Episode 16 - Partisan Pizza

Jeff and Darron explore the nature of conservatism and progressivism by looking at pizza and other food preferences. They talk about the nature of category designations, what it means to call something by a specific name, and why this can sometimes feel so important to us. They look at their own preferences and inclinations towards conservative or progressive thinking, examine where they might come from, and how they are often dependent on context. They touch on the benefits of honing an existing process versus trying new techniques and methods, the importance and drawbacks of categories and categorization, and finally how we might use an examination of our personal preferences about food to better understand the larger sociopolitical and cultural context in which we find ourselves.

Notes:

• 2:12 - The “Big Mac” pizza is one of of many “Gourmet Pizzas” served at Illiano’s Pizza & Italian Cuisine in Middletown, CT

• 3:45 - See “The Definitive Guide to New Haven Pizza”, the “New Haven-style pizza” Wikipedia entry, and the website for Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana

• 4:05 - I’m currently using Andrew Janigan’s updated version for NYC Thin-Crust Pizza Dough, which is terrific, and for more detail about the process check out his three part series on dough and baking pizzas

• 5:21 - See “The History of Pizza” (CNN Travel, 2021)

• 5:29 - - According to the 2021 CNN Travel article “How Italians Made Tomatoes Their Essential Ingredient”, tomatoes were first “Brought to Europe by the Spanish when they colonized the Americas -- it's an Aztec plant, as we can tell by its original name, "tomatl" -- by the mid-1500s, it had made its way to Italy. Nobody quite knows how -- some think the Sephardic Jews, expelled from Spain in 1492, could have brought it with them. Or maybe it made its way over with Eleanor of Toledo, who came to Florence when she married the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici, in 1539. Either way, by 1548, the tomato was to be found in Cosimo's botanical gardens in Pisa. But it wasn't yet on tables...The earliest recipe for tomato sauce was published in 1694, by Neapolitan chef Antonio Latini in his book "Lo Scalco alla Moderna" -- "The Modern Steward." "It mentions that if you mix onions, tomatoes and some herbs you get a very interesting sauce that can be used in all sorts of things on meat, especially boiled meat -- and things that aren't so tasty become more interesting with the acidity of the tomato," See “How Italians Made Tomatoes Their Essential Ingredient” (CNN Travel, 2021) 

• 6:48 - See the “Neopolitan pizza” Wikipedia entry and the website of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, an association set up in 1984 to preserve the Neapolitan pizza tradition

• 8:04 - Plato’s Theory of Forms (Wikipedia) - “...the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas. According to this theory, ideas in this sense, often capitalized and translated as "Ideas" or "Forms", are the non-physical essences of all things, of which objects and matter in the physical world are merely imitations.”

• 8:15 - For more on pizza styles see “Do You Know These Regional Pizza Styles?” (Serious Eats, 2018)

• 8:40 - See Adam Kuban’s current site, Famous Original Slice, and this profile from Serious Eats where he mentions, among other things, his pizza cognition theory

• 9:20 - Sergio’s Pizza and Restaurant in Hamden, CT

• 10:00 - See “Chefs Weigh In: Is Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Really Pizza?” (Eater, 2014), “Why Deep Dish Can't Be Considered Pizza in a Court of Law” (Thrillist, 2016), and the Wikipedia entry on Chicago-Style Pizza

• 11:50 - I now bake pizza on a baking steel that sits on top of a fibrament baking stone - the stone absorbs and retains a ton of heat and the steel is highly conductive so it transfers that heat into the bottom of the crust very efficiently making for a nicely crisp and browned bottom crust

• 12:10 - See “What Is a Controlled Experiment?” (ThoughtCo, 2019)

• 17:19 - Released in 1998, the dramatic war film The Thin Red Line is an adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War

• 17:53 - The Yale repertory Theatre

• 18:10 - Guinness Beer

• 18:50 - Daniel Kahneman

• 18:54 - See “How the Difference Between Your Experiencing Self and Your Remembering Self Shapes Your Happiness” (Brainpickings, 2011) and watch “Daniel Kahneman: The Riddle of Experience Vs. Memory” (TED, 2010)

