About 12 years ago, I lived in the Boston area. While I was there, I discovered Calzones. I could not believe that I'd lived two and a half decades (or so) and had never knew they existed. A pizza folded in half, sure. But it is so much more than that. By discovering them in Boston, I was both blessed and cursed. I will forever hold any calzone I eat to the standards set in 1997 Boston.
There are a few things that must be done differently in order to make a good calzone, but none more important than getting the crust right. Most pizza places don't do them because they are hard to do right. If the restaurant makes their own crust, throws it in the air and all that, then they have a shot and making the crust just right. I'm not going to go into things too much about how the crust should be. That is not the point of this little bit of writing, for I am in Korea and don't want to think about what I cannot have.
I will; however, write about what is available here, and why you might as well just avoid them.
Background.
About once every couple of weeks, I like to grab an article to read, bring my hi-lighter and something to scribble notes on, and head to an Italian restaurant near my university. The prices are a little high, but generally, the food is good, the service is fine, and atmosphere is perfect for a bit of studying. I like to go at about 2:00 after the lunch rush has filtered out and order something like lasagna that takes a long time to make. I sit and read my journal article, and chill.
Thursday, I decided to have lunch there and noticed that they have calzones on the menu. A choice of mushroom or seafood. The picture actually looked pretty good. The crust looked as it should, and I thought what the heck, why not.
I sat and read and realized just how hungry I was as the food was delivered to the table next to me. Finally, the owner brought me the dish. It was white. The crust looked more like dough than a crust. Not a hint of color. Well, so much for that. What about the filling--hopefully it will compensate. It didn't. The sauce was just a standard red pasta sauce (which in this restaurant's case is not bad on pasta). Pasta sauce is not pizza sauce. It lacks the tomato paste to thicken it up making it too watery. This problem is made worse in a calzone that has not been given proper ventilation to let the steam out while cooking. Sadly, none of this really bothered me much because it is pretty much the norm here. Fancy-schmancy Italian restaurants rarely make good pizzas in Korea. Their crusts are not very good and they don't seem to use tomato paste. Calzones here can simply be pizza folded in half and served soggy, or something completely different. I've had it served with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar on top. I've had it with a white garlic sauce that really seems to have just been ground up raw garlic. None of that bothers me as much as the mistake made by the restaurant on Thursday. For a mushroom pizza, they used pengi mushrooms (팽이버섯 a.k.a. Enoki mushrooms in Japan). These mushrooms are ok.
In Korean food.
They have no place in an Italian restaurant.
Ever.
There are a few things that must be done differently in order to make a good calzone, but none more important than getting the crust right. Most pizza places don't do them because they are hard to do right. If the restaurant makes their own crust, throws it in the air and all that, then they have a shot and making the crust just right. I'm not going to go into things too much about how the crust should be. That is not the point of this little bit of writing, for I am in Korea and don't want to think about what I cannot have.
I will; however, write about what is available here, and why you might as well just avoid them.
Background.
About once every couple of weeks, I like to grab an article to read, bring my hi-lighter and something to scribble notes on, and head to an Italian restaurant near my university. The prices are a little high, but generally, the food is good, the service is fine, and atmosphere is perfect for a bit of studying. I like to go at about 2:00 after the lunch rush has filtered out and order something like lasagna that takes a long time to make. I sit and read my journal article, and chill.
Thursday, I decided to have lunch there and noticed that they have calzones on the menu. A choice of mushroom or seafood. The picture actually looked pretty good. The crust looked as it should, and I thought what the heck, why not.
I sat and read and realized just how hungry I was as the food was delivered to the table next to me. Finally, the owner brought me the dish. It was white. The crust looked more like dough than a crust. Not a hint of color. Well, so much for that. What about the filling--hopefully it will compensate. It didn't. The sauce was just a standard red pasta sauce (which in this restaurant's case is not bad on pasta). Pasta sauce is not pizza sauce. It lacks the tomato paste to thicken it up making it too watery. This problem is made worse in a calzone that has not been given proper ventilation to let the steam out while cooking. Sadly, none of this really bothered me much because it is pretty much the norm here. Fancy-schmancy Italian restaurants rarely make good pizzas in Korea. Their crusts are not very good and they don't seem to use tomato paste. Calzones here can simply be pizza folded in half and served soggy, or something completely different. I've had it served with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar on top. I've had it with a white garlic sauce that really seems to have just been ground up raw garlic. None of that bothers me as much as the mistake made by the restaurant on Thursday. For a mushroom pizza, they used pengi mushrooms (팽이버섯 a.k.a. Enoki mushrooms in Japan). These mushrooms are ok.
In Korean food.
They have no place in an Italian restaurant.
Ever.
1 comments:
Why was the crust colorless? Yuck!
My sister took me for calzones to celebrate Mother's Day and they were to die for: Ricotta, mozzarella, mushrooms, black olives, and tomatoes wrapped in a perfectly cooked, golden crust that had been brushed with garlic butter. Thick, rich tomato sauce topped the pizza pocket, rounding out the flavors. Yum! (Sorry.)
When you are stateside again, try Wall Street Pizza in Redding. You will love it!
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