New Pizza place open - The Junky Monkey

John, have you ever eaten pizza in Italy? I have, many times, and it is a whole different animal over there. So unless you have eaten it there your opinion isn't really worth a hill of beans.

E-raq wrote:John, have you ever eaten pizza in Italy? I have, many times, and it is a whole different animal over there. So unless you have eaten it there your opinion isn't really worth a hill of beans.

Yes, I have, a looong time ago and it is totally different. We had it in Rome. It varies by region.

John never ate unless he was on the cruise ship! If he behaved on the cruise ship in a similar manner to this forum, they probably had to assign him a security detail and he was probably afraid to go ashore on his own. After all, other passengers might jump him!

and..........having Italian forebears does not make a whit of difference in your cooking Italian style food. Anyone with a web recipe or good cooking skills can whip up a delicious Italian meal. It's all about ingredients and taking time.

Some local restaurants do take the time and use the best ingredients. Others depend on the ignorance of their customers.

Chef Boyardee wasn't bad, either, if you were nine years old and your mama was a lousy cook. LOL.

CheenaGringo wrote:John never ate unless he was on the cruise ship! If he behaved on the cruise ship in a similar manner to this forum, they probably had to assign him a security detail and he was probably afraid to go ashore on his own. After all, other passengers might jump him!

My answer on eating pizza in Italy was referring to when we visited 6 countries in 1972 and we were in Rome. The Mediterranean cruise was in 2008 and we ate on the ship because it's part of the package. It's gourmet food that you don't find in many places unless you're paying big bucks for it. It makes Ajijic restaurants look like they're serving garbage.

OK, don't be dissing Chef Boyardee now. I loved that ravioli when I was a kid......jajaja.

CanuckBob wrote:OK, don't be dissing Chef Boyardee now. I loved that ravioli when I was a kid......jajaja.

OK senor jefe...jajaja

gringal wrote:and..........having Italian forebears does not make a whit of difference in your cooking Italian style food. Anyone with a web recipe or good cooking skills can whip up a delicious Italian meal. It's all about ingredients and taking time.

Some local restaurants do take the time and use the best ingredients. Others depend on the ignorance of their customers.

Chef Boyardee wasn't bad, either, if you were nine years old and your mama was a lousy cook. LOL.

Oh God does that bring back memories. My mother cooked the same thing, on the same day, every day of the week. Sunday was always fried chicken, still the best chicken I’ve ever had. Now when I was about twelve she did the Chef Boyardee thing and it was really, really good. First time I’d ever had pasta and we lived on a much healthier diet. I can hardly remember eating any processed foods, maybe an occasional, at the fair “Hot Dog”.

The first time we had “Pizza” my mother thought it was the best food she had ever eaten, it didn’t matter who prepared it. We’re all just getting too spoiled, IMHO, and so we have taken the fun out of simple pleasures.

johninajijic wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:OK, don't be dissing Chef Boyardee now. I loved that ravioli when I was a kid......jajaja.

OK senor jefe...jajaja

OK......well that wasn't the response I was looking for. I was hoping you were going to tell me that Joe would make me a ravioli that would be the best I have ever tasted.......jajaja. Maybe I'll have to ask him myself.

CanuckBob wrote:

johninajijic wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:OK, don't be dissing Chef Boyardee now. I loved that ravioli when I was a kid......jajaja.

OK senor jefe...jajaja

OK......well that wasn't the response I was looking for. I was hoping you were going to tell me that Joe would make me a ravioli that would be the best I have ever tasted.......jajaja. Maybe I'll have to ask him myself.

He doesn't do Ravioli, but he does Lasagne, Lasagne with Spinach, Meat (Pork) Lasagna, Cannelloni, Stuffed Shells (Ricotta or Ricotta and Spinach), Gnocchi (Ricotta). Of course Italian Meatloaf which you've had. And Pizza custom made for you and Sharon.

ferret wrote:No Fettucine Alfredo? You want my recipe?

No Fettucinne Alfredo, but we do Cappellini with Butter and Parmesan cheese and Egg Noodles with Butter and Parmesan cheese, both artery cloggers. And also a fresh marinara sauce with Shrimp over Linguine. My mouth is watering.

Since the Chili Cookoff really has nothing to do with true Mexican food and is a Gringo invention, maybe it is time for an International Food Cookoff with rotating countries annually? It could start with an Italian Cookoff and my bet would be that the bookies probably wouldn't offer odds on John's chances of winning! Kathy and I have indulged in a few pasta dishes in our Mexican travels that would give an Italian chef a run and they were prepared by Mexican chefs!

