Leading up to the competition this week there seemed to be a casual assumption of the outcome. With the underdog Big Cheese pitted against the pizza mogul Pizza Hut there didn't seem to be much hope for an upset. Many who judged had not even heard of Big Cheese until today. Judges today included: Sam, Howard, Chuck, Mutema, Josh, Stephen, and myself. Since there were only 7 people consuming pizza we figured ordering three pizzas would be the best idea. It was agreed that we'd order two from Pizza hut because it seemed like the likely victor, and a single jumbo from Big Cheese. There was some discussion over how ordering a jumbo might compromise the integrity of the competition, but the concern was dismissed. As it turns out Big Cheese only has jumbo pizzas, no large, cut into twelve slices. It was a relative cheap week with delivery and tax for the Big Cheese being $18.10 and the two larges from Pizza Hut coming in at a total of $41.11. Big Cheese arrived a little early with Pizza Hut following shortly after. I had to help the Pizza Hut delivery guy to figure out where we were located when he was in the parking lot. I guess suite number and company name was not enough. In any case pizzas were delivered and the competition commenced.
What followed next was quite surprising. Appearance of both pizzas seemed to indicate a clear victory for Pizza hut with their abundance of toppings. Big Cheese seemed to have some topping voids as well as a lack of cheese, which was somewhat disappointing considering their name. Upon eating the pizzas though it was quite obvious that the Big Cheese "just tasted better". I'm not sure if sauce was a topping I neglected to add to the Pizza hut order, but there was a serious lack of it, and in turn a lack of flavor. Sure there were plenty of toppings, but as we all know sauce completes the total package and in this case the package was lacking. Pizza hut being a pan pizza did have a sort of synthetic texture to it. It was compared to Montana's corn bread. Not your typical pizza dough that's for sure. While Pizza hut may have a variety of pizza doughs that may be more appealing, the intent of the Pizza Bracket is to find the best traditional pizza, and in this case it seems Pizza hut fell short. The final verdict is a 6-1 victory as the Big Cheese slays "Goliath". Mutema, the only judge who voted for Pizza Hut, was heard to comment that he "...wasn't disappointed in the outcome". To him neither pizza was astounding. We also took into consideration that the second Pizza hut pizza might be better. And while it did look more appealing, being seemingly "more cooked", it still didn't meet the mark. The last slice of pizza hut I jammed into me was quite messy and a little soggy. This would have to be the water and grease from the toppings, because it certainly wasn't the sauce. This newcomer contender has definitely made it to my list of potential late night pizza places to call. Whether or not Big Cheese will continue its upset streak is still unknown. Only time will tell.
What followed next was quite surprising. Appearance of both pizzas seemed to indicate a clear victory for Pizza hut with their abundance of toppings. Big Cheese seemed to have some topping voids as well as a lack of cheese, which was somewhat disappointing considering their name. Upon eating the pizzas though it was quite obvious that the Big Cheese "just tasted better". I'm not sure if sauce was a topping I neglected to add to the Pizza hut order, but there was a serious lack of it, and in turn a lack of flavor. Sure there were plenty of toppings, but as we all know sauce completes the total package and in this case the package was lacking. Pizza hut being a pan pizza did have a sort of synthetic texture to it. It was compared to Montana's corn bread. Not your typical pizza dough that's for sure. While Pizza hut may have a variety of pizza doughs that may be more appealing, the intent of the Pizza Bracket is to find the best traditional pizza, and in this case it seems Pizza hut fell short. The final verdict is a 6-1 victory as the Big Cheese slays "Goliath". Mutema, the only judge who voted for Pizza Hut, was heard to comment that he "...wasn't disappointed in the outcome". To him neither pizza was astounding. We also took into consideration that the second Pizza hut pizza might be better. And while it did look more appealing, being seemingly "more cooked", it still didn't meet the mark. The last slice of pizza hut I jammed into me was quite messy and a little soggy. This would have to be the water and grease from the toppings, because it certainly wasn't the sauce. This newcomer contender has definitely made it to my list of potential late night pizza places to call. Whether or not Big Cheese will continue its upset streak is still unknown. Only time will tell.
I would like to contest that in this case, size may matter - is it possible that the topping to surface area distribution algorithm on the jumbo pizza provides the most optimal solutuion with respect to taste?
ReplyDeleteOr it could have simply been that you all sub consciously pre-judged the Pizza Hut based purely on the fact that it is dwarfed by it's jumbo neighbour.