The Great Pizza Debate! Part 1.

Are you aware that there are over 20 regional varieties of pizza in the United States? This may come as a surprise to some of you but yes, there are more options than thin, thick, hand tossed, pan, deep dish, and stuffed. Those terms that are used by most chain pizza parlors are generic terms used, but knowing the origin and using the correct term for the style to me, makes for a better sale.

In order to understand and appreciate pizza, you have to understand the origin. Now, I won’t go into great detail and depth, but I’ll skim over it. In the 16th century Naples, a Gallete flatbread was referred to as a pizza. It was a peasant dish, originally sold on the street. Prior to the 17th century, pizza was covered with red sauce, later to be replaced with oil and tomatoes or fish. in 1889, to honor the Queen of consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, Neapolitan chef, Raffaele Esposito created the “Pizza Margherita”, a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag.

The Neapolitans take their pizza very seriously. Truly pizza purists, the Neapolitans dine on either of the two true pizzas - the Marinara and the Margherita. The Marinara is the older of the two and is topped with tomato, oregano, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. It was prepared by the seaman’s wife for her seafaring husband when he returned home from fishing trips in the Bay of Naples. Many Italians enjoy their pizza at Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba in Naples. In 1738 pizza production began here for peddlers, but expanded to a sit down restaurant in 1830.

Now, as adverse economic conditions forced four million southern Italians to come to America by 1900, pizza was slowly introduced to America. Still an inexpensive peasant food, these southern Italian women would make this in their kitchens. And in 1905, Gennaro Lombardi applied to the NYC government for the first license to make and sell pizza in the USA, at his market on Spring St in what was known then and know today as Little Italy. Nineteen years later, Anthony (Totonno) Pero left Lombardi’s to open Totonno’s in Coney Island. In 1929, John Sasso left Lombardi’s to open John’s Pizza in Greenwich Village. In the thirties, pizza spread from the East Coast to the West Coast. In 1943, Chicago pizza was born, when Ike Sewell opened Uno’s. And so on, until the development of, ugh, chain pizza joints. Which lead to a decline of authentic mom and pop pizzerias and a decline in taste and it all began in 1958. Without naming names because I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, I think you all can figure it out. As I said, 1958 was the birth of the first chain, 1959 the second, and 1960 was the third. It was mostly the prices that these chains offered to the American citizens that won them over. If only, if only the real pizzeria’s were given a chance by everyone, these chains may not be in existence, but the independent pizza makers still exist.

Now let’s get down to business and talk about style. We’ll begin with the original and in my opinion, the top, Neapolitan. My dear Chicago and suburban friends will not agree with me here, but you have to give it a chance before you disagree. Neapolitan pizza is small, roughly 10” in diameter, but who’s really measuring? They are a thin crust pizza made in a wood burning oven. They have a puffy crust and nothing but the freshest ingredients are used and they are used sparingly. Typically San Marzano tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and a little bit of basil. The marinara is just sauce and a sprinkling of an aged cheese or the napoletana, which is a marinara with anchovies. This all baked in an ultra hot wood burning oven.

Next in line is the New York Neapolitan. This pie is almost identical to the Neapolitan, in that is still uses quality ingredients. The differences are that it’s noticeably larger and it’s baked in an ultra hot coal oven. This style of pizza is available outside of NYC now. In fact in Chicago there are two, Coalfire and Castel Gandolfo.

Let’s talk New York Style. This was my favorite for years and the source of many arguments about New York or Chicago. This is a simple pizza, more thin than thick with sauce and a few toppings in order to keep the crust crisp. A traditional New York slice is cheese and sauce. Stroll into a place like Ray’s Original Pizza, Famous Ray’s Pizza, or World Famous Original Ray’s Pizza and you will see a display of mouth watering pizza with a multitude of toppings. Everything is baked on site, in an electric pizza oven, and just reheated in the same oven as you choose your slice or slices. When they remove it from the oven, it’s reborn to it’s original state. The cheese is gooey and the crust is crunchy. Fold that sucker in half and shove it in your face! If you want, sure you can dab the grease off of the top, but depending on what time of the day or morning you go, it just doesn’t matter. Here in Chicago, the one stand out of New York Style is Bacci’s.

Grilled Pizza was invented in Providence, Rhode Island. This is a thin crust pizza that is cooked quickly on the grate of a grill, gas or charcoal. There are no worries about this pie falling through the grates because it sets up quickly over the intense heat. Once one side has set, the crust is flipped and topped with sauce and thinly sliced toppings. When I say thin, I mean you can read the papers through them. Ok, maybe not that thin, but thin so they can heat through in the short time that it takes for that second side to set and caramelize. Of course, don’t forget, anything that needs thorough cooking such as ground beef, sausage, chicken, etc, should be precooked. If you are not feeling inspired to do this at home, grilled pizza has moved to areas outside of Providence. Red Flame Pizzeria on the Depaul Campus grills their pizza, but finishes it off in the oven to crisp up the bottom, however I’ve never had a problem with the bottom of my pizza not being crisp.

