A ‘Pizza story’ you’ll adore & laugh at the same time!

Another post, another story just for you and only for you. This one is more like a personal experience, so I am notifying you in advance. If you are looking for useful information, you won’t find it in this post. But if you are looking for a good read then you can stay on this page and go ahead. I will share my story about, how I was introduced to pizza.

Story of my first Pizza

Do you remember your first pizza? I guess yes, or maybe no. Was it from Dominos or was it from Pizza Hut? Was it from a local restaurant or was it from a sandwich stall? I am not sure how many of us remember the first pizza we ate. On the contrary I very well remember my first pizza.

I will tell you my first encounter with pizza. Growing up in a typical Indian middle class family, junk food was kept at bay from me. Or I shall correct myself a bit, expensive junk food was always kept at bay from me. Because I ate a hell lot of Vadapav and Pav Bhaaji but that was always pocket friendly back in those days when 90s kids like me were growing up. So are you curious to know, when I met my first pizza???

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It is an old saying, you never meet anyone by yourself. You only meet someone when you are destined to meet. True in my case with pizza. Till my 2^nd class I was in Jodhpur, Rajasthan and the school canteen culture was not so famous there back in 1998. Luckily for me, I returned to Mumbai for my further education. And guess what!!! My new school had a very big canteen. The big canteen is not the highlight here, this big canteen served some delicious food including pizza. This is the highlight.

You enter my school and the first thing you smell is the aroma of the hotdogs and the pizzas mingling very nicely with the vadas and samosas. Only if the aromas could sound like something then I wonder this kind of aroma would have definitely sounded like a Beethoven’s 6^th symphony. A school canteen serving pizza is really a blessing for the students. Did your school serve pizzas? My school canteen served the best food at very affordable rates. Please excuse me for not coming to the point, but as you know, backstory really matters. Thanks for being so understanding.

So here I knew, that my school’s canteen served pizza. Now the next line is going to surprise you, or rather shock you. The pizza was sold in 2 versions, a half pizza for 15 rupees and a full pizza for 30 rupees. Did these prices shock you? If yes then I am so sorry, but it is a truth. I always wanted to try this pizza since the day I was admitted to the school. The only problem was, I always carried my lunch box which my mom used to pack for me daily without fail. She does that till date by the way.

So even though I was tempted by the aroma daily, I couldn’t have the pizza. Now the next problem was, back in school I never used to get any pocket money, which I didn’t get till my second year of Degree College as well. This is another story for some day later.

I remember, how my mom and dad used to clearly keep a close tab on what I was fond of and used to ensure that I got it at an appropriate time. They always ensured that I didn’t get things too easily. This was their way of teaching me, to value all the little things that comes my way. So after my repeated pleading for the pizza from school canteen, one fine day my mom agreed. I was told, if I be a good boy then soon I will have that pizza.

Few weeks passed by, my graph of good behavior kept going up. I used to do my homework on time, packed my bag on time every night. Behaved very nicely in the school. This was all because of that 1 pizza, which I wanted so dearly. On top of that, Dominos was freshly entering the Mumbai territory. So I used to see few outlets with this amazing pictures of cheese stretched pizzas. This used to make me more curious about how a pizza could taste.

Might be this waiting for pizza made this story so memorable that I couldn’t just forget it. The anticipation of how it could really taste, and the imagination built on the basis of that delicious aroma. All these factors hyped up my craving for that pizza. Then the day finally dawned, when my mom gave me 15 rupees for a half pizza. I was super excited since the previous night, as I was told about this in advance. I guess I hardly slept that night, imagining about that pizza I was going to have. I woke up early and was so happy when my mom gave me the money.

In the school bus, I was thinking all about the pizza. How this could taste, I was unaware. Will it be worth the hype, I was not so sure! Yet I was happy. Because by that time, I formed a belief that a dish with such a heavenly aroma could never taste bad. Plus my classmates frequently used to eat it for lunch and all their friends used to finish it in seconds. As I was new to the school, I didn’t have many friends. I was a very shy kid in the school back then. But it was good for me, I didn’t have to share my pizza and that made me much happier.

