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A Taste of the Past

Colmar, Jade Falcon Invasion Corridor

16 March 3057, 1001 hours

On the desolate and wind-swept plains of Colmar, within the Clan Jade Falcon invasion corridor, in what was once the Lyran Commonwealth's sector of space, MechWarrior Sebastian found himself in an unusual state of boredom. The backwater garrison world was quiet, and there were no pressing matters to engage in. To pass the time, Sebastian delved into the archives of the Inner Sphere, curious about his lineage. His gene-father's bloodname was one of honor, and he yearned to uncover the stories of his ancestors.

One afternoon, while scrolling through old records, Sebastian stumbled upon an article about a distant relative. This ancestor had a fascinating story. Around the year 2740, this forebear had worked as an engineer at General Motors on New Valencia, a planet in the Federated Suns sector. The relative was not just an engineer but also had a peculiar obsession—Detroit Style Pizza.

Sebastian's curiosity was piqued. Detroit Style Pizza? He had never heard of such a dish. The article detailed how his ancestor had painstakingly sourced and recreated the recipe, which originally came from Terra no less. The article detailed sourcing the ingredients, the special pan to achieve the perfect crust, and the steps for making the pizza. Inspired, Sebastian decided to embark on a culinary quest of his own.

The first challenge was getting the pan. Sebastian had a good rapport with the technicians of his clan. He approached them with his unusual request: a 10" x 14" steel pan. The technicians, amused by the novelty, agreed to help. They crafted a sturdy pan out of steel, and Sebastian joked about making one out of ferro-aluminum in the future, drawing laughs from his comrades.

With the pan secured, Sebastian's next task was procuring the rare ingredients. He approached a merchant known for handling rare foodstuffs and inquired about both pepperoni and the elusive brick cheese. The merchant hesitated at first but agreed to provide the pepperoni. However, he drew the line at the brick cheese, refusing to part with such a rare commodity.

Determined, Sebastian challenged the merchant to a the ritualistic Trial of Possession, to death no less... in order to secure the cheese. The merchant, realizing the gravity of the challenge, was initially still defiant. But as his peers began to plead with him, begging him not to be so crazy as to defy a warrior, he relented. Reluctantly, the merchant agreed to part with the brick cheese, valuing his life over the rare ingredient. Sebastian laughed that the merchant fell for such a ruse, but previous experiences had taught non-warrior caste members of the clan to always take the words of a warrior with seriousness.

Armed with his pan, pepperoni, and cheese, Sebastian set to work. The remaining necessary equipment was readily available in the mess hall, and the tomatoes and flour were not hard to get. He followed the ancient recipe meticulously. The aroma of the baking pizza soon filled the mess hall, drawing curious glances from passing technicians and warriors alike. When the pizza was finally ready, its golden crust and bubbling cheese were a sight to behold.

As Sebastian took his first bite, he was transported. The flavors were unlike anything he had ever experienced. The dough was so airy and light. As he bit down, the piece went from a fluffy top, to a chewy middle, and a crisp bottom which made a satisfying crunch sound. Each bite offered a harmonious blend of textures and flavors, with the cheese providing a creamy, slightly salty contrast to the sweet tomato sauce and the rich, buttery dough. The pepperoni added a spicy, meaty kick that paired perfectly with the sweetness of the sauce and the richness of the cheese. The flavors were unlike anything he had ever experienced. He shared the pizza with his comrades, and it quickly became a beloved treat. In the quiet times, they would gather to enjoy Sebastian's Detroit Style Pizza, a reminder of the simple pleasures that connected them across time and space.

Sebastian's culinary adventure brought a piece of the past to life on Colmar, bridging centuries and light-years, and adding a new, flavorful chapter to the proud legacy of his gene-father's bloodname.

