Former WR Josh Reed Slams Buffalo

[Chef Jim]

If you go to China and eat local cuisine it is called food, not Chinese food.

 

Whoa....you just blew my mind.

[BuffaloBillsForever]

Speaking of "Buffalo Pizza" does anyone know the exact brand of tomato paste Bocces uses for their pizza sauce?

[atlbillsfan1975]

Whoa....you just blew my mind.

ha!

[Chef Jim]

Speaking of "Buffalo Pizza" does anyone know the exact brand of tomato paste Bocces uses for their pizza sauce?

 

I they have any idea what they're doing probably none.

[BuffaloBillsForever]

I they have any idea what they're doing probably none.

 

If you have ever tried this pizza, the base of the tomato sauce tastes heavily of tomato paste but it doesn't taste like your sticking a spoon in a can of tomato paste. It has a very unique flavor unlike any pizza. Very bold tomato flavor. There is definitely other stuff in there like water to dilute the paste, oregano, salt and sugar because of how sweet it is (tomato paste is also bitter).

Edited July 19, 2012 by BuffaloBillsForever

[Chef Jim]

If you have ever tried this pizza, the base of the tomato sauce tastes heavily of tomato paste but it doesn't taste like your sticking a spoon in a can of tomato paste. It has a very unique flavor unlike any pizza. Very bold tomato flavor. There is definitely other stuff in there like water to dilute the paste, oregano, salt and sugar because of how sweet it is (tomato paste is also bitter).

 

That would be acidic. That is also what I hate about most pizzas is most cooks have no idea how to make a good tomato sauce. They load it up with **** canned tomatoes and tomato paste which are way too acidic so to combat that they add **** loads of sugar and it becomes a sweet, acidic mess.

[BuffaloBillsForever]

That would be acidic. That is also what I hate about most pizzas is most cooks have no idea how to make a good tomato sauce. They load it up with **** canned tomatoes and tomato paste which are way too acidic so to combat that they add **** loads of sugar and it becomes a sweet, acidic mess.

 

That's the thing, its not acidic or bitter. From the taste I think they solely use tomato paste as the base too! It is on the sweeter side of pizza sauces which I can see some people not liking. But it actually has a clean, bold tomato flavor underneath that upfront added sweetness of the sugar.

 

That's why I wonder what exact brand of tomato paste they use.

[Chef Jim]

That's the thing, its not acidic or bitter. From the taste I think they solely use tomato paste as the base too! It is on the sweeter side of pizza sauces which I can see some people not liking. But it actually has a clean, bold tomato flavor underneath that upfront added sweetness of the sugar.

 

That's why I wonder what exact brand of tomato paste they use.

 

Ok it may not be acidic or bitter because they load it up with surgar, hence the reason it's sweet. I hate that. And my point is if they're using tomato paste they're fools. Why the hell use tomato paste? I'll tell you why so you can have a nice thick (and crappy tasting) sauce in about 30 minutes as opposed to a slow simmered sauce that has cooked for hours. The best sauce I've made is using butter, yes butter not olive oil, onions, carrots (the natural sweetness will cut the acidity instead of sugar) garlic, whole canned tomatoes (imported from Italy), fresh basil and dried oregano (never been a big fan of the fresh).

[BuffaloBillsForever]

Ok it may not be acidic or bitter because they load it up with surgar, hence the reason it's sweet. I hate that. And my point is if they're using tomato paste they're fools. Why the hell use tomato paste? I'll tell you why so you can have a nice thick (and crappy tasting) sauce in about 30 minutes as opposed to a slow simmered sauce that has cooked for hours. The best sauce I've made is using butter, yes butter not olive oil, onions, carrots (the natural sweetness will cut the acidity instead of sugar) garlic, whole canned tomatoes (imported from Italy), fresh basil and dried oregano (never been a big fan of the fresh).

 

I actually "mount" my tomato sauce with cold butter at the end. I like the natural sweetnees carrots add but I don't like the tradeoff of what it does to the color of sauce. I really like a deep bold red color and carrots dull that color with the orange (if it is pureed smooth). I'm really a stickler with sauces and I really like a bold red color and bright "sheen" that mounted butter adds.

[Chef Jim]

I actually "mount" my tomato sauce with cold butter at the end. I like the natural sweetnees carrots add but I don't like the tradeoff of what it does to the color of sauce. I really like a deep bold red color and carrots dull that color with the orange (if it is pureed smooth). I'm really a stickler with sauces and I really like a bold red color and bright "sheen" that mounted butter adds.

 

No, don't puree it. You fine chope the carrots in a Cuisinart or a Robot Coup. I get you on the color of the sauce with the carrots but sometimes that's not a bad thing with certain pasta dishes.

