Pizza

[PhroX]

I always get confused when Americans talk pizza - even disregarding that it's not a type of pie, all these references to US cities for styles of pizza throws me. I like mine, well, I guess Italian style - the way you get it from a proper Italian restaurant as opposed to the big pizza chains (well Pizza Express does it pretty well, but Dominoes, Pizza Hut and so on are bad). Stonebaked, thin base, not too much tomato, good bit of mozzarella, then as a topping piles of Parma ham, maybe a bit of assorted greenery with black pepper and grated Parmesan on top.

 

[Oerdin]

There is no Italian style pizza. The two main pizza styles found in Italy are either Neapolitan or Roman. They are very different pizzas.

 

[PhroX]

I'm not at all surprised by that. I was merely going by my experience on pizza in Italian restaurants in the UK

And having had a quick look on google images, both styles look nice. Although "Roman style pizza" had a Dominoes advert on the first page, so maybe I'd lean towards Neapolitan.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I've seen restaurants claim a plain cheese pizza to be 'margherita'. :-/

 

[Takhisis]

I've seen restaurants claim a plain cheese pizza to be 'margherita'. :-/

Why hast thou not burned down these heretical restaurants yet?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Because they were food trucks and I'm counting on relentless LA traffic to save the public.

 

[Oerdin]

I'm not at all surprised by that. I was merely going by my experience on pizza in Italian restaurants in the UK

And having had a quick look on google images, both styles look nice. Although "Roman style pizza" had a Dominoes advert on the first page, so maybe I'd lean towards Neapolitan.

The two biggest differences are the shape (Roman is square pan cut into squares) and the use of olive oil (Roman has it both added to the dough and the bottom of the pan making the bottom of the crust crispy because it was fried a little where as Neapolitan isn't even allowed to use a pan much less olive oil). The toppings tend to be a lot more varied on a Roman pie too plus the crust tends to be medium in thickness anf kind of yeasty while down south there is no yeast added.

 

[PhroX]

Interesting to know. Definitely more of a Neapolitan fan from your description.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

The logo Pizza Pizza is because for 20-30 years Little Caesar's offered two pizza for the price of one. It was really low quality stuff but parents would buy ot for their kids birthday parties.

I know that's the official position...but do you think it is purely coincidence that a start-up pizza company in Detroit opted for "pizza pizza" as a slogan for their two for one deal when there was a successful pizza company using that for a name right across the river? I may be overly cynical, but it strikes me as suspect.

 

[civvver]

iceberg lettuce is just water basically. Romaine lettuce is the only way to go. I love spinach on salads as well. Not sure I'd put it on pizza though.

Steer clear of romaine for the time being.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ecoli-bacteria-romaine-lettuce-centers-disease-control-warning/

 

[yung.carl.jung]

But hey, let's see, if you smoke you'll a) have cancer and b) get nagged by your girlfriend. So why do you smoke?

That depends heavily on what you put in your peace pipe my pale skinned friend *puffs smugly*

The two biggest differences are the shape (Roman is square pan cut into squares) and the use of olive oil (Roman has it both added to the dough and the bottom of the pan making the bottom of the crust crispy because it was fried a little where as Neapolitan isn't even allowed to use a pan much less olive oil). The toppings tend to be a lot more varied on a Roman pie too plus the crust tends to be medium in thickness anf kind of yeasty while down south there is no yeast added.

I just spent two weeks in Rome this year, ate exclusively at hole-in-the-wall local restaurants and not a single Pizza was square or cut into squares. I have heard of square Roman Pizza, but it's definitely not the only kind popular in Rome. I was expecting to find it everywhere, but that wasn't the case.

What would probably confuse most people is that Romans often don't use tomato sauce, but rather just cheese. I've come to really appreciate that style, it's grown on me.

On a completely unrelated note.. The jewish-italian food in Rome is beyond amazing. Completely blew me away. Especially their way of doing Artichokes, my god.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

What would probably confuse most people is that Romans often don't use tomato sauce, but rather just cheese. I've come to really appreciate that style, it's grown on me.

My local pizza place does a Roman style sauceless pizza. It's still the same round pizza crust as their regular pizza so I don't know how "Roman" it is, but it's really good. I was surprised. I order it with extra cheese and no toppings.

 

[PhroX]

I've had "white pizza" (no tomato sauce) a couple of times, and it's good. Probably prefer a "conventional" pizza, but it's nice to have some variety.

 

[warpus]

i've never ever had a white pizza, because it just seems weird. But I love chicken alfredo, so maybe I should just try it

 

[Takhisis]

Because they were food trucks and I'm counting on relentless LA traffic to save the public.

Is it that reliable?

That depends heavily on what you put in your peace pipe my pale skinned friend *puffs smugly*

I am not pale-skinned. It is summer here and I look more like an insolated shrimp than anything else.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I just spent two weeks in Rome this year, ate exclusively at hole-in-the-wall local restaurants and not a single Pizza was square or cut into squares. I have heard of square Roman Pizza, but it's definitely not the only kind popular in Rome. I was expecting to find it everywhere, but that wasn't the case.

What would probably confuse most people is that Romans often don't use tomato sauce, but rather just cheese. I've come to really appreciate that style, it's grown on me.

Ditto for me, I was in Italy for about 2 weeks (including a few days in Rome) and I ate pizza at different places almost once a day, I never saw a pizza cut into square slices. I did however see a lot of pizzas that were more round-ish than the perfectly round ones we get in the US. It seemed like the guys just kind-of spread the dough out for the correct size, and then whatever shape it happened to be in was how it went in the oven... no pans... always just flat against the brick. Very different from how big pizza chains do it, although you can find plenty of fancy places and mom-and-pops that do it that way.

I once worked as a delivery boy for a place in New Jersey that did their pizza that way... and that was the first time I saw pizza made that way... they even used the fresh mozzarella that had to be cut into squares and laid on the pizza before cooking. The boss explained to me that fresh mozzarella is too moist to be shredded as it will just reform into a block. He even demonstrated it for me.

That place made good pizza. But the stuff in Italy was really special...

 

[onejayhawk]

I know of someone that put actual bricks in his gas oven for baking bread. For pizza he put on a layer of foil. Sourdough pizza is to kill for.

I make do with a black iron pizza stone. They are only about $25.

 

[Camikaze]

It's trite to say that the Chicago stuff isn't actually pizza (however nice it might be), but it's kinda bizarre to me how Americans seem to just accept that NY style is pizza, when it's clearly not. It's like some sort of bakery good or an open-faced toasted sandwich.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

NY pizza is one of the more disgusting things I've ever eaten. Cardboard crust, too much sauce and no toppings. What a disappointment.

 

[shadowplay]

Famous Ray's in NYC was the best pizza I've ever eaten.