In Pursuit of the Perfect Pizza

New Valencia, Federates Suns

17 June 2740

Carlos Binetti sat at his desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard. He took a deep breath and began typing, eager to share his Detroit Style Pizza recipe with the world. His blog had always been a place for exploration and connection, and today, he wanted to delve into his obsession with Detroit Style Pizza.

“Let’s just get to it,” he typed. “Unlike other recipe sites, I am not going to go in depth into stories of my childhood on New Valencia and other irrelevant facts about me. What I am going to say is this: I am obsessed with Detroit Style Pizza.”

He paused, thinking about the countless hours he had spent perfecting his recipe. Over the years, he had immersed himself in researching ancient pizzerias, particularly Buddy's Pizza. This was a renowned chain of pizzerias around the city of Detroit on ancient Terra, in the North American continent. I have experimented with different ingredient ratios, brands, methods, temperatures, and baking times, all with the intent of trying to get as close as possible to what might have been the flavor that Buddy's Pizza made. Of course, I will never know for sure as I cannot travel back in time and go there, but my friends and family tell me it is delicious, and I am happy enough with that.

“What I am going to teach you is to make Detroit Style Pizza per my current method,” he continued. “This pizza has a turnaround time of about three to four hours. I have fermented dough for 48 hours, I have fermented it for 72 hours, and I have used fancier ingredients and methods, degassing it every 24 hours, and perfroming other tricks. It’s always been good, but I feel that being fancy and doing extra work and extra steps is not really worth it.”

He remembered the many nights spent tweaking his methods, trying to simplify the process without sacrificing flavor. “That is why I am going to show you my minimalist quick turnaround method. Why? Well, if I imagine how a pizzeria operates, I am sure they try making the best product they can with the least ingredients, complexity, and time used. In other words, with the greatest convenience for themselves. Because of that, I have moved beyond more complex steps and ingredients to simplify everything as much as possible while still delivering a great product.”

Carlos smiled, knowing that this approach would resonate with many of his readers who sought simplicity in their busy lives. “I will show you what equipment I use, what ingredients I use, and what methods I use. I will also show you optional steps. These will clearly be labeled optional, and you can skip them and still have excellent results.”

He read through his work, satisfied with the balance of personal insight and practical advice. His fingers hovered over the keyboard once more before he hit publish, eager to see how his followers would react to this new post. Sharing his passion for Detroit Style Pizza wasn’t just about the food—it was about connecting with others through a shared love of culinary exploration.

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Essentials:

Equipment needed / suggested:

• Baking and Pizza Handling:
• An oven capable of 500ºF.
• A 10x14 pan. You can find these if you search for "Detroit Style Pizza pan".
• Plastic wrap, or if you have/buy a pan with a cover.
• Pizza removal from pan: like metal dough cutters/scrapers or spatulas.
• Suggested: Cooling rack. I'll talk more about this in the lessons learned section.


• To make the dough:
• A scale, or measuring cups and spoons. I do everything by weight, and it is my recomendation that you get a scale.
• A stand mixer with a "C" dough hook.
• Alternative: You can use a spiral dough hook - I have made it with a dough hook before getting a C hook, because it is what my KitchenAid stand mixer came with. The issue you will run into with this I will go over in the "lessons learned" section.
• A bowl scraper, ideally plastic as it confroms to bowls more easily. The dough is not handalable and it will be usefull for transfering the dough.


• To make the sauce:
• If you have a blender, great. You can blend the sauce by hand though.
• A sauce pan to cook the sauce in.
• A ladle. This is to pour the sauce onto the pizza (after it is baked) if you choose to follow the detroit style or upside down sicilian method.


• To prepare toppings:
• The most critical one is the cheese. If you buy it as a brick, you will need a cheese grater, or, a knife to cube it.

Ingredients: This is just a list of the basics of what you will need, the actual recipe will be later.

