Viewfinder: And the Best Pizza in Montville Is....

Montville High School Library Media Specialist Julie Perry thought a pizza taste-off would be a great way to cap off library’s summer program for students, and so, on Monday, she organized a blind taste test of all four Montville pizza parlors, and Rolling Tomato, the mobile wood-fired pizzeria.

Perry said that as the idea took shape, “I thought it would be like the Pepsi challenge.”

The goal was for 12 students “to set aside preconceived notions and judge on what they were presented,”  Perry said.

Initially, she said, she had thought that students might be able to identify pizza that they were already familiar with, but once the taste test was underway, the integrity of the blind tasting held. The teens told Perry they couldn't tell which pizza came from which restaurant. 

, , , and all donated two pizzas each.

Derek Strickland of Montville was the first student judge to pick up a sample from the table and he wasted no time in having a taste, taking a big bite of Pizza No. 1 before most of the other participants even got close to the table.  A few moments later, Strickland was seated at a table with pen in one hand and pizza in the other, carefully noting the quality of flavor of the cheese, crust and sauce on a 1 to 5 scale.

His dad Ken Strickland, seated next to Derek, decided to take the opportunity to offer a teaching moment of his own as he explained “Do you see how I took one slice of each of the five pizzas and put them on my plate in order?“

Derek acknowledged his father’s model of efficient pizza sampling with a nod and continued to dutifully mark his ballot as he savored his sample piece down to the last bite.

All the student judges seemed to take their charge seriously as they went back to the sample table until all of the five contending pizzas were tasted and all ballots were completed.

“It wasn’t as easy as they thought,” Perry said.

Nor was interpreting the results. 

Oakdale Pizza was the top vote-getter in all three individual categories including Best Crust, Best Sauce and Best Cheese. But the favorite overall pizza award went to Pa’s Pizza.