Pizza Today - October 2020 - 14

MAN ON THE STREET

SCOTT WIENER

It's unclear exactly why pepperoni became the topping of choice in the U.S. but
its popularity quickly escalated in the latter
half of the 20th century. It's flavorful, shelf
stable, inexpensive, and visually
appealing. The recent return of natural
casing "cup and char" pepperoni has even
birthed somewhat of a pepperoni renaissance! Pepperoni is such an essential, we
now have vegetarian and vegan versions
made with meat surrogates. Heck, I just
saw a video of Rachael Ray simulating
the flavor of pepperoni by coating slices of
squash and zucchini with pepper, granulated garlic, mustard seed and fennel.
Some independent pizzerias have been
experiencing increases of 50-100 percent thanks to the perfect storm that is
COVID-19. According to Bloomberg,
pepperoni supplies are low because its
manufacture is complex and margins too
slim to make it a priority. Workforce interruption back in April led meat companies
to focus on unprocessed meat cuts that
require less energy to produce. Combine
that with an increased demand from homebound pizza lovers and it's easy to see why
there's a problem.
If we do have a pepperoni apocalypse
offers pizza with anchovies, bacon and
on
the horizon, I think we'll be able to
even chicken - but no pepperoni. The
manage.
To get the same blast of contrast
earliest pepperoni advertisement I've
we get from discs of red on molten cheese,
found is from 1913, in which Gamba
I think there's opportunity to be found
Bros ("The Leading Meat Market") in
by getting back to pepperoni's roots with
Osage City, Kansas, refers to a luncheon
peppers, particularly the spicy varieties. Up
meat as Mortadella Pepperoni. More ads
your game by pickling your peppers to add
appeared in 1920 for Casserta Pepperoni
in Massachusetts and Alabama. While we an acidic punch. You can approximate the
can't be sure these are the same product we smoke and heat of pepperoni by employing seasonings like paprika, cayenne, garlic,
enjoy on pizza today, it seems more likely
and pepper flakes to other meats or even
than not. Those looking for America's
favorite topping in Italy will be out of luck. vegetables. Who's going to be the first to
market a pepperoni-tinged Bloody Mary?
It doesn't exist. Ordering peperoni will
While I don't think this supply chain
get you bell peppers, not the spicy smoky
blip is going to become a serious issue, it
salami we hold so dear. Though there are
is worth taking the opportunity to explore
spiced salami products throughout southern Italy, pepperoni is clearly an American the potential of pepperoni flavor beyond
the real thing. ■
invention.

Pepperoni Scare

t's without a doubt the most popular
topping in America. A common stat
claims that it's on at least 36 percent of
pizzas eaten in this country. Nearly every
image of pizza on t-shirts, menus, and logos
features it. The sheer ubiquity of it is why
recent headlines warning about a massive
pepperoni shortage caught me by surprise.
As popular as pepperoni is today, it
wasn't long ago that the spiced cured salami was nonexistent in pizzerias. Just last
weekend I found an old wall menu from
a pizzeria in upstate New York, probably
from the 1940s, showing options for pizza
with cheese, anchovies, sausage and mushrooms. No pepperoni at all. A 1940s menu
from Mario's Restaurant on Arthur Ave.
in the Bronx also omits pepperoni. A 1930
menu from Sally's in New Haven

SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott's Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org Instagram: @scottspizzatours

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Pizza Today - October 2020

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