quote:

And pineapple on pizza is heresy!

Not that I care what people put on their pizza, but I am 100% with you.

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Originally posted by 1s1k:
I always thought Chicago style was a deep dish with sauce on the top. When I hear thin crust I always think of St.Louis.

St. Louis uses that fake plastic provel.

quote:

Originally posted by patw:

quote:

And pineapple on pizza is heresy!

Not that I care what people put on their pizza, but I am 100% with you.

Yes! Add chicken and barbecue sauce to the fail list too. Pizza needs the acidic flavor of tomato sauce to make it proper.

We've got one of those "Chicago Pizza with a Twist" places about a mile from my house. It opened about a year or so ago. I went once, ordered a small "Butter Chicken Pizza" to find out what Indian Pizza tasted like.

It tasted like Butter Chicken. On a wafer.

I haven't been back.

Being a born and raised a Chicagoan, having traveled all over this country, and New York. (and parts of the World thanks to our favorite Uncle Sam) AND being a lover of fine pizza, allow me to break this down to yous [said in my Chicago accent]

Under the category of PIZZA there are 4 (One- Two- Tree- FOUR) main categories-

(Im tossin' around this word "THIN"- it's THIN! NO MORE than 1/4 inch under the toppings! That's for New York and Chicago.)


NEW YORK-
Thin and soft (almost bread-like) crust under the toppings, the edge is thicker and crispy. Crust is hand tossed. Cheese on the bottom, sauce on top. True New York Pizza cuts are served in a wide cut slice (pie like) and folded in half to eat one handed (edge to edge of the crust, because if you fold it tip to crust, you're a moron, eat it with your hands, because if you break out a fork and knife, New Yorkers are gonna look at you like you're a moron or you aint from there.). Folding it in half, hold it on an angle also lets the grease to collect and drip off. (again, you gotta do it one handed, unless you're a kid... )



CHICAGO- And it's two sub-categories
The THIN CRUST- Again, hand tossed. Thin (slightly thinner than New York style) and firmer crust under the toppings, thicker edge for a noticeable "crunch" but not as hard as the crust of Italian bread. Golden to dark golden brown edges and at times, you'll see black parts that look burnt, don't worry, it's all good. Sauce on the bottom, cheese, then toppings. Traditional Chicago Pizza is cut into squares, eaten by hand (You use a fork and knife, they's lookin' at you like you're crazy or you aint from this country). (Someone is always gonna get that "little corner", don't worry that little corner doesn't count as a whole slice) The grease, It's OK, pat the top of pizza with a paper towel or a GOOD napkin to get the extra grease off (Don't go crazy! You use a crappy napkin that leaves little chunks of paper on the pizza, a quick smack upside the head is commin from who yous you got da pizza with! Don't go "smushin" up all the toppings when you go gettin up all the grease wit da napkin either! You get a smack for that one too. Dis technique can also be applied to New York Style pizza as well, but the same rules apply.)


The above two styles are usually COOKED. Pizza oven is fine. We don't have time for that fancy wood fired brick stove stuff, that's coming up later.


The DEEP DISH / STUFFED / PAN- Not for the weak of heart, or the lactose intolerant. (Seriously, If you gotta bad ticker, problem with high cholesterols- the salad bar if over there --->. If you can't handle the cheese; just go, leave now, trust us! It's gonna save you a day shittin' your brains out.) This pizza is cut like New Your Style (pie like) and can be eaten with a fork and knife or by hand. One or two slices are the norm, tree if yous hungry, four or more and your nickname is usually "Fat Tony", "Tiny" or "Lil John" - "Bubba" for yous people down sout.

The Crust- Hand tossed, then put into a PAN about 2 inches high. The crust is slightly thicker, and more bread-like, but the bottom is gotta be crispy. If it's not crispy, it's gonna turn into a gooey mess.

The Stuffing- You're talkin' 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches of CHEESE. Inside the cheese are the toppings, don't be surprised it the toppings are on the top as well. The THREE acceptable ways of layers are, from the bottom up:
Crust, sauce, cheese and toppings, sauce (It's OK if there's some toppings on top of the sauce)
Crust, cheese and toppings, sauce (Again, it's OK if there's some toppings on top of the sauce)
The third acceptable way is either of the above, with a definitive layer of toppings in between cheese. (See the thing about the toppings on top of the sauce)


(There's another category here- The THICK or MEDIUM, which is just a thinner version of the above - usually about an inch thick)

The above style pizza is baked, it's gonna take at least an hour.


The commonly acceptable toppings for the New Your or Chicago style pizzas are-
Toppings: Simple- Tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni, peppers, onion, basil, maybe some roasted garlic if you're not goin' out with your Lady later on that night. Anchovies if you're "THAT GUY". You're allowed to sprinkle on dried oregano, Dried basil, dried red pepper flakes, garlic powder or Parmesan cheese. (they might let you sprinkle on some hot sauce, but only on your own slice)

The commonly acceptable nicknames for the above pizza are- Pizza, A slice, pie, za, or the name of the joint you're getting the pizza from. "You wanna go get some Baraccos?"
Chicago, there is a delineation. We'll ask if you want to grab a pizza or grab some deep dish.
*** I've talked to Pizza cooks and Chefs all over, there's something in the water in New York and in Chicago that just makes the crust different than every where else. I dont know what it is... Filtering, minerals... lead... But it just makes the dough different than every where else ***


CALIFORNIA-
Crust is thin, crispy, and will have air pockets in it. The sauce is laid on thinner that New York & Chicago, then the toppings. This pizza is usually cooked in one of those fancy wood fired brick ovens and the pizza is places directly on the hot stone, and turned as not to burn. (Chicago and New York aint got time for all that)
Toppings- This is where things go sideways. It's all fair game. Smoked chicken, pineapple, bbq chicken, bbq sausage, smoked prosciutto, fresh thai basil, fish, tofu... you name it.


The forth and final category is EVERYTHING ELSE.
I've been to Thailand where some guy attempted to give me and Direnzio (A New Yorker) literally a piece of pitta bread, ketchup, and slices of (what we assumed was) hot dog on top. Tossed a handful of Bhat on the table and walked out without touching it.


I will say, there's a phenomenal place in Vernal, Utah. I can't remember the name, but it's an Italian Joint, East side of town, north side of the street (US 40), next to a Dinosaur themed hotel. I would honestly go way out of my way for that Pizza again. That guy KNOWS what he's doing!

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Originally posted by arcwelder:
My wife grew up in Chicago.

Deep dish pizza is Chicago pizza, because it is (was) unique to Chicago. At least good deep dish is still unique to chicago. To say that "real" chicago pizza is thin crust, is a bit boring don't you think? That just means chicago has the same pizza as everywhere else...

Deep dish is delicious, why be in a hurry to disown it? Uno's is tourist/commercial pizza, not real deep dish.

Lived in Schaumburg for a couple of years....had 2 Lou's within 10 minutes....


Bad thing was after Lou Manatti's my wife would not touch any other pizza.

Which is funny as pizza in her home country of Ukraine is basically bread with weird toppings.