Stepping outside your pizza bubble

Pizza might just be the ultimate symbol of comfort and familiarity. For the average American, it draws on fond memories of sleepovers, movie nights and the Super Bowl, plus not-so-fond memories of late-night study crams and generous babysitters.

Pizza plays a significant part in the American culture; it’s something people count as a constant they can turn to, something they crave when they feel nostalgic or ransacked by their fast-paced lifestyles. At the end of a crazy day, some people just want to snuggle on the couch with a box of good old pepperoni pizza and The Office re-runs.

But in other cultures, pizza can mean very different things. Although pizza in the United States is generally ranked near the bottom of the food chain along with fries and burgers, Naples (considered to be the birth place of modern pizza) is so proud of its pizza that it badgered the European Union to grant Neopolitan pizza a special label to protect its traditional qualities — and won.

Taste of Oaxaca · Pal Cabron’s menu features clayudas, a cheesy, pizza-like mix of mole sauce and pork on a thin and cripsy tortilla. - Sophia Lee | Daily Trojan

In certain parts of the Middle East, Manakeesh, an Arabian dish similar to pizza, is typically served as breakfast or a light lunch. On the other hand, in many Asian countries, pizza is a pricey, sit-down affair, and Pizza Hut is ranked considerably higher up in the restaurant hierarchy than it is in the United States.

And in France, where pizza is considered an individual meal at most respectable restaurants, sharing is frowned upon.

In truth, pizza is really an ambiguous term. The way it is cooked, the manner it is eaten and what it represents are different on each continent.

Japanese pizza takes that metaphor quite enthusiastically. Japan is known for its demure and modest culture, but not when it comes to pizza. Like a repressed child, it erupts in all sorts of fantastical pizza creations. For a taste of Japanese kitsch in Los Angeles, stop by Strawberry Cones at Downtown’s Little Tokyo Shopping Center.

Smack in the middle of the bare shopping center you’ll see the small pizza stand, underwhelming in its appearance but overwhelming in its pizza selections. For the full otherworldly experience, get your pizza on a ninja crust; as its cheesy name implies, the crust is mysteriously dark grey like charcoal — because it is charcoal, specifically bamboo charcoal, called chikutan in Japanese and something that is  supposedly rich in minerals and good for the body.

Whatever you might believe about eating charcoal, it is perfectly edible and delicious — if you just forget that it’s made with ash. The crust is also made with rice flour to give it a smooth, crispy exterior but a chewier texture inside.

The crust is not the only wacky component of the pizza. Mayonnaise? Avocado? Fish roe? Roasted seaweed? Edamame? Corn? Basically, anything you would find in sushi can be found on Strawberry Cone’s pizza. There is even have a dessert pizza — the California Walnut and Raisin, which comes with Gorgonzola sauce and powdered sugar dusted on top.

Strawberry Cones is really one of those places you have to try for yourself to determine if you love it, or hate it.

If you don’t like the feeling of being weighed down by heavy carbohydrates, consider Pal Cabron, which recently opened its second branch in Koreatown. Pal Cabron is by no means a haven for dieters — quite the contrary, it delights in the excess, but its clayudas, a traditional Oaxacan snack, are surprisingly light.

Clayuda is really spelled Tlayuda, but spelling is of minor interest when it comes to taste. One order is huge — but it’s actually not as big a portion as it looks, and the flavors are so bold and wonderful that it is no problem finishing the whole thing by yourself.

A clayuda looks very much like a pizza, but it tastes nothing like one. The tortilla crust it comes in is shatteringly thin, just barely holding up the loads of toppings. The toppings are minimal and not nearly as complicated as those at Strawberry Cones: thin slabs of cecina enchilada (spiced pork) or a dark mole sauce, which are simple yet loud enough in flavor. All the clayudas come weighed down with oodles of creamy, chewy hand-stripped quesillo, the popular Oaxacan string-style cheese.

If even that is too extraordinary for you, khachapuri is a tamer ethnic pizza to test your gastronomical curiosity. Khachapuri is a rich, doughy staple dish from the Republic of Georgia. It has a boat-like crust filled with cracked eggs, very much like egg-in-a-hole, except calorified with oozing butter and cheese.

Traditional khachapuri is stuffed with sulguni, a cooked stringy cheese that is impossible to procure in the United States, but the Southern Californian pizza chain, Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria, serves a decent one with mozzarella and feta cheese instead.

As expected of a bread vessel, the crust is thick and crusty but soaked in the juices and fat of egg yolks, cheese and butter. The crust becomes a deliciously primal utensil to scoop up the stuffing.

You can also get it topped with ham and bacon or pastrami if you’re feeling carnivorous or vegetables if you need some nutritional justification for this carb feast. Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria offers online ordering and delivery as well, so you can also indulge in your usual pizza nights.

Whatever pizza might mean to you, it is still fun to venture out of the norm and enter another culture’s familiar territory. Pizza might mirror laziness or low-caliber eats to some, but it actually is a cultural and gastronomical activity, unique to each country.

Sophia Lee is a sophomore majoring in print and digital journalism. Her column, “That’s What She Ate,” runs Mondays.