Pizza (Paperback)

~ James McNair (Author), Patricia Brabrant (Photographer) "For far too long I suffered under the delusion that pizza making was a difficult task best left to the pros..." (more)
Key Phrases: Basic Pizza Dough, Salt Freshly, Cornmeal Variation (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Straightforward instructions for preparing a wide variety of homemade gourmet pizzas with innovative crusts and toppings that have thrust this dish into the American culinary spotlight. With photographs that make the mouth water! Full-color photographs.

About the Author

James McNair -- one of America's most innovative cookbook authors -- is also the photographic designer, prop and food stylist, and book designer for his bestselling single-subject series.

Patricia Brabrant spends most of her working hours photographing food for advertising promotion, and editorial clients.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (September 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877014485
• ISBN-13: 978-0877014485
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #467,112 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Start to making Homemade Pizza, December 28, 2001

By	A. Stefanski "just someone" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I never figured I'd be able to make a decent pizza at home, until I purchased this book. I was worried a standard home oven could never produce the quality any pizzeria could produce, and that the right equipment and skills wouldn't help.

I was wrong.

This book offers simple recipes for pizza dough, and how to cook the pizza in your oven, that allows you to come up with something rivaling the local pizzeria. I've followed the instructions, and found the regular recipe produces a nice, high quality crust - and once you have the crust, you can play around with toppings, so you've got most of a good pizza down. I have yet to try the Chicago-style corn crust, as I can't find a deep-dish pizza pan yet.

The sauce recipes are not quite as good as the dough recipe, with the one I use most often seeming like it's missing something, perhaps a little sugar, so that's going to be something to play with.

To be honest, the interesting history of pizza presented in the book, along with the basics of cooking the pizza, and the supplies you need, are the best part of the book - the other recipes for various toppings do seem like afterthoughts, though a few do get my interest.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great cooking!, July 23, 1999

By A Customer

I own several James McNair books, and I find them consistently reliable. Yes, some of the recipes do call for specialized ingredients (Parmigiano Reggiano cheese instead of Kraft Parmesan, for example), but that's just one detail that makes McNair's recipes so much better than many others. I recently made pizza for lunch for some houseguests who were astounded that I could do so from scratch without an awful lot of effort--they had NEVER seen it done at home before. It's not at all difficult, and the results are far superior to anything out of the freezer or thrown at the doorstep by a fast-moving delivery driver. Many of McNair's books are old reliables around my house!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mommy makes the best pizza in the whole wide world, May 25, 2001

By A Customer

I had to write this review to refute the "pretty pizza, no substance" one, written by the angry reader who accused McNair of writing the book to pay off his mortgage. Don't believe a word of that negative commentary. I've been making pizza for years using a brick oven stone and have had lots of success with McNair's ideas. And his ingredients don't seem particularly exotic to me-- what's so mysterious about freshly ground Parmesan cheese? McNair himself recommends substitution if you don't have a particular ingredient on hand, or if you prefer an alternative ingredient taste-wise. I especially like the whole-wheat pizza crust recipe-- I just throw the ingredients into a bread machine and use it for two thin pizzas. I add some mozzarella & cheddar, the New York Neopolitan pizza sauce (very simple) and some garlic and add steamed spinach, basil & Italian flat-leaf parsley and oregano & Parmesan on top, & it's easy & delicious. And according to the kids, "Mommy makes the best pizza in the whole wide world." Thanks, James McNair. I hope you pay off your mortgage and that I pay mine off too someday.