As A.A. Gill describes it, pizza is "the one truly international dish, the only edible thing that is understood in every language from Icelandic to Burmese, from Inuit to Tagalog. It has grown from its origin as a simple unleavened paste roasted crisp, with tomato, oil, rosemary and perhaps a little mozzarella, a food for the very, very poor, and become a frisbee that travelled around the world."
We're a long way away now from the simple flatbreads of our ancestors, and a good few hundred years on from the Naples chef who, so the legend goes, added mozzarella and basil to the tomato base and served up the pre-cursor of the modern dish to Queen Margherita of Savoy.
It's the Neapolitan style that is most common today, certainly in the UK. It's the 'traditional' crisp based but slightly chewy pizza favoured by outfits as diverse in quality as Franco Manca and Pizza Express. With the exception of aberrations such as Pizza Hut and Papa Johns, most places will go for a variant of the Neapolitan. Wood fired in a brick oven (for authenticity) it's even got its own organisation to control its origin, The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, a shadowy organisation dedicated to the protection and dissemination of the only 'true' pizza.
It's the Neapolitan style that is most common today, certainly in the UK. It's the 'traditional' crisp based but slightly chewy pizza favoured by outfits as diverse in quality as Franco Manca and Pizza Express. With the exception of aberrations such as Pizza Hut and Papa Johns, most places will go for a variant of the Neapolitan. Wood fired in a brick oven (for authenticity) it's even got its own organisation to control its origin, The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, a shadowy organisation dedicated to the protection and dissemination of the only 'true' pizza.
"The pizze must have certain specific characteristics to be vera pizza Napoletana, or true Neapolitan pizza. The dough must be hand pressed with Italian flour and the precise amount of water. The tomatoes are always Italian, usually San Marzano style. And the mozzarella cheese (bufala Mozzarella) is that from water buffalo in the region between Napoli and Roma. These are the ingredients with practiced hands and the special high temperature wood burning oven that make authentic pizza Napoletana." Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana
Not to be outdone, the Romans have two styles bearing their name. The Roman (or Lazio) style seen most often is served 'restaurant style' as a round with an ultra thin and crispy base, almost more a flatbread than a pizza. They also pioneered the pizza rustica or pizza al taglio, served in the working class suburbs of the city. Instead of being served in round pies, the thicker base is baked on metal trays and cut into paired squares, then quickly reheated to order.
The humble, portable pie was an obvious foodstuff for the economic migrants into the States. Easy to recreate and most importantly cheap, it quickly spread through the ex-pat populations of New York and Chicago, both of whom lay claim to their own unique styles developed and finessed over generations. That being said, it might have stayed as a niche taste if transit around the world necessitated by World War II hadn't also hastened the spread of the pizza into the States. Odd to believe, but it didn't really enter the wider public consciousness until after the war.
Chicago style is deep pan, a Neapolitan base baked in a lipped pan to give a flan shape filled with toppings. New York style, popular in enclaves such as Brooklyn from the early 1900's, spread inward and upper class over the years and is now found on every street in the Five Boroughs and far beyond. A thin crispy hand tossed pizza served from huge wheels with a few toppings. Served by the slice, eaten on the run. The famous Noo Yoik names such as Ray's Pizzeria, Grimaldi's, Lombardi's (one of the first, founded in 1905) and John's of Bleeker Street pull in the tourists, but nowadays vie with the more upmarket pizzerias for the local's dollar. The main variant served in legendary pie shops such as Brooklyn's Di Fara, Dominic and Artichoke Basille's in the East Village the Sicilian style. It's similar to the Roman al taglio, a thick doughy based square slathered in sauce, topped with pecorino and anchovies.
The humble, portable pie was an obvious foodstuff for the economic migrants into the States. Easy to recreate and most importantly cheap, it quickly spread through the ex-pat populations of New York and Chicago, both of whom lay claim to their own unique styles developed and finessed over generations. That being said, it might have stayed as a niche taste if transit around the world necessitated by World War II hadn't also hastened the spread of the pizza into the States. Odd to believe, but it didn't really enter the wider public consciousness until after the war.
Chicago style is deep pan, a Neapolitan base baked in a lipped pan to give a flan shape filled with toppings. New York style, popular in enclaves such as Brooklyn from the early 1900's, spread inward and upper class over the years and is now found on every street in the Five Boroughs and far beyond. A thin crispy hand tossed pizza served from huge wheels with a few toppings. Served by the slice, eaten on the run. The famous Noo Yoik names such as Ray's Pizzeria, Grimaldi's, Lombardi's (one of the first, founded in 1905) and John's of Bleeker Street pull in the tourists, but nowadays vie with the more upmarket pizzerias for the local's dollar. The main variant served in legendary pie shops such as Brooklyn's Di Fara, Dominic and Artichoke Basille's in the East Village the Sicilian style. It's similar to the Roman al taglio, a thick doughy based square slathered in sauce, topped with pecorino and anchovies. We're just not going to mention Pizza Hut, alright?
Interesting pizza-based links:
American Pie: American Heritage - Hanna Miller
Pizza, pasta and red sauce: Italian or American? Donna R. Gabaccia, University of Minnesota
Pizza: A Global History - Carol F. Helstosky
A.A. Gill in The Sunday Times on Pizza East
The Association Verace Pizza Napoletana
New York Pizza - Is water the secret? - Sarah Gilbert
Interesting pizza-based links:
American Pie: American Heritage - Hanna Miller
Pizza, pasta and red sauce: Italian or American? Donna R. Gabaccia, University of Minnesota
Pizza: A Global History - Carol F. Helstosky
A.A. Gill in The Sunday Times on Pizza East
The Association Verace Pizza Napoletana
New York Pizza - Is water the secret? - Sarah Gilbert
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