Thursday, August 7, 2008

Out of season

It smells good. It's firm, slightly soft, and fits nicely in your palm. You bring the peach to your mouth and take a generous mouthful. What follows might be a moment of sheer bliss, but it has the potential to be an utterly disappointing chalky, oatmeal-consistency blob of tasteless smoosh. If you've had even one great peach in your life, you know the peach potential. A sub-par peach is a let-down.

It's peach season in California right now, and the fruit is tasty. I've had a few bites of peach perfection over the last week and I'm still riding the high. However, if I fill up on fruit and instead choose another staple, say pizza, I'm out of luck. There is no pizza season on the Peninsula. Yes, I can get a slice of limp something at Pizza My Heart, or a brick of stomach ache at Patxi's, but I've had good pizza before, and, in the same way I know a bad peach, I know bad pizza.

Instead of diving into a pizza debate, I'll leave you with a challenge.
1. Go to your 'good' pizza joint.
2. Order a cheese or margarita pizza.
3. Do not apply extra hot pepper flakes or Parmesan when your pie arrives.
4. Enjoy.

If you were successful with (4), yay, you have good pizza. If your pie was bland, and in need of more toppings, you lose. Pizza, like the peach, is a bottom-up food. Would you put a pound of chicken cacciatore on top of a sandy peach and call it a good peach?

1 comment:

: srw : said...

mmm, regina!
what about this?