I sometime eat pizza as a snack. What is the beracha?
Answer:
The berachah on one slice of pizza, which is eaten as a snack, can depend on how the pizza is made.
If baked with fruit juice, milk, and so on, its beracha will be mezonos.
If baked with water alone, some write that the beracha is ha-motzi, whereas others write that it remains mezonos.
See also sources. Best wishes.
Sources:
The basic question, for pizza baked without fruit juice etc., is whether a slice of pizza is considered a “snack food” whose berachah is mezonos (reported in the name of Rav Moshe Feinstein) or a “meal food.”
Assuming that it is a snack food, It is permitted to eat the amount of pizza that does not generally constitute a full meal. Generally, the assumption is that it is permitted to eat one triangle, but not two (this is based on the ruling of the Vilna Gaon and others, and not like the more stringent opinion, which forbids eating any more than four beitzim — an amount that might be less than one triangle; see Mishnah Berurah).
In addition, note that the “one triangle” should not be eaten with accompanying side-dishes, because these will also join with the pizza in creating an obligation to wash, recite ha-motzi, and bench. A further point to note is that if a person becomes “full” by eating one triangle alone, this will also obligated him to wash and bench.
Why is pizza considered a “snack food”? I do not know the metzius during Rav Moshe’s times (see answer what you quoted from Rav Moshe), but I asked many people who buy pizza (big store-size slices) whether they eat it as a meal or snack— over 90% said as a meal! It seems like the clear facts are that it is a meal-type food. I asked pizza stores as well and they concurred.
How does your above pesak fit in with the seemingly blatant metzius? It is true that you modified your answer with the word “if,” but the conclusion of your answer seemed to lean towards mezonos for one slice. Am I wrong in the facts? Am I wrong in the halacha?
I would rather one slice be just mezonos, but is it true?
I am not the one who wrote this answer and I agree with you 100%. The metzius nowadays in the USA and in E. Yisroel is that pizza is considered meal food and as a mere snack type of food, such as pretzels of rugalach. There one whould haveto wash and bentch on one slice of pizza. As a side point I recently saw (although I don’t remember where)that the FDA did a study of 250,000 people in the USA who considered pizza a meal and not a snack!
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