I love pizza. And if you are a pizza lover, then this article is not for the faint-hearted. Because I’m going to present an unpopular opinion that is going to land me in a position just like this.
But the last time I checked was that we were a free country and everyone was entitled to their opinions. So here’s my unpopular opinion.
I don’t like a fresh-out-of-the-oven pizza. I love pizza that’s a day old. A pizza that is cold. A leftover pizza. I’m not talking about pizza that is over two days old, that’s like giving a warm welcome to food poisoning. Or even chugging down a bottle of Mountain Dew. But here’s the thing – a day-old pizza is my thaaang.
I know this opinion of mine seems monstrous to those who seek comfort in the known and the normal. This unpopular opinion might seem like a prickly itch. People love those strings of cheese oozing out of their pizza, with every bite. I get it, that’s the whole point of eating a pizza. But hey, I don’t want to scald the roof of my mouth! And every time that happens, I cannot taste any of the yummy toppings I asked the restaurant to add. To me, that feels like eating toasted bread and burrata cheese. Toppings kahan gaye? Taste kahan hai?!
Listen, I have had my fair share of living like end-to-end each month with my friends where we struggled at the end of every month. We took respite in a day-old pizza. And we’re alive and kicking. So it isn’t lethal. You know what’s bad? Eating a pizza so hot that you need to blow air out of your mouth in order to savour its goodness. Some of y’all like malai and that’s so eww. It’s just pizza, we are talking about here.
A hot pizza feels like a meal. On the other hand, a cold pizza (that you heat for just 30 seconds in the microwave) feels like the perfect snack for that Netflix binge-watching marathon.
A hot pizza feels like a group of chaotic friends who only call you on your birthday and shamelessly ask for a treat. A cold pizza feels like that friend whom you have known for seven years and you are in touch with each other by sending memes. A phone call is out of bounds because you both are adults with busy schedules, but when you meet it goes back to how it used to be. No awkwardness.
If you are still not convinced, let me bring in some science here. There’s something amazing about a cold pizza because you let it rest in all of its pizza-ness. “Aromatics such as garlic, onion and herbs along with cheese infuse brilliantly over a period of time and release their flavour. And if you put your pizza in the fridge, the combination of aromatics and cheese gets time to calm down, making the pizza even better,” said chef Vaibhav Bhargav to The Hindustan Times.
“The tomato puree gets oxidised with time. And this is the real secret behind the feel-good taste of a leftover pizza,” added chef Harangad Singh.
Think of it. Even desi Chinese takeaway tastes better the next day, right? The same goes for pizza. A hot pizza is like the star of the show. A cold one, on the other hand, is like the underdog.
And come on, you can always add more to your leftover pizza and customize it the way you want. What’s not to like?
But to each their own. For me, I will only be able to find solace in a cold pizza.