My first experience with Stuffed Pizza was living in Streator, Illinois. We discovered a small restaurant in a strip mall that housed our Kroger and K-Mart, called Savoia’s. And what a discovery it was! This deep dish style was extra deep, like a couple of inches deep. The pizza is then topped with cheese, lots and lots of cheese and your other toppings are then added. Next comes another layer of crust, a thinner layer, and finally it’s sauced. When we discovered this place we kept it as our special place. There weren’t many choices of places to eat in Streator, so we kept this as a place we would take our out of town visitors and everyone fell in love with stuffed pizza. This style originated in Chicago in the mid 70’s. Nancy’s Pizza and Giordano’s Pizza were the first to sell this style. The founder, Rocco Palese created this after his mother’s recipe for scarciedda, an Italian Easter Pie from his hometown of Potenza. The Giordano brothers worked for Palese as cooks and split off on their own in the early 70’s.

As I said above, I am going in order of my tastes because it’s my blog and I am trying to hypnotize you and convince you non believers that some styles of pizza are best enjoyed a few times a year. So, now let’s discuss Chicago Thin Crust Pizza. This is a very typical pizza across the Midwest. Any fresh made pizza you get in a bar/tavern or your local pizza joint serves this style. It has a thin, crunchy almost pastry like crust. It’s topped with a highly seasoned sauce, your toppings, and cheese. This pie is also cut into a grid or a “party cut” style, not your traditionaly slice. It’s a run of the mill style, but some places can really knock this one out of the park. My personal favorite, Mario’s Pizza in Pontiac, IL.

The Chicago Style Deep Dish was invented at Pizzeria Uno in 1943. This pizza is far from any Italian roots. The crust on this pizza is distinct in that it has cornmeal in it. The crust is also parbaked, which gives it a greater spring. The cheese layer is applied, then the meat, the vegetables, and finally the sauce. One location, Gino’s East will even give you the option of broken sausage or a sausage patty which covers the entire pizza. Beside’s Gino’s East, Lou Malnati’s is also a famous location for this Deep Dish. One note that I must mention, when Anthony Bourdain made his Chicago visit, he went to Burt’s Place in Morton Grove for their deep dish. The freshest of the fresh ingredients were used and the owner, Burt Katz has been turning out pizza’s for over 20 years.

Our next style is Sicilian Style. Basically it’s a rectangular pizza, however traditionally the cheese goes under the sauce. Also in a traditional Sicilian there is a strong presence of garlic. Don’t confuse this with the Chicago thin and it’s grid cut. This Sicilian is baked in a rectangular pan. The crust is typical of New York Style.

I remember Mom talking about a pizza that my Great Grandmother used to make when they came to America from Sicily, that to me sounded like what some would consider Focaccia, but it was thinner. This is known as Grandma Pizza or Nonna Pizza. It’s a simple pizza really, a thin layer of dough stretched into an oiled, square/rectangular “Sicilian” pan. It’s then topped sparingly with shredded mozzarella, crushed uncooked canned tomatoes or fresh crushed, chopped garlic and Olive Oil. It’s then baked until the top bubbles and the bottom is crisp. Ahh, I can smell the garlic roasting, filling the air with that distinct smell now. When I walk into someone’s home and make the comment that it smells like my Grandmother’s apt, that is truly a compliment.

States in the New England region of the U.S. often conflict with one another when it comes to certain things, and pizza is one of them. And in particular, New Haven, Connecticut, has their style of pizza, New Haven Style Apizza. Now, like New York Neapolitan, this style is also baked in a Coal Oven with fresh ingredients. The distinctive difference is the oblong shape and served on a sheet of waxed papper atop a plastic cafeteria tray. The one thing that New Haven may be able to claim is the origin of the Clam Pizza. I can hear it now, “ewww”, “yuck”, “blah”, etc., but have you tried it? Garlic, Clams, Cheese, and Olive Oil, how can you go wrong with that? There is one place in Chicago that serves New Haven style, Piece Brewery and Pizzeria. You read that correctly, brewery. And they have some fantastic brews, both regular and seasonals. And their pizza is consistently awesome!

Ok, ok, I said above that there are more than 20 regional varieties of pizza in the U.S. and there are only 10 listed above. But I’m kind of antsy to get this out there and not completely bore you to death with one blog. So, I will follow this with another blog on the other varieties of pizza. I’m hoping to stir some passion and debate, it’s happened already with my preference of Neapolitan and New York style pizza over Deep Dish. It’s all a matter of choice and it’s all within our reach. So, branch out and try something new. I recommend attempting the grilled pizza at home. Anyway, if I don’t get the second blog out prior to, everyone have a Merry Christmas!