CheenaGringo wrote:Since the Chili Cookoff really has nothing to do with true Mexican food and is a Gringo invention, maybe it is time for an International Food Cookoff with rotating countries annually? It could start with an Italian Cookoff and my bet would be that the bookies probably wouldn't offer odds on John's chances of winning! Kathy and I have indulged in a few pasta dishes in our Mexican travels that would give an Italian chef a run and they were prepared by Mexican chefs!

What restaurants were they?

ferret wrote:

johninajijic wrote:

ferret wrote:No Fettucine Alfredo? You want my recipe?

No Fettucinne Alfredo, but we do Cappellini with Butter and Parmesan cheese and Egg Noodles with Butter and Parmesan cheese, both artery cloggers. And also a fresh marinara sauce with Shrimp over Linguine. My mouth is watering.

Yes, they are artery cloggers but hopefully once a month won't kill us. The original recipe given to me used butter, WHIPPING cream and parmesan. I still use the butter but less of it and I use LIGHT MILK instead of the whipping cream...the parmesan remains the same. I actually don't think I could give anyone a recipe for it, since it's more to eye and to taste.
Still, it somehow always turns out the same. Tonight was the night...but I added small cubes of chicken that I barbecued last night and some fresh peas....not a scrap left.

Sounds great, I would like the peas. Do you make Carbonara too, we don't.

ferret wrote:No carbonara. That's heartburn city.

Had the best carbonara ever yesterday in Orvieto at the Osteria Mezza Luna thanks to Professori Michelangelo.

Had a funghi porcini pizza tonight with a very light tomato sauce and the thinnest crust I've ever had. My daughter hasn't seen a crust that thin in the 2 years she's lived here. And that means lots of pizza.

seisdedos wrote:

ferret wrote:No carbonara. That's heartburn city.

Had the best carbonara ever yesterday in Orvieto at the Osteria Mezza Luna thanks to Professori Michelangelo.

Had a funghi porcini pizza tonight with a very light tomato sauce and the thinnest crust I've ever had. My daughter hasn't seen a crust that thin in the 2 years she's lived here. And that means lots of pizza.

where is this restaurant in Guadalajara?

Seisdedos writes (in part):

"... Had the best carbonara ever yesterday in Orvieto at the Osteria Mezza Luna thanks to Professori Michelangelo...."

Dawg is a big carbonara fan. A type of pasta I learned to love while living in France and a dish I often order while there if it´s on the menu. My experience over the years from restaurant to restaurant has been uneven to put it mildly. When carbonara is done right it is superb.

So, there we were in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, a town with a lively restaurant scene and dining in a restaurant on the highly popular Andador restaurant row supposedly specializing in European food when I spotted Pasta Carbonara on the menu which I ordered with a bottle of good Chilean wine and the carbonara turned out to be a dreadful, mushy, tasteless concoction of little interest and not even remotely characteristic of what even a bad carbonara would resemble anywhere in France so, although I am not given to complaining in restaurants - simply electing instead to refuse to return if a meal is unacceptable - this pasta concoction was so far removed from anything resembling carbonara that I felt it appropriate to voice an objection so I called over the waiter and the following brief conversation ensued:

ME: "This is not pasta carbonara.
WAITER: "Well, here it is."

End of brief, Chiapas-style encounter followed by the gulping down of that good Chilean red wine and a hasty exit and vow to never return to that establishment. That last part is not so hard since restaurants come and go quite rapidly along San Cristóbal´s restaurant row - usually unlamented.

So, who the hell would order a pasta carbonara in Chiapas or Chiapas food in France? Well, there´s a big expat European community in San Cristóbal and one can still get a great wood fired pizza there but don´t become too adventurous. If you want Chiapas food in Paris, you had better know some Chiapanecos who live there and get the necessary ingredients from far flung relatives.

Just thought some on the board would find it interesting that the infamous "pizza hawaiiana" that so manly credit its existence to Mexicans actually exists in Italy.

Saw it with my own eyes last night in Alto Adige.

seisdedos wrote:Just thought some on the board would find it interesting that the infamous "pizza hawaiiana" that so manly credit its existence to Mexicans actually exists in Italy.

Saw it with my own eyes last night in Alto Adige.

Did they put ketchup on it?

LOL that would be the deciding factor!