Good Grape Wine Company

Reading it will give you an understanding of what makes a good pizza good as well as how you can make excellent pizza at home. Reinhart has the ability to describe what dough is supposed to look and feel like at its various stages of development; he helps you develop a sense of what's happening.

I've made all of the doughs he describes--except the sourdough--and they all taste good. The descriptions of what to expect from each dough gives various reasons for why you might make one over the other. Eventually, Reinhart, says you will find a particular kind of dough that you focus on.

The book itself is beautiful, ragged edged pages and excellent typography.

There really isn't another book like it. It is what all good baking books wish they could be: A combination of clear instruction, insight, knowledge and explanation that results in food that tastes good.


The perfect book for perfect pizza   December 27, 2003
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I have loved pizza for more than 50 years and Peter Reinhart's American Pie is nearly as good as any pizza I've had from San Francisco to Naples. His recollections of pizza from his youth to his travels around the U.S. and Italy in search of the best pizza kept me turning the pages while my mouth watered for another "perfect" pizza. I learned of new pizza destinations, even nearby, and new versions to try at home. But most important I learned what it takes to make great pizza. It might be the reason why so many people who make their own in my backyard wood-fired oven say it is the best they've ever eaten.


A search for Pizza Perfection, and how you may achieve it   December 23, 2003
 60 out of 64 found this review helpful

I'm sure there are other books devoted to the pizza, but this is the one which all true foodies will want. For starters, it's written by Peter Reinhart, a major American authority and writer on bread baking. Then, there are connections in the story to culinary luminaries such as Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, Rick Bayless, Paul Bertolli, and David Rosengarten.

The first half of the book is a quest to find the best American pizza, after an incident in Reinhart's home town of Philadelphia when he has a pie from a fondly remembered local restaurant, and it simply does not come up to his fond memories of the pizza of days gone by. As one would expect, the quest begins by a visit to sample the pizzas of Italy in Genoa, Florence, Rome, and Naples, the legendary home of the pizza archetype.

Upon returning home, the author and his wife visit famous pizza locations in New York City, New Haven, San Francisco, Los Angles, Chicago, and Phoenix. In case the Food Network has not caught onto this fact yet, some of the very best pizza is made at Pizzeria Bianco by Chris Bianco, a James Beard Best Chef of the Southwest award winner.

The author is not so gauche as to make a pronouncement on the best pizza in the country, but comes to the conclusion that a local `best' is the conjunction of a perception of what the best pizza should be and a very good pizzaioli who can produce a pie to meet those expectations. One of the most difficult problems for maintaining a good pizza in the U.S. is keeping a dedicated pizzaioli at work at that position and not to treat the job as just another station for a chef to master and move on. Even food meccas like Chez Panisse have problems keeping up the quality of their crusts in the face of staff rotation.

The second half of the book is dedicated to recipes and techniques for making pizzas at home. Given the great variety of wood, coal, gas, and electric ovens used to make pizza commercially, it's hard to imagine that with a reasonable amount of dilligence, people cannot get very good results from their home ovens. The biggest difficulty is that the typical home oven cannot manage more than about 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Reinhardt offers three methods to improve your chances with a home oven, both with and without the convection oven.

As Reinhart is a recognized expert on bread baking, I find no basis for my questioning his recommendations. And, since many of his colleagues believe the crust is five times more important for the quality of the pizza than all the toppings put together, I have to believe Rienhart's advice will be a golden addition to your pizza skills.

If there is any question in your mind up to now, be aware that this book deals only with the real deal. There are no short cuts here. The recipes part has chapters on:

The Family of Doughs including Napoletana, Roman, New York, Chicago, Sardinian, and Focaccia dough
Sauces, including tomato, pesto, and specialty sauces

Pizzas, including Mapoletana, neo-Neapolitan, Roman, Grilled, Sardinian, and Pita.

The classic American pizza represented primarily by New York City is a neo-Neapolitan pizza, but people in Chicagoland live and die by their deep dish pizzas. This is the source of Reinhardt's conclusion that one's perception of the best is affected greatly by what you grew up with.

If you don't like chatty books and you just want the recipes, this may not be the best book for you, but if you want the history, the general techniques, plus an excellent presentation of all the classic recipes, this is the book for you, especially at the very reasonable list price for a very well composed hardcover book.

Highly recommended.


For Perfect Pizza, See American Pie   December 18, 2003
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

As a person who can devour pizza five nights a week, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this Pizza Pie masterpiece. Peter Reinhart takes his reader around the globe with insights on pizza as well as marvelous recipes. He does the leg work, while you the reader, reap the benefits. As I turned each page, I wanted to try my hand at each delicious delight. Oh the cheese, the sauce, that crust! Mr. Reinhart gives his reader a new perspective on an old favorite. It's as if he is right there with you, in your kitchen, handing you the ingredients and reminding you why pizza is more than just a delicious comfort food. This book makes a great gift for any pizza lover or food connoisseur. The author's writing is captivating and the photos are irresistible. Enjoy!