 

BTW what the hell was this thread about???

[San Jose Bills Fan]

That is different to how they are made in Rochester (at least the places I have been to).

Here they use a traditional gas fired pizza oven and no pan at all. It just goes right into the oven.

Maybe the places in Buffalo really are a bit thicker crust than here after all and that's what requires the pan.

Interesting. Guess I'm going to have to try it sometime.

Any particular places, close to 90 preferred, that are recommended?

 

And as a side note, suddenly I'm hungry

I'm not that well-traveled but in my experience, pizza in Buffalo is thicker than it is in most places.

 

I've never had pizza from Louisiana where Josh Reed is from.

 

I can't speak to the yeast in the process as others have because I was not the person making the dough, unfortunately.

 

However the pan basically ensures that you don't burn the bottom before the top is done so yes, you guessed right.

 

Once the top is almost cooked, the pizza is then decked for about 2 minutes.

 

Sometimes when we made pizzas with lots of extra toppings, there would be a lot more liquid (from olives, peppers, etc) and we would actually start the pizza on two pans to prevent the bottom from burning.

 

Also for a time in Buffalo during the 80s (I think it might still be the case), a thick crust pizza was usually described as a "Sicilian-style" pizza. For these we also used the double pan method so that the dough would bake completely before we decked them to brown the bottom.

 

mrags worked at John's Pizzeria in Amherst so he might have more feedback on this Josh Reed conversation.

 

Like BuffaloBillsForever, I'd be curious about which tomato products/brands are used in Buffalo-area pizzerias.

 

I know that basically we used to dump several cans of tomato sauce in a 5 gallon restaurant bucket and then add paste, sugar, dried oregano and basil and maybe thyme and mix it with a whisk. I can see the red-colored cans of tomato sauce but can't remember the brand name. Perhaps Reed gets some of his bitterness from the sauce methods used in his home state.

Edited July 19, 2012 by San Jose Bills Fan

[NoSaint]

I'm not that well-traveled but in my experience, pizza in Buffalo is thicker than it is in most places.

 

I've never had pizza from Louisiana where Josh Reed is from.

 

I can't speak to the yeast in the process as others have because I was not the person making the dough, unfortunately.

 

However the pan basically ensures that you don't burn the bottom before the top is done so yes, you guessed right.

 

Once the top is almost cooked, the pizza is then decked for about 2 minutes.

 

Sometimes when we made pizzas with lots of extra toppings, there would be a lot more liquid (from olives, peppers, etc) and we would actually start the pizza on two pans to prevent the bottom from burning.

 

Also for a time in Buffalo during the 80s (I think it might still be the case), a thick crust pizza was usually described as a "Sicilian-style" pizza. For these we also used the double pan method so that the dough would bake completely before we decked them to brown the bottom.

 

mrags worked at John's Pizzeria in Amherst so he might have more feedback on this Josh Reed conversation.

 

Like BuffaloBillsForever, I'd be curious about which tomato products/brands are used in Buffalo-area pizzerias.

 

I know that basically we used to dump several cans of tomato sauce in a 5 gallon restaurant bucket and then add paste, sugar, dried oregano and basil and maybe thyme and mix it with a whisk. I can see the red-colored cans of tomato sauce but can't remember the brand name. Perhaps Reed gets some of his bitterness from the sauce methods used in his home state.

 

Pizza here - not good. True story.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Pizza here - not good. True story.

I guess that explains Reed's sour demeanor.

 

Stevie Johnson on the other hand, is from San Francisco where the pizza is quite excellent… thus his sweet personality.

 

 

A bit ironic about the pizza as New Orleans has a pretty solid reputation food-wise.

 

 

[dave mcbride]

This should be the threadkiller here, but I know it won't be:

 

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

This should be the threadkiller here, but I know it won't be:

 

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state

 

Well, hey, people in LA might be twice as likely to kill you but they'll say "hello".

[San Jose Bills Fan]

This should be the threadkiller here, but I know it won't be:

 

http://www.deathpena...nally-and-state

What does this have to do with Josh Reed and pizza?

[dave mcbride]

Well, hey, people in LA might be twice as likely to kill you but they'll say "hello".

Louisiana is just about off the freakin' charts when it comes to murder when you look at it on a year-by-year basis. Those numbers are tragic. Reed sounds like a complete moron. No surprise. I have no beef with LSU people, but the notion that their football players receive educations is a freaking joke. That school is a living, breathing argument against big-time college football.

 

What does this have to do with Josh Reed and pizza?