• To make the dough:
• All purpose flour. I use King Arthur. You can use whatever brand you want, organic or not.
• Water. Ideally refrigerator cold.
• IDY (Instant dry yeast, remember to keep this in the fridge after opening it).
• Salt (table salt). You can use himalayan salt, I have and it does not really change anything.
• Pan lube: I use extra virgin olive oil (evoo) and butter. You only need either but I suggest both. Other pan lubes work too (like other types of oils), but they will affect taste.


• Cheese:
• Young wisconsin brick cheese is what sets these pizzas apart. If it is white and looks like mozarella, it is young.
• Substitutes: If you cannot get wisconsin brick cheese, I would suggest white cheddar. There are varieties of it, and the right one will depend on your preferences in sharp, salty, tangy, and intensity of flavor.
• Substitutes: You could mix mozarela with white cheddar. I've done 50% sharp white cheddar with 50% mozarella, and the results have been great.
• Substitutes: You could make a blend of muenster, monteray jack, and mild or sharp white cheddar (to your preference) too.
• Substitutes: The reality is, experimentation is key. It will be delicious in it's own way. Play with different blends between muenster, monteray jack, different types of white cheddars, and even mozarella. You will find what you like.

• Toppings:
• Traditional Detroit Style Pizza is just pepperoni.
• Options: This is your preference. Later in this article I will go over some combinations.

• Sauce:
• Can of tomatoes, I mostly use crushed.
• Tomatoe paste.
• Basic condiments like salt, sugar, and dried oregano. You can add more like basil, thyme, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes to your liking.
• If you are lazy, you could choose to buy premade pizza sauce... It might not be as good but it is easier. Maybe as you make more of them you'll get into making your own sauce.

• Specific Brands I like:
• For tomatoes: Cento, Stanislaus Full-Red or 7/11.
• For Cheese: Tavolini Brick Cheese sold at Gordon Food Services is excellent and low cost. The problem is finding one that sells it. If you do not find one, you can go to one and make a custom order. The issue is that they will make you buy a case, which is 6 bricks which weigh between 6 and 7 pounds. Yes, you will have 36 to 42 pounds of cheese... Their item code is: 403579.

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Recipe:

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Measurements
Dough
Item	Percent (%)	Weight (g)	Weight (lb)	Volume
Flour (all purpose)	100%	275 g	9.7 oz	2 cup + 3 TBSP
Water	75%	207 g	7.3 oz	3/4 cup + 1 1/2 TBSP + 1 TSP
Salt	1.5%	4.1 g	0.14 oz	3/4 TSP
IDY	0.55%	1.5 g	0.05 oz	1/2 TSP
Cheese
Wisonsin Brick Cheese	100%	425 g	15 oz	3 3/4 cup
Sauce
Crushed Tomatoes	95%	794 g	28 oz	1 Can
Tomato paste	2%	15 g	0.53 oz	1 TBSP
Dried Oregano	0.25	1.8 g	0.06 oz	1 TSP
Sugar	0.5%	4 g	0.14 oz	1 TSP
Salt	0.35%	3 g	0.11 oz	1/2 TSP
Toppings
Pepperoni	100%	40 g	1.4 oz	1/3 Cup

Notes about the sauce:

• The purpose of sugar in the sauce, is to reduce it's acidity. You could skip this if you want. I usually add "to taste".
• You can choose to not use paste.
• You can add or remove condiments, adjust to your liking.
• The quantity is for convenience, the reality is, each pizza should use 6 oz or less. With this recipe, you would be making over four tiems the needed sauce. You can scale this if you want for making less, or freeze the remaining sauce.

• Optional: Diastatic malt powder (AKA: diastatic malt flour). I do not think it is necessary, but if you really get into this, you may want to experiment with it. What this will do for your pizza is brown the crust more, and it acts as food for yeast which should help right the rise, and give a mroe spring like dough. If you have it or wantr to experiment, go for it. But the recipe without it is good. You can add 3.0 grams to your flour in the bowl to incorporate this.

