The Proper Way To Eat Pizza
Usually, when it comes to food like burgers or fried chicken, people will say that there's no wrong way to eat it. When it comes to pizza though, well, it's a very different story — people seem to have some pretty strong opinions on the proper way to enjoy a slice. For example, dangling a slice of pizza above your gaping, wide-open mouth is probably not the best way to go about the task, and could also lead to people thinking you'd never eaten pizza before.
Maybe you think you know what you're doing when it comes to eating pizza, but also, have you considered that you've actually been eating pizza wrong your entire life? To end this debate, let's lay out once and for all, exactly how you should eat pizza — or maybe not.
The fork and knife argument for eating pizza
According to Eataly, the proper Italian way to eat pizza is with a fork and knife. They say that you're supposed to use your fork and knife and start at the triangular tip of pizza, eventually working your way up to the crust. Only when your pizza has cooled off and you have a small portion left do you have permission to pick it up. And don't you even think of folding it, even if you're tempted to. "There is no need to fold the slice," Eataly warns. "A folded pizza is known as a calzone — and even that should be eaten with a knife and fork."
Maybe this is how real Italians eat their pizza, but maybe you were born to a Scandinavian father and a Honduran mother and grew up in Tulsa.
How to eat pizza with your hands
If that's the case, then you can go ahead and toss that fork and knife out the window. When Jon Stewart was hosting The Daily Show he ripped into both Donald Trump and New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio for eating pizza with a knife and fork (via ABC). Bon Appétit goes so far as to say that people will laugh at you if you eat pizza with a knife and fork. Obviously, nobody wants to be laughed at while eating their pizza, so how should you go about eating it if it's piping hot?
Anthony Bruno, the founder of Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza says that the proper way is by picking up and folding that slice. "It's not a steak, it's a piece of pizza," Bruno exclaimed. "You're going to take the pizza and you're going to fold it... now you can eat it." This should keep all the toppings from sliding off as well as protect against the dreaded hazard of hot cheese burning your chin.
In the 1990s, Pizza Hut tried to get people to eat their pizza crust first, but that trend never really caught on. These days, though, the "proper" way to eat pizza is best left up to you and your own preferences — and the judgment of everyone around you watching you eat.