The Pizza Bible

The Pizza Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Make Napoletano to New York Style, Deep Dish and Wood-fired, Thin Crust, Stuffed Crust, Cornmeal Crust, and More by Tony Gemignani
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sum it up in a sentence (or two): 11-time World Pizza Champ Tony Gemignani shares recipes, hints, and tips for making the best pizzas of your life (plus some pretty great sauces, cocktails, and even cheese!).

First thoughts: I like Gemignani's authenticity and how he compromises for the sake of meeting amateur chefs where they're at without compromising his style. He comes right out and says "use these specific ingredients in this way with these tools, but in the end, do what you gotta do to experiment and learn how to make a really great pizza."

Favorite quote: "Pizza, the world's favorite fast food is, in fact, slow food." p8

Recipe I'm excited to try the most: I'd love to try my hand at a Mergherita from Naples, but the Cracker-Thin style from Chicago is the one I'd like to be an expert at.

A pizza for everyone: Gemignani breaks down the basics of almost every style of pizza one could imagine. He really knows his stuff. From NY slices to Chicago deep dish to Neapolitan and Roman classics, reading through the descriptions, ingredients, and steps of the recipes took me on a culinary journey and left me excited to get practicing in my own kitchen.

Pizza creativity: I love all the different/original/catchy names for the sauces, cocktails, sandwiches, and pizzas themselves!

Recommended for: chefs, eaters, pizzaiolos (pizzaioli?), foodies.

Final thoughts: Pizza making is intense! Gemignani's narration reads like any regular book with a plot and a creative pace - this isn't just a cookbook or a collection of recipes. Above being a great chef, Gemignani can write a cohesive story. I'm so glad I'll have this as a reference in the kitchen.

Editor's note: I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.


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