The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

(Nandana) #1

the water we tried—delivered the crispest crusts, but overall,
there was not enough of a trend in the data to make a
definitive statement. And you know what? Sometimes—
more often than not—an experiment, no matter how closely
controlled, does not produce the results you were looking
for. Which is not to say that we got no results at all. In fact,
taking a second look at the data, I saw that the rankings for
crispness follow in step pretty closely with the rankings for
overall enjoyment—implying that our enjoyment of pizza is
directly related to how crisp it is. We all want a crisp crust,
not a soggy one.
Earth-shattering, I know.
On the other hand, we can now pretty definitively say that
the small differences that arise naturally in the course of
making a good pizza by hand far outweigh any difference
the mineral content of the water could make. That is to say,
great New York pizza is most certainly not dependent on
using New York City tap water, which is good news for
everyone else in the world.

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