Slice: A List of Regional Pizza Styles http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/01/a-list-of-regional-pizza-styl... Slice - slice.seriouseats.com Hola, Homeslice! You need a Serious Eats account to comment on Slice. Log In or register to add your 2¢. A List of Regional Pizza Styles Posted by Adam Kuban, January 24, 2008 at 6:00 PM [http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/01/a-list-of-regional-pizza-styles.html]Last week on 1194 Serious Eats [http://www.seriouseats.com/], community member HeartofGlass diggs [http://www.seriouseats.com/user/profile/HeartofGlass] asked: "How many different kinds of regional digg it varations of pizza exist? [http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2008/01/how-many-different-kinds-of-regional-variatio.html]" I figured I'd compile a list of all the styles I've eaten or heard or read about. Sorry it took so long, HeartofGlass. It's a long list, and it appears after the jump. [] NEAPOLITAN Small (about 10-inch diameter), thin-crust pizzas made in a wood-burning oven. Usually have a puffy "cornicione" (lip or end crust) and marked by use of the freshest ingredients applied sparingly for a careful balance. Perhaps the most popular is the pizza Margherita—topped with fresh sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella or fior di latte, and a little bit of basil. Other traditional variations include the marinara (just sauce and maybe a sprinkling of an aged cheese) or the Napoletana (a marinara pie with anchovies). This style, of course, is known the world over. Related Naples Pizza Photo Gallery [http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2006/02/photo_gallery_robert_sietsema_visits_naples.html] [Slice] Naples: Pizza at Its Source [http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2006/02/a_slice_of_heaven_naples_pizza_at_its_source.html] [Slice] [] NEW YORK–NEAPOLITAN Once the Italian immigrants brought their Naples-style pies to the States, it evolved a bit in the Italian neighborhoods of New York to something I've seen referred to as "New York–Neapolitan." This is basically what all the coal-oven [http://slice.seriouseats.com/tags/Coal-Oven] pizzerias of New York serve. It follows the tenets of Neapolitan style in that it's thin-crusted, cooked in an ultra-hot oven, and uses a judicious amount of cheese and sauce (sauce which is typically fresh San Marzano tomatoes, as in Naples). It deviates from Naples-style in that it's typically larger, a tad thinner, and more crisp. New York–Neapolitan is rarely found outside New York City. However, I believe this style eventually evolved into ... [] NEW YORK–STYLE The round, thin-crust stuff that most people in the U.S. think of as "pizza." And don't anyone give me guff on this. Go ahead and think of a pizza. Nine out of ten of you thought of something round and more on the thin side than the thick side, right? Even the major chain stuff, with all their variations in crust style, I'd say that their default pizza is closer to regular NY-style than, say, deep dish or Sicilian or what not. A true New York–style pizza ideally has a crust that's at once crisp and chewy. Can be topped with whatever you want but is best with only one or two toppings applied (so crust remains crisp). New Yorkers generally fold it while eating. Also referred to in New York as a "regular" pie or a "regular" slice. The default regular slice is a "plain" slice, i.e., no toppings, only cheese. [] SICILIAN-STYLE A rectangular pizza with a thick crust. Cheese may or may not appear under the sauce, though it's my understanding that Sicilian traditionally used to feature the cheese under the sauce. Often marked by the strong presence of garlic. Also known as a "square slice," because it's cut into squares (or rectangular shapes close enough to square to merit the name). Usually the same price or a quarter more than a regular slice, so get this if you're broke and hungry. Doesn't seem to be as popular in New York as the regular slices and pies, primarily because only a few places really do square pies right. Those places are treasures and should be appreciated. [] GRANDMA-STYLE (AKA 'NONNA PIZZA') Essentially a thin-crust Sicilian. I've gotten guff for saying that in the past, so if any of you out there want to correct me and argue for a workable definition of this style, please comment. It was sort of a Long Island thing until the past couple of years, when it started making inroads into the boroughs of New York City. Typically has a fresh, lightly seasoned sauce. [] NEW HAVEN–STYLE Cooked in a coal oven, has a very crisp crust that is thin but still typically thicker than New York