Thursday, February 5, 2009

No Cheese Pizza


A good relationship has countless advantages. Among them is pizza.

By now some of you know that Elise often delights me by whipping up several pizzas, of course from scratch. Last night's batch included a butternut and an anchovy-tapenade pie, both featured above. (Her halves also had cheese, a dab of which you can see on the slice above right, but more on that in a moment.)

She'll be working diligently from our home office and then suddenly peer over the screen of her laptop to declare "I'm going to make pizza tonight," as though possessed by some other power.

I'm an ardent feminist, but that doesn't stop me from observing that there's something about women and baking. Sure it might be the result of thousands of years of patriarchal oppression, with men demanding that women stick close to the oven for fear of them voting. On the other hand, maybe they just like it.

Among several modern, feminist-leaning, liberal couples that I know, the old gender divides often play out in the kitchen, if nowhere else. The men man the stove top (and of course the grill, fiery phallus that it is), the women the oven. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but there does seem to be a trend.

Perhaps on some subconscious, symbolic level, women relate to the womb-like quality of the oven, a warm chamber from which life sustaining offspring are born. Then, like a male lion, the man eats those offspring.

Regardless, Elise likes to make pizza. And lately she's been indulging my shockingly effective sabbatical from dairy (so long, allergy induced asthma!) and making no cheese pizzas, aka tomato pies. While that might sound as unfulfilling as abstinence, I've actually come to prefer them over the standard, cow secretion covered alternative.

Sure I've had great pizza with cheese, but there's something clean and elemental in the simplicity of just crust and sauce. Without the rubbery, fatty cloak of cheese, it's just you, a little sauce, and the crust. There's nowhere to hide: the sauce has to be good, the crust has to be great.

Now if only a man could figure out how to do it.

Stumble Upon Toolbar

10 comments:

Michelle said...

How true! Matt does laundry and he makes the most amazing potatoes, but I am always the one doing the baking. Lately that's been a lot of bread. Have you read Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Herzberg and Zoe Francois? Even with the dough pre-mixed, Matt doesn't bake it.

Karen B said...

I've been suffering from allergies but I don't know about giving up dairy... Oh dear. I was baking bread like a fiend last week. I wonder if the gender divide in baking has something to do with how women stereotypically have a sweeter tooth than men (savoury bread aside). Most likely women are raised baking. (oops, that was a pun.)

Michelle said...

I don't know. Matt usually craves sweets before I do. My theory is that I'm a potter. We like ovens.

Joanna said...

Our Simeon fears cheese. Did you know that? Anyway, our family has been off pizza for almost a year because of the phobia. Then one day, we all smelled the delicious pizza smell on the breeze and it hit me: at this little pizza shanty I went to in college, I always had them take the cheese from my half and put it on my friend's half. It was a piece of cake to get anyone to go with me for pizza because they always got double cheese. I had an allergy thing that made most cheeses my enemy. Anyway, I'm back to no cheese pizza and Simeon thinks I'm a genius. Our pies taste so much better than those inferior cheesy ones! Last night we had garlic oil and olive pizza--cheese free!
Can't help you with the oven vs direct heat thing...

Anonymous said...

Funny, that. Most of the serious home bakers I know are men; in my extended family, the women cook more and the men do the baking, which I had always put down to their being more patient.

Maggie said...

You need to start throwing on caramelized onions in place of cheese. You won't be sorry.

Unknown said...

I call my pizzas "flatbread" and then nobody ever misses the cheese. I'm all about carmelized onions, too, and shitakes and oyster mushrooms and fresh herbs. Sometimes I even find red sauce gets in the way of the flavor, preferring it with olive oil, garlic and herbs instead. Yum.

grasshopper said...

hah, now thanks to your article i feel like pizza somethin' fierce; thank goodness my favorite place around where I live delivers

Anonymous said...

clarks outlet
ugg boots outlet
tods shoes
joe new balance outlet
ugg boots outlet
cheap uggs
salvatore ferragamo shoes
dansko outlet
coach purses outlet
true religion outlet
hollister outlet
ugg boots outlet
kd vi
cheap lebron james shoes
kate spade outlet
ugg boots on sale
coach handbags
nike shoes
mulberry outlet
mulberry outlet
belstaff jacket
cheap ugg boots
cheap ugg boots for sale
nike kd 6
christian louboutin discount
canada goose black friday sales
juicy couture handbags
zumba workout
barbour jacket
ugg boots clearance

Unknown said...

201510.31dongdong
Authentic Air Jordan 13 shoes for sale
Ugg Boots Outlet Clearance,Cheap Uggs On Sale Discount For Women
michael kors outlet online
Hollister Tees for Men
Toms Outlet Store Online
jordan shoes
Coach Diaper Bag Outlet
ray-ban sunglasses
Authentic Louis Vuitton Handbags Outlet Sale
michale kors outlet
Jordan Concords Low And High
mihchael kors bag
New Michael Kors Handbags Outlet Online
abercrombie store
coach outlet online
Nike Kobe Bryant Basketball Shoes
Louis Vuitton Outlet Mall Store
Air Jordan 6 Champagne Bottle
Oakley Polarized Sunglasses Cheap Outlet Store
michael kors outlet
ray-ban sunglasses,ray ban sunglasses,ray bans,rayban,ray ban wayfarer,raybans,ray ban glasses,ray ban aviators,ray ban clubmaster,ray ban eyeglasses,cheap ray bans,ray bans sunglasses,ray ban aviator,ray bands,fake ray bans,ray ban prescription glasses,ray ban outlet,ray ban canada,ray ban sunglasses sale,ray ban sale
cheap ugg boots
Michael Kors Handbags Clearance Outlet
Official Coach Online Factory Sale
Louis Vuitton Neverfull Tote Bag
nike football,airmax,nike free 3.0,nike air huarache,nike womens shoes,nike free run womens
Louis Vuitton Purses For Cheap
michael kors uk
michael kors outlet
Coach Outlet Online Discount Sale
hollister uk sale
louis vuitton handbags
Cheap Ray Ban Wayfarer