Step: Dough

Pictures	Steps
	1. Equip "C" dough hook to your mixer. 2. Add 275 g of flour to the mixer's bowl. 3. Add 207 g of cold water to a seperate bowl, andd add the 4.1 grams of salt until it disolves.
	4. Mix water bowl to the mixer bowl with the flour, and begin mixing on the lowest speed for 2 minutes. 5. Stop, and sprinkle in the 1.5 grams of IDY. Continue kneading at low speed for 5 to 7 minutes. 6. Let it rest for 60 minutes with a cloth over the bowl (not touching the dough). In this picture, instead of having it in the mixing bowl, i have it in a seperate container to show you the rise. You can do this also if you want to free-up your mixer's bowl.

Step: Pan Preperation.

Pictures	Steps
	1. Grease the 10 x 14 pan. I melt 1 oz of butter in the microwave, and add it to the pan, and then I add 1 oz of extra virgin olive oil. I use a pastry brush to spread it, but you coudl do it with your fingers. 2. Transfer the dough (after the 30 minutes of rest) to the pan. The best method is a combination of using a scraper (plastic so that it confroms to the bowl better) and gravity. 3. Once it is in the pan, wet your fingers with water, and press on it with your finger-tips gently, to spread it around the entire pan. 4. If it retracts and does not stay in the corners, don't worry about it, this is normal, you will copme back to that later.
	5. Once it is spread more or less well enough, cover it and let it rest for 30 minutes. 6. Come back to it, and again with wet fingers, try to spread it so that it does reach the corners. 7. Cover it, and let it rest for 60 minutes.

Step: Oven preperation

Pictures	Steps
	1. We want to use the lowest rack possible in your oven, so adjust it. 2. If your oven can do convection heating, select it, and begin pre-heating to 475ºF. 3. 475ºF will be the baking temperature. meanwhile, you can begin making the toppings and sauce.

Toppings

Pictures	Steps
	1. If you have a cheese grater, shredd the 15 oz of cheese. 2. If you do not have one, then cube the cheese. The smaller the cubes, the better it will melt and cover the pizza. 3. If you are just going to do pepperroni, then there is not much to say here, get it out and makit it available. If you want other toppings, make them during this step.

Dressing the pizza

Pictures

Steps

There are a couple ways to do it, I will go over three. The traditioanl Detroit Style method (as I know it), the detroit style method with more toppings, and then the traditional method. A.) Traditional Detroit Style: Lay down the pepperoni over the dough. Put the cheese over the pepperoni, from edge to edge. This is it. You add the sauce after the pizza is baked. B.) Detroit Style + Toppings: Typically here it is done just liek the Traditional Detroit Style, but you add in the additional toppings over the cheese. You add the sauce after the pizza is baked. C.) Traditional method: You could add the sauce over the dough, then the cheese, and then your toppings. I do it like this often. In this example, I did a traditional Destroit Style but with many toppings. Next time I make a traditional Detroit Style Pizza, I will take more pictures and reupload. 1. Dough. 2. All toppings added. 3. Cheese added. i stacked the perimeter first, and then filled in the center. (Note: some was cubed, some was shredded).

Making the pizza suauce

Pictures	Steps
	1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. 2. Combine all the ingredients and mix well (if you have a blender, do it in the blender). 3. Reducing the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. While this is being done, you will be baking the pizza and bake it.

