People from the world over agree New York is known for its pizza and bagels. Native New Yorkers are especially passionate about it. Although the busiest convention center in the entire nation, Jacob. K. Javits Convention Center, is in Manhattan, residents of the Empire State do often travel elsewhere to attend meetings—and they miss their pizza and bagels.
Meeting professionals, of course, want to make their attendees feel at home while they’re away. One way to accomplish that is by incorporating hometown flavors into the catering menu. Bagels and cream cheese are often a go-to option at breakfast because they are simple to grab-and-go. The universality of pizza makes it a popular selection for lunch.
Alas, New Yorkers often lament, they just don’t taste the same.
Temporarily, at least, a solution is at hand. JetBlue is offering a Pie in the Sky promotion between New York’s JFK airport and Los Angeles’ LAX. From May 9-11, the airline has committed to home delivering 350 ready-to-eat, hot pizza pies daily from Patsy’s Pizzeria of East Harlem to select zip codes in the City of Angels.
“The quality and safety of the pizza is of the utmost importance. A designated pizzaiolo (a specially trained pizza chef) has overseen the logistics of the pizza’s journey to ensure quality is maintained throughout the process,” the airline says in the FAQ section of its website. “The process by which the pizza is being prepped and transported for its journey ensures that it will not only be safe, but also delicious!”
If you’re planning a meeting in L.A. tomorrow, stay up late today to place an order at midnight before supplies run out. Film director Spike Lee participated in the airline’s promotion by teaching proper pizza-eating etiquette in a video posted on JetBlue’s YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=61&v=NLbnwuRdfw4
Periodic Table of Pizza Pi
Cooking and mixing ingredients really is similar to being in the chemistry lab. Chefs are culinary scientists. In terms of pizza dough and bagels, though, it all comes down to H2O.
“The water used to make dough for bagels and pizza, I would imagine comes from the tap, so any minerals that are dissolved in the water will be incorporated and react with whatever agents are used—baking soda, baking powder,” explained Shawn Fisher, a hydrologist for the United States Geological Survey, in a video posted by Business Insider. “If it’s not filtered or if it’s filtered to remove just the chlorine, those will ultimately affect how the dough rises or is baked. So, on Long Island and in the city, the water that’s used tends to produce good bagels, in my opinion.”
Cloning New York Water
Executive chefs at hotels, resorts and convention centers, such as Hilton Orlando’s Louis Martorano, have learned to tinker with their local water to make dough that might fool finicky New York taste buds. And if that chemistry is beyond most of us, there’s another option on the horizon. New York WaterMaker is a patent-pending water “replication system” that converts water anywhere to the same molecular structure as water found pouring out of New York faucets.
“We haven’t even released the New York WaterMaker to the public, and yet we have received numerous inquiries from restaurant chains and franchises interested in hearing more about our system,” Paul Errigo, president and CEO of New York WaterMaker, said in a March press release. “I’m not sure how they’re hearing about us, but we’re confident this will be a game changer for the culinary world.”
The system was introduced at the 2018 International Pizza Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, held March 19–22.
Hey, this water stuff is serious. Just ask TV personality Larry King, who is an investor in the Beverly Hills location of the franchise The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. The chain created a proprietary water treatment system called “Brooklyn Water Works.” It replicates the natural composition of the water found in the Catskill Mountains that supplies the H2O that flows through the tap in Brooklyn. The tank is even on display in the restaurant to show diners how it’s done. Besides the 90210, there are locations throughout Florida and one shop in Massachusetts. They do catering for events.
