Tag Archives: Pizza

La Chingona – is it a Bad Word if you don’t Know it?

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La ChingonaI read an interesting story in the news today about a specialty pizza being offered by the Pizza Patrón chain which is located primarily in Texas but in a number of other states as well. They have a new pizza covered with jalapeno infused pepperoni with more diced hot peppers on top.

I know the very idea of such a pizza will send my buddy Jeff and his daughter immediately to Texas to make a purchase.

The problem is that the chain has launched an advertising campaign calling the pizza La Chingona. What would you think of a public advertising campaign with billboards and signage in the store that offered a pizza called The Fucking Bad-Ass?

The problem is that La Chingona doesn’t literally translate so crudely. It is a slang term used primarily by younger people in Mexico to have such meaning. A literal translation is more like “Cool Girl”. Language is filled with words that can have two or more meanings even without slang definitions.

In response to this campaign a number of chain owners are refusing to put up the advertisements and number of media outlets are refusing to play the commercials.

A quick perusal of the Urban Dictionary T section gives us words and phrases related to Tea bags, a Tony Danza, Turbeville, Thomas, Thot, Tyler, two girls one cup, etc.

All these words have vulgar meaning but they are not on the list of banned words from the FCC. Thus they fit into the realm of the pizza that inspired me to write this blog.

All this fuss over a few words. In my opinion it’s perfectly reasonable for the store to use this term for their pizza. It’s perfectly reasonable for chain owners and media outlets to refuse to play or show the advertisements. If a person is offended then they shouldn’t go into the store. This is the way freedom works.

Freedom is often unpleasant. It involves allowing pizza companies to use vulgarities and allowing hate filled people to protest funerals. Freedom doesn’t involve the government suppressing everything that anyone finds unappealing. It means the opposite.

I see and hear things on a daily basis that I wouldn’t say or do myself. Things I find crude. The idea that we can “protect our children” from the horror of having to see a sign advertising the Fucking Bad-Ass pizza is not realistic. The world is a crude and disgusting place. The best we can do is explain that those who behave in a crude fashion, will be treated as if they are so.

When we try to rid the world of all that is crude we also attack the cause of freedom.

I accept La Chingona. I accept Fred Phelps. I accept but I do not condone. If you like freedom then you have to show some personal responsibility when you see things you don’t like. It’s the price we pay.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Coming Soon: The Broken Throne

Pizza Wars from Jon Stewart

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Pizza StyleThere was a recent spat on the Jon Stewart show about what sort of pizza style is the best. Stewart is in the midst of an erudite debate with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in which the highest levels of oratory and rhetoric are on display in their quest to determine which style of pizza is the best.

I do not suggest that I am at the same level of popularity as Stewart and Emanuel but I do have an opinion on pizza and I suspect that some of my loyal following might as well.

Now, there is much debate between the two great cities about the merits for and against the Deep Dish style for which Chicago is famous and the more traditional New York Style. Being from St. Louis I thought it might be fitting for me to at least introduce St. Louis style into the debate. To discuss the merits of the super-thin crust pizza that is a favorite here in my home town before moving on to the debate between the more well-known Chicago and New York styles.

With that in mind I think I can sum up St. Louis style in a single word. That word being abomination.

Thus unburdened I can now, in good conscience, move on to the more pressing matter of the debate between New York and Chicago.

We have a pizza place here in St. Louis that specializes in deep dish, Chicago Style, pizza. It is called Pi. It’s a fancy pizza to be certain. It’s popular, this is true. People flock to the restaurant and praise the pizza with all their heart.

I can distill my opinion into a few words. Better than St. Louis style … barely.

But for pizza? For real pizza? For tasty pizza? New York style is the only answer.

Now, a short trip down memory lane as I remember some of the best New York style pizza I’ve ever eaten.

In the Loop there was a place called Racanelli’s. It was owned and operated by a Yankees fan with a broad, and I mean thick, New York accent. They had a spinach slice that brought tears to my eyes. I used to ride my bike down to Forest Park, around a time or two, and then on my return trip home stop by to get a slice. I had dreams about those slices. The owner had no problem with St. Louis Cardinals fans but I would suggest not wearing a New York Mets cap in his presence. Sadly, they were bought out and went straight down hill. Sigh.

I flitted hither and yon for a few years trying Joanie’s Pizzeria, Sunflower’s, Dewey’s, and the not bad at all Whole Foods Pizza Pie but I did not find a good slice until wandering into a neighborhood joint, La Pizza, a few years back. It’s a shack, this much is true, but the slice is good.

Now, if Mr. Stewart wanted to invite me out to New York and show me a place or two he thinks might have a better slice, well, I would be willing to stray. I’ll wait by the phone.

Now, my loyal fans. I put the question to you. What’s your favorite slice? New York, Chicago, or the Lou!

[polldaddy poll=7584294]

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne