I ran across this
patent application online for a "process for making a pepperoni sausage." That in itself is not so remarkable, I guess, but I noticed that the application states that "Subjecting the sausage to high temperatures during drying or other processing steps may also adversely affect the suitability of the finished product for certain applications. For example, pepperoni slices used as pizza toppings should not cup or curl at the edges during cooking of the pizza because of the tendency for liquid to pool in the cupped slices and the likelihood that the edges will burn or dry out."
Say what? I guess this guy never had - or doesn't like - "cup and curl," a/k/a "cup and char" pepperoni on his pizza. Personally I like it - it gets nice and crisp along the edges, and has a more substantial texture. It does tend to result in little grease-filled pepperoni cups, but you can always mop that up with a napkin. The alternative, with regular thin-sliced pepperoni, is having the melted fat spread all over the surface of the pizza.
I will agree, though, that for true NY style pizza, the thin stuff is what you need. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.
I must tell you for once in my life that the word Pepperoni sounds very funny to every italian people. Probably this name was born as a misunderstanding because in Italy we named PEPERONI (plural and without the double p) the vegetable that you call "Bell pepper" and SALAME what you call "salami". I didn't find nothing about that, but as this "pepperoni" is used for pizza and is a spicy variety of salami, i think that in the american culture you called it with this name because it's reminding the chili pepper name, what do you think about? Cheers :)
ReplyDeleteOn April 3, I posted a link to a NY Times article about pepperoni. Cut and paste this address:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/dining/02pepperoni.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=style
Yes, pepperoni is basically an American invention, derived from Italian sausage. But then again pizza as we know it in this country is also an American invention, also derived from the Italian original. I don't know how the name came about, but there's always been a certain amount of confusion between "pepper" as in bell peppers and "pepper" as in spicy peppers. Plus you've got ground peppercorns vs. chile-type peppers, which are two completely different things. We need more nouns, clearly.