Seniors taste newest gourmet pizza flavors

Lunch was served up

by Chef Jack McCann
By: Mary Ellen Zangara
   Senior citizens at the Manville Senior Center were treated Tuesday to a gourmet pizza lunch served up by Chef Jack McCann, the 2007 International Caterer of the Year award winner and director of operations of Merri-Makers Caterers in Edison.
   Of course, if you feed someone a slice a pizza, you’ve only fed him for the day. But show him how to make pizza, and you can feed him for a lifetime — and help someone relive cherished memories as Antoinette Deangelis did. She said the pizza she sampled was just like her mother-in-law used to make.
   "When the family got together, the pizza came out," she said.
   Chef McCann made three different types of pizza for the group of 45 seniors.
   He began by giving the crowd tips about the crust. It’s not necessary to make dough from scratch, he said, noting local pizza restaurants sometime sell ready-made dough.This saves time and allows the pizza to be served sooner.
   As he made the pizzas, Chef McCann tossed the dough into the air at the request of one of the seniors. He then ladled on the sauce and added different healthy toppings to each of three special pizzas.
   Among the offerings were a summer squash pizza with Vidalia onions and fresh tomato, a cheese, broccoli, black olives and garlic combination, and a pizza topped with shiitake mushrooms and caramelized onions.
   After all the pizzas were complete, he put them into the oven in the caterers’ truck and a few minutes later, presented nine different pizzas for taste-testing.
   The crowd lined up to taste the gourmet pizzas, which were so good that some people even went back for more. Rita Jones enjoyed the pepper and fresh tomatoes pizza, saying it was very good. Skip Picano liked the broccoli and cheese pizza.
   "It was fantastic, very good," Mr. Picano said. "He did a great job."
   The Senior Center is located inside Manville Fire Co. No. 1 firehouse at 20 South Third Ave., and offers different activities each day for seniors to enjoy. For more information, call Joanne Peterson at 908-526-0175.