Why Using Fresh Ingredients Really Matters
Mar 9, 2022 | articles
Fresh Ingredients Really Matters
If you’ve been to Astoria Pizza, you probably noticed the quality taste in our products. As the best pizzeria in SW Lynnwood, we understand the importance of using fresh ingredients. So many foods we eat throughout the day are processed, but that doesn’t mean your pizza has to be when you order out.
Processed Foods Are Everywhere:
Even when you go to the average grocery store, you’ll notice that most of the aisles are filled with dry boxed foods or frozen food. If we had to guess, less than 20 percent of every grocery store near us offers fresh food. It makes sense from a business standpoint. Processed foods are cheaper to make, therefore cheaper to purchase as a store supplier, easier to stock and sell, and they have a longer shelf life than fresh food.
You can taste the difference between a freshly prepared meal and one that was, as industry insiders consider, “heat-and-eat.” Unfortunately, many pizzerias and restaurants mailed it in and started servicing processed frozen food to unsuspecting customers. When we go out to dinner with our family we don’t want frozen food because it is cheaper and easier, so Astoria Pizza makes sure to stock up on fresh ingredients for our dishes.
You Can Make a Difference:
Customers can make a difference by refusing to patronize restaurants that put overly processed plates in front of them. You should be able to tell if a food is processed because it overly uses sugar, oil, and salt. If you want a fuller and more wholesome flavor, you need to demand for it. Fresh ingredients is all about choosing foods that contribute to amazing taste and a healthier lifestyle (yes, even at a pizzeria).
In order to make healthier choices, you really need to learn the difference between processed foods and fresh ingredients. So, let’s explore.
What is Processed Food?
The phrase “processed food” gets thrown around quite a bit. But it doesn’t always mean the same thing to the same people. Processed foods are really just foods that have been altered from their natural state. Sometimes this is for safety purposes, but most is for convenience.
Processed food generally comes canned, frozen, dehydrated, placed in sterile packaging, or refrigerated. So if you’re reading that and thinking to yourself “it sounds like every type of food,” you wouldn’t be wrong. As we’ve mentioned almost all food now is processed when you go to the grocery store.
Are All Processed Foods Unhealthy?
The short answer is, not necessarily. While most choices on your local grocery shelves are filled with unhealthy ingredients like salt, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, and chemicals, there are also plenty of healthy options too.
Milk, green tea, peas, and canned tomatoes are all technically processed, but they’re a lot healthier than junk foods with sugars and preservatives. Meanwhile, you can get purchase frozen berries without fillers and additives. You just have to be certain of what you’re getting.
More Restaurants Use Processed Foods Than Ever Before:
Astoria Pizza Prep
It is pretty simple to boil down: it is a lot easier to buy canned goods than make your own. Making homemade sauce takes a lot of work and time. It would be a lot easier and cheaper to just buy it out of the can. However, Astoria Pizza doesn’t want to betray the trust of our customers by giving them something they can pick up at their local supermarket.
We also happen to look at it as a crutch, one that too many pizzerias rely on. Many chefs or cooks do little more than heat and serve products to their customers because the cooking is done in off-site commercial kitchens. Why do restaurants do this? It’s saving time, costs, and, most importantly, it still sells!
No matter how many times your taste buds may warn you that you are eating too much salt, sugar, and fat, for some reason or another we still purchase frozen food. Some nutritionists believe that these types of foods are addictive, but we simply believe that it’s because people don’t like change.
If the local pizzeria you’ve been going to for years changes their ingredients around some, are you really going to leave them? That requires you to try a bunch of other locations that may have even worse food using the same processed ingredients. So even if you don’t like the new taste, chances are you stick with them. It’s a negative cycle that’s difficult for many to break.
Fresh Ingredients and Astoria Pizza:
When you think of Astoria Pizza, we want you to think of only the freshest ingredients. It’s why when you search for the best pizza near me, we continue to pop up and are considered South Jersey’s best pizzeria.
So when you want fresh ingredients and amazing taste, you have to switch to a place that offers the best of both. As time goes on, you’ll realize that preserved food doesn’t have the same taste as our fresh food. Ingredients that don’t have preservatives provide you with the most authentic taste possible. If you want authentic flavors and tastes, come to Astoria Pizza and say hi to our leader Miguel.