There are many types of pizza in the U.S. Many of them were created and became popular in certain areas of the country. That area quickly became part of the name used to describe the pizza style. The local pizzas thrive in the areas where the name came from, but have also spread throughout the country to please other palates.
Chicago-Style Pizza
Chicago-style pizza is much more like a pizza cake than a pizza pie. The pizza is baked in a thick pan so that the crust is three inches thick or more. It's also backwards from traditional pizza in that the thick, chunky sauce is piled up above the toppings. The sauce and the thick crust shine with this pizza and the toppings are second.
New York-Style Pizza
New York-style pizza is the opposite of Chicago-style pizza. Instead of thick and saucy, New York-style pizza is thin and cheesy. The crust is made from high-gluten flour, making it chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Pizza makers usually hand toss the crust. Little sauce tops the pizza, but plenty of cheese is spread around. When cooked, the pizza is cut into wide slices that people eat by folding the slice in half and eating it like a sandwich.
St. Louis Style Pizza
The crust of St. Louis-style pizza does not include yeast. It is also spread thin. When baked, the crust becomes hard and doesn't have the chewiness of New York-style crust. It closely resembles a cracker. Traditionally, St. Louis-style pizza uses a special processed cheese called provel, but it isn't available in many places outside the area. If you want to try it, just mix provolone, Swiss, and cheddar cheeses together. Another difference from thin crust New York-style pizza is that the St. Louis-style pizza is cut into squares instead of triangular slices.
Detroit-Style Pizza
Detroit-style pizza is a mix of Chicago-style and Sicilian pizza. Traditional Sicilian pizza is square in shape instead of round. The same goes for Detroit-style pizza. Like Chicago-style pizza, Detroit-style pizza is thick with toppings in the middle and the sauce on top. Detroit-style pizza crust is twice-baked and smothered in oil to make it crispy and buttery while also chewy.
New Haven-Style Pizza
New Haven-style pizza is notable because it barely resembles the usual pizza fare in the U.S. It is simply a crust with sauce and pecorino romano cheese sprinkled on top. It does not use melt cheeses like mozzarella and avoids excessive toppings. The crust is baked until the edges char to give it a nutty flavor.
All of these pizzas are popular in the area they were invented and some are making the rounds around the country, perhaps at places like Greg's Pizza.
Share9 January 2015
As soon as I started traveling a lot for work, I realized that I was going to be eating out--a lot. Instead of just visiting the same old fast-food restaurants that I had grown up with, I decided that it would be great to explore exciting new restaurants. I started small, by going to little places that had earned high ratings, and then I worked my way up to some of the more fancy establishments in the area. It was really great to see what I was able to find, and I was super pleased to explore so many new kinds of foods. Check out this blog for tips on enjoying new restaurants.
