The Skinny on Pizza Dipping

The other night, my boyfriend and I ordered a pizza for dinner. Although this is a practice I rarely engage in (I would prefer to make my own, or quickly whip up a tasty and healthy meal)– laziness too over and the idea of a delivery within 30 minutes was too good to pass up. Well, okay, that sounds a little elitist. I would rather make my own pizza then order one? It is a slight exaggeration, but it seems necessary as I tend (or at least try) to present myself as someone with culinary prowess.

Anyway, when I called to place my order (1 large pie 1/2 plain, 1/2 onion) I, almost innately it seemed, asked for a side of ranch dressing. As a quick caveat, I was disappointed to hear that the pizza place didn't have ranch dressing. I am fairly certain that this disappointment has promoted the writing of this blog.

I, like many other pizza eating North Americans, enjoy an occasional dip of my pizza in salad dressing. I say North Americans because when doing a little background sleuthing on this pizza dipping topic, I came across an article about how Canadians eat their pizza. Apparently, according to this one article, (which I agree no way scientifically or accurately depicts an entire country's pizza eating habits) Canadians dunk their pizza in dips – somewhat analogous to American's dipping pizza in salad dressing.

The whole concept of pizza dipping is personally fascinating. Does it warrant an entire blog entry? It's debatable I agree, but pizza dipping is a relatively new habit of mine. In my 27 years of existence, I have only been a pizza dipper for 9. Generally speaking, of course, I don't think Long Islanders are pizza dippers. I never pizza dipped (nor did any of my friends growing up), until I moved to Central Pennsylvania for college (Penn State by the way…). When I asked my friend from Rochester, New York whether she pizza dipped, her response was, "No Gross." So where is this practice most pervasive and why do some pizza connoisseurs dip their pizza in salad dressing?

Everyone I knew from Pennsylvania, or at least my friends from PSU, dipped their pizza in either ranch or blue cheese dressing. Those of us who were unaccustomed to the practice, curiously joined in and haven't stopped. But outside of PA, I haven't traveled in too many pizza dipping circles. Because of this, my curiosity of the habit has been heightened, especially after my ranchless pizza eating experience on Friday. In an attempt to leave no pizza stone unturned, I have done a little pizza polling. Here is what my informal and unscientific study has produced:

Lauren from State College, PA: " I never dipped until I moved to State College. Now I dip in ranch. It's a Central PA thing, maybe Pennsylvania Dutch."

Dave from Albany, NY: "Salad dressing plays a limited roll in my pizza eating experience. Perhaps I would dip some unfinished crust."

George from eastern New Providence, NJ: "I only dip inferior pizza. Shitty pizza warrants the extra compensation. The concept of pizza dipping arose in College towns where poor college students ate bad pizza. They would compensate by dipping the pizza in salad dressings to improve the taste. Eh, for me, I would dip in ranch, but only if it were available to me."

Dan from western New Providence, NJ: " Absolutely. French dressing all the way. I have tried other dressings in college but French dressing is by far the best."

So from my informal survey, pizza dipping appears to be a regional phenomenon, and potentially limited to just Pennsylvania and New Jersey. So is pizza dipping like Taylor egg and cheese sandwiches are to New Jersey? Or, is one man's french dressing another man's ranch, just as one man's hoagie is another man's sub?