Baking, removal, adding sauce, cutting, and serving

Pictures	Steps
	1. Place the pizza in the lowest rack after the oven has hit 475ºF and has heat-soaked for a good 10 minutes. 2. After the 15 minutes, remove from the oven. It might me a minute or two more, or a minute or two less, that will depend on your oven, and you will have to fine-tune it in the future. 3. Remove the pizza. I like to losen the sides (they will be stuck due to the caramelized cheese on the edges) with a metal dough scraper/cutter. I go along the edges all the way top the bottom
	4. I have found that a good way to get it out of the pan is to tilt the pan so that one short end is lower. Lift from the lower short end with the metal dough cutter/scraper, and then wobble it on to a cooling. 5. Once on the cooling rack, add the sauce with the laddle. Traditionally, it is three racing stripes across the length. I like to add chunks with the ladle randomly. Some people lay down 2 or 3 stripes then fatten them by spreading them with the ladle. You can cover the entire thing if you really like tomato sauce that much, and create the Detroit "Red Top" very literally. You can add caution like stripes throught the entire thing if you like. I prefer less sauce, I usually use about 5 or 6 oz ONLY. This is up to you, sometimes less is more though. 6. Cut it, and let it cool down a bit. Note: You could first transfer it to a wood cutting board, cut it, and then to the cooling rack. The reason for this woudl be if you have difficulties cutting it on the cooling rack. 7. Finishing touch: you could add a bit of pecorino romano cheese, but it doesn't really need it.

Conserving the dough or sauce for future use:

• If you want for making dough for another day, or for much much later, you can follow the dough steps, and transfer the dough to a greased bowl and then cover it with plastic wrap. Or use a container with a lid like I use. You can then regrigerate it. It will ferment fine in the refregerator, but it will be slower.


• Before using the regreigerated dough, you will want to remove it from the refrigerator atleast 90 minutes before attmepting to use it, to allow it time to get up to room temperature or close.


• I have kept dough in the refrigerator for about 5 days, and have not had a problem, but you should check other sources.


• You can also refrigerate sauce, or freeze it. Simply consider the needed time to thaw it out before using it again.

Lessons Learned:

• You can mix the dough manually, but it is a PITA.


• You can perfrom the "double knead" process if you are having problems spreading it on the pan, but because this is a very wet and sticky dough, you should oil your fingers.


• When you spread the dough, try for making it even. You want to avoid thin spots.


• Shredded cheese works better. It just lays down more consistently and is easier to work with.


• The cheese on the edges will stick to your pan, so I must reiterate that it is important to lube up even the sides of the pan before placing in the dough and cheese.


• There is a pan made by the "Detroit Style Pizza Company", which states to NEVER use olive oil in it. I have no idea why this is. A friend has one of thjeir pans, and he uses olive oil in it and he has not seen any issues. I use Lloyd's pans so I do not have this "possible" issue.


• I have only tried butter and extra virgin olive oil as lube, I know some people who have tried other oils and they work also, but they will change the taste. I have found that olive oil is best to crisp the bottom, and I add butter because Buddy's tastes like it (and it is delicious).


• Pro tip: Don't burn yourself trying to get the pizza out of the pan.


• As for spiral dough hooks vs. "C" hook differences, the problem with the spiral is that it does not do a good job of getting under the dough, so you might not get a good knead. A way to help remedy this is for you to stop it, and mix it in with a wood spoon aswell. The "C" type is superior due to this reason. Now, if you are making enough dough for two or more pizza's, then you should not have any issue with the spiral dough hook.


• I highly advise using a cooling rack. If you leave the pizza in the pan, or transfer it to a wood cutting board, the bottom will become soggy. To maintain the pizza's bottom crispy, they cooling rack works great.


• Shopping choices and their cost. This is up to you. I've used Kroger and Meijer cans of tomatoes, and I've used more expensive Cento tomatoes, and stanislaus tomatos like 7/11 or full-red. The truth is, you can defiently taste the difference. This goes for cheese aswell. If availability is not an issue, nor cost, I would choose wisoncin brick cheese and Cento tomatoes, always.


• I have a flour siv. I've stroppe dusing it because of what I mentioned at the beggining, I wanted to remove as many steps as possible. ther reality is, I saw no significant difference in the results.


• This is my personal opinion: The Pizza Bible recipes are okay, but you can tell they are not from Detroit, nor have had a lot of Buddy's or shields. Their recipe is dense, heavy, uses a ton of flour, and results in many more calories.

