If you are of the right generation, you remember the iconic opening scene of Saturday Night Fever – John Travolta strolling down the sidewalks of New York, bouncing to the falsetto beat of the Bee …
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If you are of the right generation, you remember the iconic opening scene of Saturday Night Fever – John Travolta strolling down the sidewalks of New York, bouncing to the falsetto beat of the Bee Gees, ordering pizza by the slice and folding it up to eat on the go.
The trick to New York style pizza and the thing that so often trips up chefs at parlors around the country who try to make it is that crust. It must be flimsy enough to flop, yet with a crispy veneer that yields a satisfying crackle.
Far too often, parlors touting their New York style pies send out something sodden – flimsy, yes, but not at all crisp. Or some tip the other direction entirely, interpreting the crust as brittle, with no give at all.
Travolta’s swagger in Saturday Night Fever wouldn’t look so cool if he were trailing crumbs from a cracker crust.
Brad Deihl, owner of the popular Mexico sandwich shop Dagwood Jr. used to spin pizza dough for a living. You could call him a pizza aficionado, so when he speaks about pies you listen.
And he points to Fulton as the regional center for pizza.
Brooklyn Pizza sits on the downtown square in Fulton. Their New York crusts are proper. Lift a slice and the point flops toward the plate. Yet it has a crunch – a toasty sheen from the oven that gives the otherwise mild, airy dough a nutty hint.
This allows the sauce to stand out. It is bright and sweet, fencing with raspy dry herbs and the bite of garlic.
But this is a pie for dining in. As the pizza sits, that fragile line between crisp and doughy begins to waver and then vanish.
So enjoy the moment while you can.