Levine takes his pizza seriously. He ate over a thousand pieces in twelve months, in twenty states and several countries. The result of this trip, Pizza A Slice of Heaven, is a volume devoted to America’s preferred meals.
He assesses all manner of pizza and pizzerias. He tries the wonderful in addition to the sub-par. He begins his pursuit at the source of all pizza, Naples, Italy. He samples pizza from the East to the West Coast and lots of places in between. His focus is on pizza so memorable that his heart pounds simply considering it. Levine has established his own rubric for rating pizza. He notes the standard is the fuel source, the oven, the crust, the mozzarella, the sauce and the balance.
This book is more than just a review of terrific pizza. Within these pages are adventurous tales fulled of pizza fixation, passion, broken heart, and enlightenment. You will even discover a remedy for the dreaded Pizza Burn. Pizza Burn happens when searing hot cheese satisfies the unprotected roofing system of your mouth. He also includes a pizza recipe for the home cook. Ed Levine has done his research.
Levine is smart enough to employ the help of such luminaries as Chefs Mario Batali and Peter Reinhart (American Pie: My Look for the Perfect Pizza), Nora Ehron, Jeffery Stiengarten and lots of others. These authors add much varied taste to the various tastes in the book. In some ways this book is a collaborative effort filled with Pizza anecdotes and testimonials, nonetheless, Levine pulls it completely in the end.