My equipment:

• KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus stand mixer. I've found these new for cheap at bestbuy. You can get these for under $250 USD. They are built like tanks, buy a used one on facebook marketplace.


• Lloyds Pans 10" x 14" Destroit Style Pan. It is th ebest pan as far as I am concerned. Buy it from amazon when it's on discount. It can be had for less than $50.00 USD. Other companies sell them for $20 ~ $30, but they are not the same. Ask yourself if the price difference, for something you will have for decades, is really that impactfull. Factor in how much money you will save buying pizza's Vs. making them yourself. As the saying goes, buy once cry once. Get the Lloyd's pan.


• I have King Arthur dough containers to let the dough cold ferment in the fridge if I am making dough for another day, they work great.


• I have a King Arthur plastic dough scraper. It also works great to get the dough out of bowls.


• I use metal dough scrapers to remove the pizza from the pan, and a large 16" pizza cutter.


• I use cooling racks.


• I use a blender for my sauce.

Pizza Combinations Tried and Loved, Suggestions, and Ideas:

• Fistfuls of Lyran Pepperoni.


• Pepperoni.
• Wisconsin brick cheese.
• Tomato Sauce.
• Adder: Pecorino Romano grated over the pizza after the sauce has been applied.
• Adder: Add some Ricotta, fior di latte, or Burrata.
• Adder: ABasil leafs or sprinkles.
• Adder: Join the hipster instagrammers and add Mike's hot honey to it. Personally, I have never done it, but it "must" be good. All the cool kids are doing it.


• Voluptuous Honoluluan.



You might be picturing a very curvey hawaian woman. This pizza is more so the enbodyment of Edmond Honda, from the Street Fighter movie.

• Tomato Sauce first (over the dough, no need to cook it seperatly)
• Wisconsin brick cheese.
• Canadian Ham.
• Sugar pineapple infused with. (Take a pineapple, dice it, and boil it in water along with 50 grams of sugar.)
• Adder: Bacon bits. I mean, why not?
• Adder: Tajin spice. Maybe try first before commiting to covering the entire pizza in it, but the results will suprise you.


• Alfredo's CAB.


• Alfredo sauce (over the dough, no need to cook it seperatly).
• Wisconsin brick cheese.
• Chicken (paprika seasoned) and Bacon
• Diced Roma Tomatoes
• Caramilized Onions
• Adder: A drizzle of bbq sauce (don't over do it).
• Adder: Cilantro.


• substitute: remove the bacon, tomatoes, and onions, and do not add bbq sauce, and add garlic and mushrooms to create a creamy Parmesan garlic mushroom chicken pizza.

• Substitutes and options.

Measurements
Item	Percent (%)	Weight (g)	Weight (lb)	Volume
Cheese substitute 1
Sharp White Cheddar	50%	212.5 g	7.5 oz	~ 1 3/4 cup + 2 TBSP
Mozarella	50%	212.5 g	7.5 oz	~ 1 3/4 cup + 2 TBSP
Cheese substitute 2
Mild White Cheddar	33%	142 g	5 oz	1 1/4 cup
Muenster	33%	142 g	5 oz	1 1/4 cup
Monterey Jack	33%	212.5 g	5 oz	1 1/4 cup
A fancier sauce
Tomatoes	93%	794 g	28 oz	1 Can
Tomato paste	1.8%	15 g	0.53 oz	1 TBSP
Garlic powder	0.7%	6 g	0.2 oz	1/4 TSP
Dried oregano	0.1%	0.9 g	0.03 oz	1/2 TSP
Dried basil	0.2%	1.8 g	0.06 oz	1 TSP
Sugar	0.5%	4 g	0.14 oz	1 TSP
Salt	0.35%	3 g	0.11 oz	1/2 TSP
Red pepper flakes	0.07%	0.6 g	0.02 oz	1/4 TSP
Olive Oil	3.4%	28 g	1 oz	2 TBSP

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