Interview With a Pizza Cone Distributor

Yesterday, my story about a possible pizza cone restaurant opening up in Pittsburgh blew up larger than a dough ball injected with too much yeast. You may have even read about it on the Post-Gazette’s food blog.

There isn’t much new information about the pizza cone concept, but I do have a brief interview with a pizza cone technology distributor. I actually got a contact from this company, Husmak, a few months ago in my Tumblr inbox. I disregarded it, thinking the pizza cone would never be in my grasp. How wrong I was.

I reached out to my contact at Husmak and asked him a few questions. 

How long has Husmak been making pizza cone technology? Where did it originate?

We are manufacturer of food processing equipments for 3 decades. We have been producing Pizza cone equipments since year 2005. Pizza cone was introduced in Italy in  2000.

What can you put in a pizza cone? How is it different than regular ol’ pizza? Is it made for the on-the-go pizza experience?

Pizza cone is just like a regular pizza in terms of recipe.

You may create any type of recipe such as veg, non veg, sea etc..

Is this mainly popular in Italy? 

Pizza cone is popular every where in the world. Even in the Philippines you can find  restaurants of pizza cones.

So what’s the major difference? Is it like Neapolitan pizza in cone form?

The only difference is, regular pizza has much of dough so you have much feelings of dough. Whereas, pizza cone has very thin layer of dough and that makes pizza cone tastier. Pizza cone makes the ingredients feel abundant.

There ya go.  I’ve sent a few more questions, but this should whet your appetite. I’m very interested in tasting one of these, especially if the ingredients are made more abundant. 

With a thinner crust, an abundance of ingredients, and a good grip, it seems like the ideal pizza experience for the traveler. Many times I’ve walked down sidewalks trying to eat a fresh slice out of a pizza box I just purchased from Mineo’s. I’m sure I looked like a meager dog trying to get that hunk of meat out from a dumpster. 

Pathetic but lovable.

This pizza cone contraption will surely solve that problem. And never again will we have to look like pizza eating fools in Squirrel Hill.

Also, I’ve started a pizza newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, click the newsletter icon in the upper right! I’ll send pizza news sent right to your inbox! If the icon isn’t working, click the link for pizza newsletter stuff.

Pizza Cono Cone Shop Coming to Pittsburgh?

In Squirrel Hill there’s finally pizza innovation. This is an area so saturated with pizza places it’s impossible to walk a block without accidentally swallowing a slice. And now innovation in pizza eating. 

They said it couldn’t be done. That pizza would always be triangular. Or rectangular. That you had to go vertical if you wanted to change the pizza game. “You can always build up” they said. But don’t tell that to Pizza Cono.

The other day I got this distress call from andreadisaster. 

“Pizza not flat anymore…” is their motto. Everyone is baffled by this. 

Pizza at its core is flat. We all know that. It’s a disc that you toss in the air. It’s what pizzaiolo’s do in Naples 24/7. It’s how they power their city. 

But Pizza Cono is bringing the pizza cone craze to Pittsburgh.  But where did the pizza cono craze start? Why Pittsburgh? Why now?

I’m still trying to solve that pizza cone mystery. In the mean time, I’ve reached out to a distributor of pizza cone technology with a few questions. The company is Husmak and they want pizza to be a cone.

I sent Husmask an email hoping they could tell me they’re expanding into the United States from Europe. This is their response:

Dear Sir,

Thanking for your email about Pizza Cone concept.

To your knowledge, yes we have several equipments sold to US.

But we cannot say if opening in Pittsburgh is our equipments.

Anyway, you can write me email and will be glad to reply.

Your faithfully

Abbas Najar

customer rep.

www.husmak.com

I’ve sent them a few more questions about this concept, I hope to hear back from them soon.

In the mean time, begin the pizza cone fantasy.

Welcome to my pizza montage. This is from Piccolo Forno. Their pizza style mimics that of Northern Italy. You know, the Lucca area. Less rise to their crust and more of a crunch.

There’s some prosciutto, arugula, red peps, and a bit or artichoke. The artichoke was a bit overwhelming and mushy but what are ya gonna do?

Former employee charged with running big-money scam on Ross pizza shop accounts →

Imagine returning from your trip to Italy, studying pizza formations and meeting with the finest pizzaiolos, only to find that your most loved employee has stolen thousands from your pizza shop. 

I wonder if the “former manager” was secretly a calzone enthusiast…

A former manager of a Ross pizza shop accused of stealing tens of thousands in fraudulent credit card refunds from his employer is expected to surrender this morning on felony theft charges, the Allegheny County district attorney’s office said today. Prosecutors said Franco Asturi, 42, used a credit card machine owned by Mamma Lucia Pizza to process the fraudulent refunds, then transferred more than $60,000 from the pizza shop bank account into his own personal accounts. The business’ bank records showed that about $126,000 in fraudulent refunds were processed starting in May 2010, most credited to the same credit card linked to an account in Mr. Asturi’s name, a detective with the DA’s office wrote in a criminal complaint. The pizza shop owner, Paul Mancino, discovered something was

A pizza ghost visited pittsburghisbeautiful and dropped off these pizza pins to send my way. Why the pizza ghost didn’t visit me kind of cheeses me off. 

