"sausage pizza" news and stories

Happy National Sausage Pizza Day!

Much like National Pizza With Everything (Except Anchovies) Day, this one's another of those head-scratcher holidays -- was a group of people really fanatical enough about the necessity of sausage on pizza to get together and create a holiday in its honor? We're not arguing with them on the merits of those salty, chewy mounds of meat atop our pizza, but are merely curious about the incentive behind this very specific holiday's creation.

But the enthusiasm of sausage pizza lovers probably wouldn't hold a candle to that of notorious Roman epicurean and culinary expert Marcus Gavius Apicius, who, when facing financial ruin, chose to poison himself rather than risk hunger. Much of today's knowledge on Roman cuisine was garnered from his book, "De Re Coquinaria," and Apicius is credited with providing one of the first written references to pizza's predecessor, a sort of hollowed-out bread loaf filled with meat, cheese, garlic, pepper and oil, dating back to the 1st century. Apparently an appreciation for sausage-topped pizza is practically an age-old tradition.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

A few of the best stories spied elsewhere on the Web this week:

Bravo announces that "Top Chef Masters'" will be renewed for a second season, this time with the addition of Food & Wine's Gail Simmons to the judges' table.

Chicago pizza lover Craig Scharoff takes a bet to eat only sausage pizza for one month and, with a little over a week left, Scharoff has actually lost a few pounds, owing to the fact that he no longer eats his kids' leftovers.

We know you'll be lining up for the Heston Blumenthal-endorsed SousVide Supreme, the first to market sous vide machine for the ambitious home cook who can't live without the tender texture and flavor the cooking method yields.

In surprising and annoying study news, researchers found that in addition to red wine, prolonged contact with white wine erodes tooth enamel -- making teeth more sensitive to cold, hot and sweet food, as well as staining. Even more surprising is that brushing teeth after drinking white wine worsens the damage.

The new edition of classic cooking tome "Larousse Gastronomique" arrives in stores with a thud, weighing in at eight pounds and 1,206 pages, with updates from avant-garde chefs such as Ferran Adria and Thomas Keller along with recipes for traditional French dishes like crepes suzettes.