ELV note: John Arena’s pizza musings stimulate our brain and our appetite. Below, he wonders if the pizzas of yesteryear really were all that nostalgia has cracked them up to be.

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Lately I’ve been thinking about…Roger Bannister. No, Bannister is not the latest hot shot artisan pizza maker. For those of you too young to remember, Roger Bannister was a British Track & Field athlete who on May 6, 1954 became the first person to run a sub 4 minute mile. Roger, who was later knighted for his efforts, broke what was considered by the general public to be an unbreakable barrier. What is interesting is that to serious athletes of the day, shattering the 4 minute obstacle was considered not impossible but inevitable. The fact is they were correct, and the current US High School record stands at a full 6 Seconds faster than Sir Roger Bannister’s World Record achievement of just 57 years ago!

So what has this got to do with pizza? Well, last week I came across an article in a pizza trade publication about a certain well established pizza chain that proudly stated that their pizza has not changed in over 50 years. In truth many pizza makers make similar claims about “Old World Traditions” and “Time Honored Family Recipes”. The widely held belief is that the old ways, old ingredients and old methods are always superior to the new. Well folks, here is something to think about. In virtually every objectively measurable endeavor mankind improves over time. We run faster, jump higher, live longer more active lives, build more efficient engines and yes, we know more about baking than our ancestors did.

Continue reading “Arena on Pizza – Were The Good Ole Days Really That Good?”