Here’s a few reasons why the pizza ghost should’ve visited me instead of pittsburghisbeautiful:

• In the past four days I’ve eaten pizza for 8 meals. 
• Every time I burp a pizza bubble comes out of my mouth.
• My telephone only has pizza places stored in my contacts list.
• I have a pretty dope tablecloth as seen in the photos above.
• I have a pizza blog dedicated to pizza. I mean, come on. 

Since being featured on Tumblr Tuesday, I guess that means I’m certified to answer all your pizza questions. So don’t hesitate to ask me anything about pizza.

Today is the kind of day I’m getting nostalgic for Di Fara’s Pizza over in Brooklyn. While I’m only a few hundred miles away, it’s all I think about. 

Like a chump I tried to capture my visit through the wonder of video, but it hardly translates the flavors and essence. There’s  nothing like watching an 80 year old guy take his sweet time to chop fresh basil over a pizza while 50 hungry New Yorkers drool on the counter.

Cheap City Pizza - Pizza For the People

Pittsburgh is often called the “most livable city” despite rampant Vitamin D deficiency. More recently, it won second place for having the most pizza places per capita, with a total of 9.9 pizza places for every 10,000 citizens. 

But there’s something miss from the pizza places that dot Pittsburgh. They lack a certain style. The pizza places just don’t have a whole screen printing business attached to them. Finally, it looks like that could change.

After “acquiring” a “pizza oven” for their print shop, the printers at Common Wealth Press, Pittsburgh’s first-second-and-last-stop for shirts, decided to fantasize about an alternate reality where they opened a pizza shop.

Without hesitation they whipped up concept art for Cheap City Pizza - Pizza For the People.

Why the CCP theme? Is that an acknowledgment that everyone should have an equal amount of pizza every day? This would make sense. A one-size-fits-all type of pizza would streamline the pizza making process allowing for a slick, and greasy, efficiency.

Phone rings. Pizza is ordered. Pizza is made. Pizza is delivered. No questions. No substitutions. Just pizza.

But what sort of man would be capable of churning out pizza after pizza? Then being able to delivery that efficiency with the grace and speed of a gazelle? Well, there’s just one pizza aficionado that’s up to the task.

While Common Wealth Press may only be joking around, they’ve more than sold me on the concept. Combining a pizza shop with screen printing is the logical leap. It increases foot traffic and they can sell custom pizza bibs so you don’t spill the pizza all over your CCP shirt.

One day I hope I can phone up Common Wealth Press and order a Common Cheese with a side of shirt. Because that would be the absolutely only thing on the menu. 

Dispatch From The Polar Pizza Vortex

The Polar Pizza Vortex has consumed the Mid-West and North Eastern portions of the United States. Above, you can see critical satellite imagery of the coverage. The Pizza Vortex is traveling East, slowly but surely. 

Its surface-area is that of 1.5 millions large 16'inch pizzes gathered side by side. It’s as though Mother Nature ordered an extra large pizza for the globe, forgot to heat it up, and plopped it onto the United States.

During the icy, flash frozen nature of the Polar Pizza Vortex, it’s advised that you do not succumb to frozen pizza. You will only instigate the Polar Pizza Vortex further and cause it to expand and rob more of the globe of heat. Instead, you’ll have to order a fresh pizza.

But please, consider the human who has to deliver the pizza to you. They are risking their lives to fight through the Polar Pizza Vortex to bring you a piping hot pizza. Though, in -33 wind chill temperatures you must wonder how warm the pizza will be when it arrives on your icy stoop. Instead, venture out into the Polar Pizza Vortex and retrieve the pizza yourself. 

Equipped with some delicious pizza, huddle inside your home and wait for the Polar Pizza Vortex to subside. 

This is the only way to survive the Polar Pizza Vortex. Me? I’ll be enjoying a large pizza from the one and only Spak Brothers Pizza.

Pizza Code With Me

A long time ago, before I got into this pizza lifestyle, I was into coding. I would quickly choke down a slice of pizza on Wednesday lunch during high school and sprint to the math room to get back to programming. 

I programmed a robot to pick up beepers. I programmed an elevator simulator. For fun I created a visual calculator you could actually click on (including the use of decimal points!). My most impressive feat was getting a single sprite of Mega Man to flash on screen for three seconds. 

This year I think I’m ready to return to the programming. And I have an idea for something really cool to build from scratch. I don’t want to spill too many beans yet, but I think it’s time I contribute to the rising pizza community.

You can see proof of me practicing my coding skills by examining this screenshot. It’s me exposing all the awesome methods I could perform on the word “pizza.” For some reason pizza.eat doesn’t work. Yet.

I could “chop” pizza, but I’m not sure what that does. Actually, Pizza.Slice would work. Let’s see what that returns.

I think we’re onto something!

I’ll continue to update you as I develop this killer pizza app. I hope it’ll be something fun, because I find programming so rewarding. Building a program from scratch is just as rewarding as mixing together some flour, yeast, and water to get that soft, cushiony pizza dough. 

Feeling that flour between my fingers and picking dough off my skin the rest of the day is a sign of hard work done. That and the piping hot pizza I pull out of my oven. I guess I’m getting back into programming for that same reason; starting from scratch to make something that looks similar to the product a stinky dude could deliver to you in minutes is so inspiring.

The goal is to showcase some functionality as this grows and get some great input from the pizza community to build the app every pizza enthusiast will need.  Stay tuned for more updates

Sending out 2013 with a slice. Let’s hope that 2014 has about 1000x more pizza slices.

Some photos from Menomalé pizza in Washington, DC. I interviewed the owner, a real pizzaiolo, back in November. It’s really a treat, maybe one of the best hidden gems of the DC area.

It’s in an unsuspecting neighborhood in a hidden building. But inside sits some impressive pizza activity. Not to mention the owner helps other pizza owners import pizza ovens from Naples! 

It’s the real deal and I hope you enjoy these photos. 

I want pizza so badly right now.

The Pizza Underground Demo, by The Pizza Underground →

Macaulay Culkin opened his house up to some friends who came together to “pay respect” to the Velvet Underground. They’ve released a track which replaces lyrics from a classic Velvet Underground song with pizza. 

For instance:

Papa John Says

I’m beginning to Eat the Slice

Pizza

I’m waiting for the delivery man

Cheeese Days

Pizza Day

Thanks to the 100 people that sent this my way this morning!

Reheating Pizza on the Skillet

I don’t know how you reheat your own pizza. That is, if there’s pizza leftover. Am I right fellow pizza gluttons?

In a rare turn of events, there was a single slice of pizza leftover from last night’s pizza adventure. I’m not proud. But, tonight I was able to take advantage of the sole survivor. But how am I supposed to take care of this POP (Prisoner of Pizza)?

Well, I don’t have a microwave like 99% of people. I don’t have a toaster oven. So, having leftover pizza is more of a burden than anything else. But I persevered. I found a somewhat inventive way to reheat pizza that keeps the pizza-integrity in check and doesn’t give you the weird mushy that you get when you microwave pizza.

As you can see above, it starts with a skillet. I turn it on medium heat and coat the bottom with olive oil. This is the most vital part of reviving a pizza form its refrigerated state. 

Once you have your pizza up on your skillet, dancing in a little bit of hot olive oil you gotta do something crazy. Get a tiny bit of water and toss it on the skillet. Not the part of the skillet that has the pizza. Obviously. But around the pizza. This creates a ton of steam that cooks the top of the pizza while the crust is sizzling.

To capture that steam you’re going to need some sort of “lid.” In this case I used a ton of aluminum foil. This helped the top reheat at the same time the bottom was cooking in that oil. 

After 10 minutes on medium heat you get…

A nicely melted pizza. It’s perfect. The crust is rejuvenated with that bit of oil. And the cheese on top is infused with that humidity and steam to make it more than edible. It’s a second chance at pizza life. Unfortunately, that only means it’s going to be eaten.

It’s the number one preferred way to reheat pizza. In a skillet! So go. It takes a bit more time, but it’s 100% better than reheating it in a microwave.

I interviewed a real-live Pizzaiolo in Washington, DC. A pizzaiolo is a rare breed these days. They’re trained in Naples and are true experts of the pizza craft. From the ingredients to the cooking process, they know their stuff. 

I talked with Pizzaiolo Ettore Rusciano, the owner of Menomale. He imports everything from the heart of Italy to provide a legit pizza experience. I’ll have more info about the pizza and restaurant later, but for now enjoy the video. 

Thanksgiving Pizza News, Imagery, and Thanksgiving Pizza Recipes

It’s Thanksgiving and I’m obviously thankful for pizza. It’s true. When I’m sitting at the Thanksgiving table getting ready to blurt out what I’m thankful for I’m going to say “Pizza.” There will be a few disgusted looks and chortles, but I’m sticking by my passion.

In honor of Thanksgiving I thought I’d compile some of the more inventive combinations of pizza and Thanksgiving. 

This is as literal as you can get. Luckily, this nightmarish creation is from an Onion article about Domino’s foray into Thanksgiving pizza.

Have leftover turkey, stuffing, and other miscellaneous Thanksgiving treats? Combine them for an elegant pizza as seen above. This elegant creation is from Manhattan’s La Bottega Italian restaurant. Full recipe for after Thanksgiving pizza here.

Did you know that the day before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest pizza-selling days of the year?

Here’s another variation of post-Thanksgiving pizza. This one has more cheddar cheese and a biscuit pizza crust.

A vegan Thanksgiving pizza combined all the veggies and vegan-friendly products to create a mashup that borders on absurdity. There’s a comprehensive outline on how to create this vegan delicacy over at veganpizzafuckyeah.tumblr.com.

In the news, a Pizza Hut owner decided to shut down his store on Thanksgiving and was promptly fired. Luckily, the manager that was fired, Rohr, will have his job back after Thanksgiving. It’s kind of a shame that a) he was fired and b) this was considered a controversial and daring move by the manager. What a world!

Hope you have a blessed pizza Thanksgiving. And when it comes to story time, please don’t hesitate to share the true story of Thanksgiving and Pizzagiving in Pizza History.