I love you, pizza, but I need some space. [Photograph: Christine Tsai]
This year I broke up with pizza, and it wasn't that hard to do. ...Which means I probably have no right to be on Slice.
But before you throw pizza stones at my head, let me explain. A few years ago I started having allergic reactions to food. Sparingly at first. Less sparingly later. 2011 was riddled with a handful of near-deathly reactions that scared me into making big dietary changes. (If you're wondering, yup, I've been tested for all kinds of allergies. According to the doctor my reactions seem to be a mix of allergic reactions to food and reactions stemming from some sort of acid reflux that doesn't feel like acid reflux.)
Unfortunately, pizza was one of the food groups that went on the "do not eat" list. (The other major food I cut out was anything spicy.) During 2011 I had multiple reactions to eating pizza, at least one of which resulted in crazy bad lungs-filling-with-fluid failure (but the pizza was delicious!). I don't react violently to pizza every time I eat it, but it happened often enough that I'd rather cut it out than take a risk.
The result: This year I've been free of near-deathly reactions! I still have small ones every so often, but those are easy to deal with. I'd like to believe I'll feel comfortable eating pizza again someday, but I don't know when. I miss it, just not enough to risk gurgly lungs.
Have you ever had to give up pizza?
About the author: Robyn Lee is the editor of A Hamburger Today and takes many of the photos for Serious Eats. She'll also doodle cute stuff when necessary. Read more from Robyn at her personal food blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything.