Shouldn't He Go to Dublin with That Name?: Blog Traffic Jam, Part 5 of 5: "American" pizza is better than American pizza

I met with some old friends in Westminster last Wednesday (sorry for the late update!), and we were looking for a place to go eat. We walked past Parliament Square (where a group of Tamils were still protesting, though their numbers had greatly decreased since the week before, and we were halfway down the next street when I saw a sight for sore eyes. It was presented in a different way than I was used to, but it still conjured in me the same feelings for taste, goodness, and pepperonis: Pizza Express.

Now, food might be my favorite thing in the whole world. That could be because I only just got out of my teenage years & I’m still young, but the same can be said for a lot of people older than me. (Like Emeril. Or anyone who watches the Food Network.) I think the real reasons are because it’s necessary, so there HAS to be at least some affinity for it, and because it’s everywhere. (That last fact is the result of a lot of luck, grace, and the invention of refrigeration, and I’m eternally grateful for that.)

But just because it’s everywhere doesn’t mean that it’s the same across the world. It doesn’t even mean that foods that fall under the same name are the same. American biscuits are by no means the same as British biscuits, American Chinese food is uniquely American, and Pizza Express (now Pizza X) in Bloomington doesn’t even compare to Pizza Express in Westminster.

In fact, I’m gonna blaspheme. I’ve had a dish called “American Hot” pizza in two places in London: Pizza Express by Westminster on Wednesday, and Soho Pizzeria on Carnaby Street the next day. I believe I can safely say that British “American” pizza is better than pizza in America.

There. I said it. Sue me if you want.

(Say what you will about small sample sizes. I acknowledge that this wouldn’t stand up to peer review under any other name than a case study. But it’s good enough for MY experience.)
Let me describe for you the best (and second-best) “American” pizza I’ve ever had:

It is doughy, but it’s thin, so the bread tastes wonderfully without overpowering the toppings. The sauce works with the bread to keep it soft and doughy, but it stays separate enough that it retains its own quality. The pepperonis are thick, so they keep their entire internal flavor. (And I mean their ENTIRE internal flavor.) The outer crust is a little hard, which, given the flimsiness of the inside, gives the whole pizza structural integrity; it’s not crumbly, though, so it retains some of the doughy qualities of the underbelly bread.

(<- I got halfway through my pizza before I thought of taking its picture. That’s how good it was.)

My pizzas had something hot on them (jalapeños at Pizza Express, green peppers at Soho Pizzeria), but even if they didn’t have that spiciness, I still would have called them the best two pizzas I’ve ever eaten.

So, my rankings for Best Pizza:

1. American (Hot), Pizza Express, Great Britain
2. American (Hot), Soho Pizzeria, Carnaby Street
3. Anything else; they all are far too inferior to the top two for me to rank.

*In the interest of full disclosure, the Pizza Express pizza beat out the Soho pizza because I had gelato with it. Dave, you’re right. I could eat it all day!