Mythical Kitchen's Maine Pizza Is Taking TikTok On A Confusing Ride

You've seen it before: A previously unheard-of regional pizza style trends on social media and is met by armies of outside haters and local defenders. That's how Mythical Kitchen's TikTok video on "Bangor-syle pizza" seemingly starts out. The caption dripped with a familiar brand of regional pride: "The more you know about Maine culture, the better." Then, chef Josh Scherer leads with the bold claim that Bangor-style is 'the most underrated regional pizza in all of America.' In recreating the supposedly authentic pizza, he managed to amuse, confuse, and enrage viewers.

Things start off simply enough, with Scherer laying out the dough. He explains it's unleavened because "Bangor is sister cities with St. Louis," in an allusion to the famously cracker-like crust of the midwestern city's pies. He adds slices of American cheese, which is weird but not unheard of.

Then, things really start to go off the rails. He slathers the cheese and dough with store-bought yogurt which is supposed to sub for the city's traditional "tangy white sauce." Next, he tops the pizza with handfuls of lobster meat and sprinkles it with mozzarella. After it's baked, Scherer makes a decision that he tells us will solidify the pizza's identity as truly Bangor-style: He garnishes it with a swirl of maple syrup and a few pinches of peanuts which he calls "an homage to the historic lumber industry."

Perhaps the most painful part of all for viewers is watching him bite into the first slice and praise its crispy crust and tangy flavor.

Josh Scherer can't possibly be serious, right? One TikTok commenter asked in horror why he had used vanilla yogurt, to which Scherer responded: "Tastes good." A viewer who claimed to hail from Maine assured everyone that no such pizza existed. "WHAT?!?!?!?!" Scherer wrote back.

Sure enough, the detailed factoids that the chef spews throughout his Bangor-style pizza video are mostly false. No, Bangor isn't a sister city of St. Louis, though it would be cool if it were. Unfortunately, Orono-style American cheese isn't a thing; Bangor's neighbor is mostly known for its beer and the University of Maine. And no, lobsters weren't "discovered back in 1587," but Maine is notable for its lobster history. However, he is right on two fronts: Moxie is the official soft drink of Maine, and Bangor is known for its lumber industry. Peanuts and maple syrup still seem like a bit of a stretch, though.

@mythicalkitchen

The more you know about Maine culture, the better. #maine #bangormaine #culture #pizza #mainepizza #mythical #mythicalkitchen #mythicalchefjosh #food #foodie #facts

♬ original sound – Mythical Kitchen

This would be far from Scherer's first trolling, not even his first pizza-related one. Take the time he made actual licorice pizza (via TikTok) referencing the 2021 movie which is notably, not about that at all. All this taken into account, Mythical Kitchen's TikTok on Maine pizza seems to be nothing but a genius parody of the absurd, seemingly endless roster of regional pizza types. With varieties from the Ohio Valley to New England, Bangor-style sounds like it could be right off this list, squeezing in between Altoona and Buffalo.