PIZZA 101: CRASH COURSE IN PIZZA TYPES
If you’re over the age of, well, 10, odds are, you’ve eaten your fair share of pizza in your lifetime. (And, if you haven’t: what are you waiting for?)
With said eating experience, it’s likely led you to the realization that there are many different types of pizza — and you may like some more than others.
“I like a crust that’s been through a bit of hell, surviving a blazing hot oven, exiting a little dishevelled with leopard-y char marks, some bubbling and some crispness to the outside and a bit of air bubbles and chew inside,”
Mia Stainsby, a food writer for The Vancouver Sun, says.
“I’m not a thin-crust girl, and I find Neapolitan style is too soft in the middle.”
Not sure which one’s which when it comes to pizza types?
Here’s a crash course in the five main types of pies, as outlined by Stainsby, who has admittedly eaten hundreds of pizza slices in her lifetime, meaning she know what’s she’s talking about when it comes to pies.
NEAPOLITAN
“To be authentic, they have to be made under the strict guidelines of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana regarding type of flour, tomatoes, cheese as well as its thickness, how long it’s baked and at what temperature it’s baked in a wood fire oven. It’s thin and soft in the middle and should be folded to eat.”
CHICAGO
“It’s a deep-dish pizza with the crust coming up the side of a rectangular pan, allowing for height when it comes to adding toppings like tomato sauce, cheese, ground beef or sausage and sliced vegetables. It’s a pizza pie more than any other.”
NEWYORK
“Usually, it’s a thin-crust pizza cut into wedges to eat as street food. It’s like a Neapolitan-style without following all the rules and standards.”
SICILIAN
“In Sicily, it would be called sfincione or ‘thick sponge,’ and the base, usually rectangular, is like focaccia. It’s traditionally topped with onions, chopped anchovies, tomatoes and herbs and perhaps sprinkled with a Provolone-like cheese. If the pan is oiled well, the bottom develops a nice crisp crust.”
CALIFORNIA
“Think Wolfgang Puck. He was one of the Californians who took the thin-crust pizza and tossed out Italian traditions, and they went rogue with creative ideas. Toppings tended to be local, healthy and fresh.”