grease that says "most important meal of the day."
But regional differences aside, pizza is American the same way we are American. Our families originated someplace else, and we don't much resemble them anymore, because we are our own people now.
What goes for us goes for our food.
E pluribus, pizza. Also chow mein, tacos, and fries.
© 2012 Mike Redmond. All Rights Reserved.
Will the current V.A. backlog on veterans’ compensation claims be the next scandal to hit the administration?
Currently, the backlog is at 865,000 plus compensation claims with a wait time of greater than 125 days.
June 18, 2013
Apparently, it is not enough to tolerate, accept, or even endorse the gay agenda. Now, unless you tolerate and accept criminal behavior committed by gays, you are a hater.
Believe it — that is the very public argument being made in behalf of Florida high school cheerleader Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, who faces criminal charges for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
June 18, 2013
Word on the street and in the media is that it will be a really bad summer for mosquitoes. Or should I say, it will be a really bad summer for humans, because it will be a great year for thirsty mosquitoes.
June 14, 2013
As a Christian, I feel compelled to respond to a recent letter to the editor.
June 14, 2013
When Barack Obama announced his presidential campaign back in February 2007, he did it in front of the old Springfield, Ill., Statehouse in a speech full of references to Abraham Lincoln.
June 14, 2013
Ordinarily I don’t take requests, but a bunch of people have written to ask how I’m doing with my weight-loss surgery and I thought this might be the most efficient way to answer.
June 11, 2013
I am a grandmother who went to the Brownsburg graduation ceremony on June 7 and due to very poor planning on Brownsburg School’s part, I could not sit and watch my twin grandsons graduate in person. I was directed to an overflow room where I had to watch it on a TV screen and could not even take pictures.
June 11, 2013
What you are now hearing across the land is a collective whine. Blue-state Democrats are upset that Texas Gov. Rick Perry dares come and play in their sandboxes, and worse, threatens to “poach” jobs from their states.
The website Politico reports that Perry’s attempts to lure jobs to Texas are “infuriating to prominent Democrats around the country.”
June 11, 2013
I am the first to admit I am behind the times when it comes to technology. I remember way back in the olden days of the 1990s when I was actually ahead of the game. Now there are second-graders that are more tech savvy than me. I just decided to stop my forward technological progression a few years back.
June 7, 2013
College graduates facing a crushing debt – some more than $100,000 – is a very big and a very real problem.
But U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s recent proposal to deal with it won’t solve the problem. It is a cheap ploy to divert attention from the real problem.
June 7, 2013
Follow me on Twitter
Is Eric Snowden a traitor or patriot?
Tires
Telecommunications
Beauty Salons
Government
An NPR broadcast examines the question of how communities can better prepare for tornadoes like the one that struck Moore, Okla. on Monday. The broadcast features commentary from Michael Fitzgerald, who reported a five-part disaster series for the CNHI News Service.
May 22, 2013 1 Photo
Complete Report:
Part I: Are We Prepared? | Part II: Disaster Dollars
Part III: Lessons Learned | Part IV: Warning Signs
Part V: The Big One
General Keith Alexander says two recently disclosed surveillance programs on international communications are critical in the terrorism fight.
June 18, 2013 1 Photo
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