• 19:02 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 14 - Talkin' Baseball Stories & Beautiful Illusions from May 2021

• 23:22 - See “Why do fatty foods taste so good?” (EarthSky, 2017) and “Human Perceptions and Preferences for Fat-Rich Foods” (Chapter 11 of Fat Detection, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2010)

• 23:54 - See the Jimi Hendrix Wikipedia entry, bio from JimiHendrix.com, “Jimi Hendrix’ use of distortion to extend the performance vocabulary of the electric guitar” (Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1998), “100 Greatest Guitarist lists” from Rolling Stone (Hendrix comes in at #1) and Guitar World (Hendrix comes in at #2), and watch his legendary Woodstock performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” (YouTube)

• 25:21 - Watch Jimi Hendrix play acoustically and listen to an acoustic jam session from 1968

• 25:42 - See “Why You Shouldn't Use Effects When You Practice” (Guitar World, 2018)

• 25:53 - See the “Learning curve” Wikipedia entry

• 26:33 - Jimi Hendrix spent a number of years honing his skills as a professional musician backing up a number of US acts on the Chitlin Circuit during the early 60’s, but he eventually chafed at having to play the same sets every night and the many other musical restrictions associated with being a sideman. By 1966 he had moved into New York’s vibrant Greenwich Village music scene, however he did not have much initial success attempting to go his own way, and did not see any real recognition until arriving in London in the back half of 1966. Notably it was another guitarist, Keith Richards, who saw his early brilliance and eventually connected him with the London scene. Once there it was notables such as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Pete Townshend, many of whom were guitar masters themselves, that were among the first to truly recognize the nature of Hendrix’s innovations on the guitar, how he blended virtuosic playing with diverse styles and experimental tones, and they almost immediately recognized the impact it would have on themselves and the burgeoning rock scene of the mid to late sixties.

• 28:42 - Molecular gastronomy

• 28:53 - See “French Cooking: How and Why French Cooking Came to Rule the World” (Escoffier, 2021) and the “French Cuisine” Wikipedia entry

• 29:05 - See “Modern Art: History and Concepts” (The Art Story) and the “Modern Art” Wikipedia entry

• 29:40 - See “Pumpkin Spice Is Overrated and We Need to Talk About It” (Eating Well, 2019) and the “Pumpkin Pie Spice” Wikipedia entry

• 29:58 - See “Why do so many people find pineapple on pizza offensive?” (GoodFood, 2019) and the “Hawaiian Pizza” Wikipedia entry

• 32:29 - J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (official site) and bio from Serious Eats

• 33:06 - See “Hydration” (CraftyBaking) and “Pizza Dough Hydration Explained” (NA-Pizza)

• 36:50 - See “The Happiness Benefits of Trying New Things” (The Atlantic, 2021)

• 36:58 - See “Neophilia vs Neophobia - What's the difference?” (WikiDiff)

• 37:43 - See “Emotion Theory and Research: Highlights, Unanswered Questions, and Emerging Issues” (Annual Review of Psychology, 2009) by Caroll Izzard 

• 38:40 - The Big Five Personality Traits

• 40:37 - The Epic of Gilgamesh

• 40:48 - For more on the long history of bread see “14,000-Year-Old Piece Of Bread Rewrites The History Of Baking And Farming” (NPR, 2018), “Who Invented Bread?” (LiveScience, 2018), the “History of Bread” Wikipedia entry, “Why San Francisco does sourdough best” (BBC Travel, 2020), and “What Makes San Francisco Sourdough Unique?” (KQED, 2017)

• 42:50 - See “What is Challah?” (My Jewish Learning) and the “Rye Bread” Wikipedia entry

• 43:00 - Mastery Learning

• 43:09 - Zen

• 43:16 - Watch Mihaly Csikszentmihaly’s TED Talk “Flow, The Secret To Happiness”

• 46:18 - See “Stream Jimmy Montague’s horn-fueled, ’70s-inspired new album ‘Casual Use’” (Brooklyn Vegan, 2021) and visit the album’s Bandcamp page