I confess to skipping pp 3-12 and instead focusing on the original post. The link is a commentary on Reed's inane observations about W. NY and Louisiana.

 

For the record, I think Buffalo pizza is enhh - way too much dough and mediocre sauce (a product of using tomato paste). I grew up there and still have a lot of family there, so I still eat it. Give me good NY places, my own pizza, and Italy any day.

Edited July 19, 2012 by dave mcbride

[NoSaint]

I guess that explains Reed's sour demeanor.

 

Stevie Johnson on the other hand, is from San Francisco where the pizza is quite excellent… thus his sweet personality.

 

 

A bit ironic about the pizza as New Orleans has a pretty solid reputation food-wise.

 

Reputation deserved. Pizza/bagels are two things that disappoint. I imagine something to do with the water. That or the general distrust of all things New York.

 

A few new places getting things on the upswing but generally not near as good as home.

[mrags]

I'm not that well-traveled but in my experience, pizza in Buffalo is thicker than it is in most places.

 

I've never had pizza from Louisiana where Josh Reed is from.

 

I can't speak to the yeast in the process as others have because I was not the person making the dough, unfortunately.

 

However the pan basically ensures that you don't burn the bottom before the top is done so yes, you guessed right.

 

Once the top is almost cooked, the pizza is then decked for about 2 minutes.

 

Sometimes when we made pizzas with lots of extra toppings, there would be a lot more liquid (from olives, peppers, etc) and we would actually start the pizza on two pans to prevent the bottom from burning.

 

Also for a time in Buffalo during the 80s (I think it might still be the case), a thick crust pizza was usually described as a "Sicilian-style" pizza. For these we also used the double pan method so that the dough would bake completely before we decked them to brown the bottom.

 

mrags worked at John's Pizzeria in Amherst so he might have more feedback on this Josh Reed conversation.

 

Like BuffaloBillsForever, I'd be curious about which tomato products/brands are used in Buffalo-area pizzerias.

 

I know that basically we used to dump several cans of tomato sauce in a 5 gallon restaurant bucket and then add paste, sugar, dried oregano and basil and maybe thyme and mix it with a whisk. I can see the red-colored cans of tomato sauce but can't remember the brand name. Perhaps Reed gets some of his bitterness from the sauce methods used in his home state.

I did SJBF. I can accOunt for Johns Pizzas dough amd sauce. The dough didn't use much yeast in fact like others are complaining about it being too thick. We simply let it rise for hours in the AM when it was made. We were pretty specific on the correct "rising" as we monitored it regularly. Once the dough had risen to the right amount, we would simply place it in the coolers (already spread into the pizza pans) when they were ready. When we got busy, we would pull out one rack at a time so that the others wouldn't rise anymore. Work with what was out and grab another rack when needed. Rinse, repeat.

 

As car as the sauce, similar to your experience, lots of Red Pack tomatoe purée and tomatoe paste. Add water, oil, butter, amd many other ingredients including cummin, basil, oregano, Bay leaves, sugar, salt, pepper, etc.. Place all into a giant 25+ gallon collandee and wisk for hours, usually at that point we would stretch the "risen"dough onto the pans. When we were finished with the dough, we would then complete the sauce by placing it into 5 gal buckets. We would make fhe dough and sauce fresh daily.

 

As far as other pizzarias in the area, I'm not 100% sure but I'd bet money that Bocce uses nothing but tomatoe paste and or tomatoe purée with no ingredients. Other places like Pizza Oven in Lockport use basically the same but add only sugar. I know for a fact that the owner of Imperial Pizza in S. buffalo was a former employee of Bocce and probably uses the exact same ingredients as thier pizzas taste identical.

 

As far as the "Buffalo Pizza" in other cities. Someone here made a comment that the crust was crispy and thin. I would not be suprised if the "Buffalo" part is the cheese that is used. Buffalo Cheese as we all talked about before is absolutely delicious. I was just in NYC and had the pizza I spoke about before from Luzzos. It is call "Bufalo" (my guess is that's the Italian spelling) not "Buffalo" and it is made with Buffalo Milk. This could very well be the reason why places claim "Buffalo" pizza. It might not have anything to do with the city at all (which we already argued). But the city of Buffalo does have a clear style that I'd different from almost anywhere else and personally, I think it's better than anywhere else.

 

To anyone that is not from Buffalo, or never actually had Buffalo "style" pizza I would recomend that you get a large cheese and pepperoni from Bocce the next time your in town.

 

Hope this was helpful and enjoyable.

[Willyville Guy]

Amazing that a throw-away thread about a washed-up former WR ended up making me reconsider my lifelong love of Bocce pizza. Gotta love the offseason on TBD.