The low hanging fruit of food debates has long been the question, Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich? It’s a played out debate. It jumped the shark a while back. When when someone needs to pop off an easy lazy blog on July 4th they go straight to the hot dog/sandwich “debate.” I hesitate to even use that word because it is not in any way shape or form a debate. But I’m not here to talk franks. The new debate, a real debate, that has the internet ablaze…Is Pizza an Appetizer?
On Monday’s episode of The Dog Walk presented by Barstool Sports, the guys from Chicago had a Super Bowl Shit Snake Draft. One of the caveats of the draft, you have to draft a Super Bowl Party appetizer. Buffalo Chicken, Pigs in a Blanket, Jalapeno Poppers, Taco Dip, all things that pop in your mind right away. There’s also apps that are specific to states and regions. I personally serve a pepperoni roll and sausage roll that would blow the dick right off your torso. Well in the 5th and final round of the draft, with pick 23 of 25, guest drafter Steven Cheah drafted Pizza. It was vetoed (takes 2 vetos to stop a pick) with a quickness from 3 out of the other 4 drafters. We would come to learn why the 4th veto didn’t come but that’s something to unpack at a different time. Since then a great debate has ensued. And I just couldn’t stop myself from weighing in.
Pizza is by all accounts is universally considered a meal, there is no arguing that. Pizza night with family, ordering some pies for the game, Pizza Hut buffet when you are a broke college student. Pizza is first and foremost a meal. But why is something that is considered a meal unable to be an appetizer as well?
Pizza is not just your large box with triangle slices. Pizza has TONS of variations, sizes and shapes, and it still holds the name pizza. So when the correct size of the slice and the correct setting meet, Pizza can most definitely be considered an app.
Some examples;
Bar Pizza- Smaller size pies. Thin crust. Pieces that take just a few bites to consume. Usually order with other apps to snack on.
Square Cut Pies- When a large pie or a sheet pie from a pizzeria that cuts their pizzas into squares, that pizza becomes eligible for an appetizer. Place that pizza among a shmorgesboard of other finger foods and that pizza easily molds from meal to app.
Tomato Pie (an upstate NY thing)- A sauce on top variation of pizza. NEVER served as a meal, always served as a finger food app.
Margherita Pizza- A staple on appetizer menus at Italian joints. Very light, doesn’t fill anyone at the table up, still gives you your pizza fix. There’s a place in the Bronx that does a complementary margherita pie for the table as if it’s bread.
Those examples all give pizza the ability to hold the appetizer tag as well as the meal tag. Pizza is a chameleon. Pizza can be your superstar on one night and then a role player the next. Pizza is coachable. Pizza is a 5 tool player. So therefore Pizza can MOST DEFINITELY be considered an app.