• 47:50 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 02 - Our Back Pages from September 2020 where Jeff and Darron discuss their long-standing obsession with Bob Dylan

• 48:10 - See the “Electric Dylan Controversy” Wikipedia entry, “The Night Bob Dylan Went Electric” (History), “Dylan goes electric at The Newport Folk Festival” (History), “July 25, 1965: Dylan Goes Electric at The Newport Folk Festival” (Smithsonian), and “Revisit Bob Dylan’s electric performance at Newport Folk Festival 50 years later” (Consequence of Sound)

• 51:50 - See “Category Learning in the Brain” (Annual Review of Neuroscience, 2010) and “How the brain forms categories” (ScienceDaily, 2012)

• 52:35 - Postmodernism

• 54:25 - See the “Food and Drink Prohibitions” Wikipedia entry

• 54:35 - The new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009 and “our version” of Yankee Stadium was actually the renovated version of the original stadium built in 1923

• 55:09 - There are a few different designations for Italian food products, but the most stringent is the Denominazinone d’Origine Protetta, translated to Protected Designation of Origin, and abbreviated DOP. According to the Eataly website, “this designation guarantees that your favorite cheese, prosciutto, olive oil, etc., is produced, processed, and packaged in a specific geographical zone and according to tradition. Each step, from production to packaging, is regulated”, and this matters simply because “beyond saving ancient traditions, the product actually tastes better. It's true. There is a reason why Prosciutto Toscano DOP is made with pigs raised in the hills of a set zone and grazed on local grasses, then cured at precise temperatures with a secret recipe of local herbs: the prosciutto tastes delicious. It tasted delicious centuries ago, when the methods were defined and perfected, it tastes delicious today, and it is guaranteed to taste delicious in centuries to come.” And furthermore that “The need for guaranteed authentic products began in the mid-1900s, when Italy's food and wine producers found themselves in trouble. As "Italian cuisine" gained popularity in the U.S. and abroad, the market was flooded with low-quality, knock-off olive oil, cheese, prosciutto, and wine, all sold under the guise of the high-quality products they mimicked. To protect its culinary reputation, Italy worked with the European Union to create legal certifications that encourage food and wine producers to focus on quality, tradition, and reliability. To earn the labels, producers must adhere to a strict set of guidelines, overseen by the government.” For more see “A Guide to Italian Certifications” (Eataly) and “DOP Foods of Italy: What They Are, and How to Find Them” (Walks of Italy)

• 56:55 - See the “Neopolitan pizza” Wikipedia entry and the website of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, an association set up in 1984 to preserve the Neapolitan pizza tradition and their 14-page document outlining the requirements for certification

• 59:38 - See the “Carbonara” Wikipedia entry, “Watch Michelin-Starred Chefs Cook Carbonara” (Fine Dining Lovers, 2017), “Smoky Tomato Carbonara” (New York Times, 2021), “'Stop this madness': NYT angers Italians with 'smoky tomato carbonara' recipe” (The Guardian, 2021), “New York Times’ Tomato Carbonara Recipe (Rightly) Causes International Incident” (The Daily Beast, 2021), and predating the more recent controversy “Italian Icons: Carbonara, a Squabble Recipe” (Find Dining Lovers, 2015) and “Carbonara Purists Can’t Stop the Pasta Revolution” (The New Yorker, 2016)

• 1:01:09 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 06 - What We Talk About When We Talk About Politics from November 2020 and Beautiful Illusions Episode 13 - What We Talk About When We Talk About Politics Part 2: Just the Facts from April 2021

• 1:01:15 - James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketcham

• 1:01:48 - See the “David Hume” Wikipedia entry and “Hume and Madison on Faction” (The William and Mary Quarterly, 2002)

• 1:02:10 - Madison lays out his views on a large diverse republic in Federalist No. 10, see the Wikipedia entry as well 

• 1:03:00 - See “Aristotle’s Ethics: The Doctrine of the Mean” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

• 1:05:15 - Loss aversion

• 1:07:45 - See “The Jefferson Dinner” (JeffersonDinner.org)

• 1:07:50 - Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain byLisa Feldman Barrett