Pizza Perfection

Pizza sometimes has a split personality. Sometimes it is a gourmet presentation of fine ingredients, melted together with only the best cheeses, and other times it is a greasy mess of mozzarella, quickly baked and delivered to your door in less than 30 minutes. My last encounter with pizza was an unusual incident.

Delivery pizza chains have taken quite a turn in these last few months. Making the switch to all-natural ingredients has renewed hope for one of these famous chains. I had the privilege of eating an entire cheese pizza from Pizza Hut last Saturday night. After a 12 hour long track meet, I sat on a coach bus with 50 of my teammates, eagerly awaiting the Pizza Hut pizzas that were already an hour late. We were all starving and the some of us were beginning to lose faith in the delivery man. Then out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of headlights in the distance. Soon the familiar glow of the Pizza Hut sign spread across the empty parking lot, and cheers echoed throughout the bus.

Within minutes everyone had a hot slice of pizza in their hand. I managed to score my own box of thin crust cheese, because the people around me demanded that they eat only pepperoni or sausage. My stomach saw no difference and neither did I. At this point in the day I was just happy to eat. The steam poured out of the box as soon as I opened it. A sweet smell of fresh baked dough filled the air. I took in the moment as the warm pizza box seemed to say, “Hey there. Sit back. Enjoy my cheesy goodness.” That is precisely what I did.

The interior bus lights turned off, and everyone became quiet. As I took my first slice from the box, my ears tuned in on the sound of 50 people carefully chewing. Each bite was savored. I became anxious for the feast before me. The nine television screens lit up as we pulled out of the UW-Platteville parking lot. Our first movie of the night was Predator. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting was not up to par with the fine pizzas we were all enjoying, but nobody complained.

As the sound of dozens of machine guns blasted out of the bus’s speakers, I took my first bite. The first noticeable taste was cheese, lots and lots of melty, gooey cheese. I could not quite distinguish how many various cheeses were on the pizza, but I assure you that it was not a solo act. A taste such as this could not be accomplished by mozzarella alone. The cheese gave way to the tomato sauce, which hit my tongue next. Soon the richness of vine-ripe tomatoes, combined with a delicate assortment of spices, was all I could taste. The final all-star in the team was the crust. It was thin. It was crispy. It was delicious. It was the kind of crust that could stand up to all that cheese and not succumb to gravity’s temptations. As I bit into the flaky crust, pieces broke off and gave my mouth something to chew. The crust was not yeasty, but still held that fresh baked taste. I quickly finished off my first piece and set off to devour the seven more pieces that were waiting for me. In short, Pizza Hut has truly progressed from its greasy past. The all-natural ingredients were definitely noticeable, and I tip my hat to their new lease on life. If you have not tried Pizza Hut in the past few months, I strongly recommend giving them another chance.