I reached the school, I went to the canteen and got my parcel of pizza. They used to serve the pizza on a rectangular paper dish and put it inside a butter paper envelop. Which all students used to carry in their hands and keep it under the desk of their seat. So I followed the tradition and did exactly the same. Which was a very bad choice actually, and you will know the reason.

I am saying this because, the aroma was so tempting that in the middle of the ongoing lecture I slipped my hand in the parcel and scrapped the melted cheese and ate it. Yes, I literally did that. Please don’t laugh at me. I was just in 3^rd standard and plus the temptation was irresistible. I bet if I give you that pizza today and ask you to hold on for 2 hours before you eat, would you be able to control? No right!!! Imagine how a poor kid like me could have controlled.

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As soon as I licked my fingers, I can’t explain in words how yum & awesome it was. All the happiness hormones shot up in that one instance. Maybe this is how falling in love with the right person feels like. I was in love with that pizza. The melted cheese mixed with the perfect tomato puree with strong notes of garlic and seasoning, it was the best junk thing I had. But soon I was brought back to my senses, when my neighbor complained about this to my teacher.

I was still getting over that unexplainable feeling, till this unexpected event took place. I was confused at what just happened. I couldn’t believe that I just ate something in a live lecture and now my teacher knows that too. Now I was afraid about what was going to happen. The teacher approached me and asked me, if I was hungry. To which I said no, and then the teacher scolded me very badly. But you know what, I didn’t feel bad, I was excited that in the recess, I would be eating that damn yummy pizza.

I can’t even recollect, how the next 90 minutes passed by. I remember as soon as the recess bell rang, I cleared my desk, got the pizza out and took a first complete bite or the first official bite of this amazing recipe from Italy. I was so glad, I felt the happiness of finally getting that one thing for which you have waited so long. The same neighbor who complained about me, asked me if he can have a bite. I felt like saying no, but I was not Joey back then. I shared my food. Just kidding. I gave him a piece and we both happily ate it.

So that was my first pizza memory. A memory so special that, pizza became my favourite foreign junk food. Vadapav still remains the overall best. But my love affair with pizza started like this. Though the pizza was cold and soggy at the top but the crust was still crunchy enough. Believe me, our school canteen knew how to make yum food.

The pizza served in my school was a very simple pizza, a ready to bake pizza base, topped with a ladle full of tomato puree and the processed cheese melted while baking. Yet I till date haven’t had a pizza like that. Since that first pizza, I have had many other pizzas, but my school’s pizza will always be a memory laden experience for me. If I become a millionaire, I could give up my millions just in exchange of that old pizza. No I am kidding, rather than giving up a million I would develop that recipe myself.

Second time I tasted this amazing pizza was when my semester results were out and my dad came with me to the school. I got good marks and as a reward, I was eating a full pizza worth 30 rupees. A freshly baked pizza with the melting cheese and the perfect crust. I was so happy that, I didn’t ask for anything else for months after this. This is how my love affair with pizza started. From eating pizzas to making one. I didn’t realize that this 90s kid grew up. Do you know how to make a pizza??? Let me know in the comments below. You can check out below, my first attempt at making pizza from scratch.

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This blog post is a very personal experience from my side. If you are still on the page, then I can say one thing for sure, “You know a bit more about me on personal level”. Thank you for reading the post. Maybe you haven’t asked but I will tell you, my school is I.E.S. V.N. SULE Guruji which is a part of I.E.S. group. A place where I have spent best of the days from my life.

If you liked this experience of mine which I wrote to share with you exclusively, then please share with your loved ones. At least share with one pizza lover you know. Comment down below your first pizza experience. If you are new to this website then you can find more such amazing content here. With this your foodie_khiladi signs off for the day. See you in the next post. Till then take care and keep smiling. Below are the social share buttons to share this post on your social media platforms.