pizzas. Marked by a characteristic oblong shape, often served on a sheet of waxed paper atop a plastic cafeteria tray. Thought to be the place where clam pizza was developed (Frank Pepe's). The two biggies here are Sally's and Pepe's, but there are others (notably Modern) with their adherents. New Haven partisans often argue that pizza was invented here, but I 1 of 11 27/01/08 08:35 PM Slice: A List of Regional Pizza Styles http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/01/a-list-of-regional-pizza-styl... believe NYC has them beat on this claim. [] GRILLED PIZZA Grilled pizza was invented in Providence, Rhode Island, by George Germon at Al Forno [http://www.alforno.com/]. Grilled pizza has a thin crust and is cooked quickly—directly on the grate of a grill. Contrary to what you'd think, it does not fall through the grate, instead setting up quickly over the intense heat before being flipped and topped with sauce and thinly sliced toppings. (Toppings must be thin so they heat through in the short time—typically a minute a side. Sausage or anything needing thorough cooking need to be prepped beforehand.) Grilled pizza has since moved beyond Providence—there are at least five such pizzerias in New York City, and the in the last three or so years we've seen this dish move from obscurity to backyard grills nationwide, thanks to the annual grilling coverage in magazines and newspaper food sections that crops up around Memorial Day. Related Grilled Pizza archives [http://slice.seriouseats.com/tags/grilled%20pizza] [Slice] Grilled pizza [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grilled_pizza] [Wikipedia] [] BAR PIZZA Ed Levine goes into this in his book, and you can read an excerpt about bar pizza on Slice [http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2007/06/a_slice_of_heaven_bar_pizza.html]. Ed says, "It's usually very thin-crusted to (I'm guessing) leave plenty of room in the eater's stomach for beer. It's baked in a gas oven that may have replaced a coal oven if the bar is old enough. Bar pizza is made with decent, commercial, aged mozzarella and comes topped with canned mushrooms, standard pepperoni and, if you're lucky, house-made sausage." The bar pizza Ed describes and that I've had is very similar to something I call "Midwest-style pizza [#midweststyle]." [] TRENTON TOMATO PIES In the capital city of New Jersey, pizza does not exist. Here, they're known as "tomato pies." As Slice correspondent Rich DeFabritus wrote in his review of the two dueling DeLorenzo's [http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2005/01/delorenzos_toma.php] there, "There is a body of myth and lore attempting to distinguish tomato pie from pizza. The generally accepted explanation is that a tomato pie is built as follows: dough, cheese, toppings, and then sauce." Trenton tomato pies would then seem to have much in common with a sauce-last grandma pie or a Detroit-style pizza, but tomato pies are round. [] OLD FORGE–STYLE I know the least about Old Forge–style pizza but am including it here in the interest of providing a wide range of styles. On Pizzamaking.com, user IlPizzaiolo describes it thusly [http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1082.0.html]: "My friend studied a type of pizza from Pennsylvania that sounds close to what they are talking about. It is like a medium-thin Sicilian dough, the pan oiled with peanut oil, so the dough sort of got a fried consistancy like pan pizza from Pizza Hut. The cheese [was 100% Wisconsin white cheddar.]" I think I need to take a three-day weekend and investigate Old Forge pizza. [] DETROIT-STYLE I don't think I was even aware of a "Detroit-style" pizza until digging in and doing some research on this topic, but Wikipedia has an entry on it [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit-style_pizza], where it is so described: "... very close to the Sicilian-style pizzas, or is also known in other places as 'Italian bakery style pizza'. It is a square pizza, with a thick deep-dish crust (sometimes twice baked), and with sauce put on the pizza last." Related West Michigan Pizza: Fricano's and Mr. Scrib's [http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2006/12/west-michigan-pizza-fricanos-mr-scribs.html] [Slice] Detroit-style pizza [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit-style_pizza] [Wikipedia] [] DEEP DISH I don't know if I need to elaborate much on deep dish, since, like New York–style, you already know what it's about. And I'm not trying to knock it here, but it is more like a casserole than, say, focaccia. It's cooked in a deep pan, with a deep, thick, buttery crust, and a chunky tomato sauce.