IG Gems: The Great Pizza Wars - Pradhan

I would like to republish here some of the gems you can find at the Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Group

I would like to start with this post by my dear friend Pradhan.

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The dialog about what foods Sri Chinmoy likes best inspired me to post this series of stories, collectively called "The Great Pizza Wars" They contain a bit of history and a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy...

The Great Pizza Wars (dedicated to my dearest friend Sunil)

The precise manner in which the Great Pizza Wars began, I can not exactly say. I can only say that these wars have been bloody and have lasted for years and Sri Chinmoy has found himself in the middle of them. The wars began shortly after my becoming a student in 1971 in New York. I had one year of school left at Northwestern University. It was then, for the first time, I had the experience of Chicago deep pan pizza. Now I must confess that up until this point, like my New York brethren, I was completely unliberated with regards to pizza. You see, New Yorkers are extremely attached to their pizza and anything that is a departure from New York pizza simply isn’t pizza. Somehow, “Sicilian style” has successfully made its way into the New York pizza culture, but this is an aberration of sorts.

Let the world know that Chicago has the highest consumption of pizza per capita in the world. (Please note, this is a statistic which has Priyadarshan is shock! He claims, “Apparently your world does not include Italy!”) In Chicago, there are 3 styles of pizza…thin crust, deep dish or “pan” and finally stuffed pizza. New York pizza would be considered a variety of thin crust. Deep dish is the signature pizza of Chicago. Sicilian pizza might be compared to deep dish, but it is a pathetic imitation. Stuffed pizza stands on its own. Stuffed pizza is about 1.5-2 inches thick. There is a bottom crust, then filling including cheese, then a top crust over which the sauce and fresh tomatoes and herbs are placed.

My favorite is deep dish although I confess that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve rediscovered the lightness of thin crust. I also went through my stuffed pizza phase. Let me also say that I love New York pizza. But I unequivocally stand by my assertion that if forced to choose one, Chicago deep dish pizza is far, far superior to New York pizza.

And so the wars began.

“What, no pizza?”

Upon returning to New York after completion of my schooling in Chicago, somehow the word went around that I preferred Chicago pizza to New York pizza. Apparently this was a source of consternation to many New Yorkers. My suspicion is that it actually struck at the heart of their faith. And somehow, someway this whole debate made it to Sri Chinmoy. It was perhaps in 1982 or so when I was in New York for my birthday, I arranged to provide Dunken Donuts for Prasad. Out of the blue, Sri Chinmoy said, “What, you could not bring pizza?” So be it.

That night I had 13 stuffed pizzas flown in from Chicago. The function went extra late in anticipation of the event. The pizza arrived, was reheated at Annam Brahma and served to mixed reviews. “It’s good, but it’s not pizza!” came the cries. Some liked it, some didn’t. Some secretly came to tell me they liked it much better, but they were afraid, very afraid. Sri Chinmoy was publicly non-committal but privately he told me he liked it better. I suspect privately he told the New Yorker’s he liked theirs better.

Ever since then, I have been forever linked with pizza and in fact pizza has played a large and fun role in many interesting experiences.