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Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese. I remember watching something once where the chef of a fancy pizzeria said that the most important thing in pizza i

Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese. I remember watching something once where the chef of a fancy pizzeria said that the most important thing in pizza is the bread: it should taste great without any topping. Then the sauce and finally everything else. I've had a great vegan pizza once and between bread, sauce and toppings, it tasted like great Italian-style pizza. Sure, a sprinkle of cheese would have made it better still, but the point is it tasted great and it tasted like pizza. Sure, it doesn't make for a great American-style pizza, which is all about overloading on cheese (and having rather meh tasting bread typically...), but that's not all there is to pizza around the world.

kibwen 6y ago
And some pizza doesn't have any cheese at all, such as pizza marinara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_marinara https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_marinara), which is rare in the US but was pretty common growing up in the Italian portions of Western Pennsylvania.
- hated 6y ago
  Cheese free pizza is a regression. It reminds of native Hawaiians becoming addicted to SPAM after living on it throughout World War 2. Nowadays many Hawaiians take pride in their cultural heritage of SPAM recipes (and heart disease?) Search for images of "hawaiian spam recipe"
- alchemism 6y ago
  Tomato Pies baked by Italians in Philadelphia are quite good, also.
- astura 6y ago
  Supposedly a "plain" pizza in New Haven has only a bit of pecorino romano on it - gotta specifically ask for "mozz" if you want it.
  - acdha 6y ago
    It’s called apizza there, and a plain pie is surprisingly good: the places which do it (we liked Modern & Sallie’s) have really flavorful sauces which carry the day.
gjs278 6y ago
most italian pizza is trash compared to american. you’re eating a flatbread.
thelean12 6y ago
I grew up on pizza in the NYC/NJ area. The Italian styles with minimal cheese are a disappointment to me. Many are able to get the crust and sauce perfect, which is no small feat, and then it feels like they just gave up with the cheese. Pizza in NYC usually not only has great crust and sauce, but it also has plenty of cheese. They don't "overload" it like many places outside the area. (I am purposely separating "Pizza in NYC" from "NYC Style" because people around the US suck at emulating it).
- dkersten 6y ago
  > The Italian styles with minimal cheese are a disappointment to me. Have you had one in Italy? Personally, I quite like American style pizza, but the Italian style I still find has a more interesting flavour profile and therefore I tend to prefer it.
  - hated 6y ago
    As far as I am concerned the Neapolitan pizza is the only real pizza. Compare it to the archetypical Dominoes Margherita pizza. American variants of "pizza" definitely deliver melted cheese, tomato sauce, and heated bread in large quantities but the layers of flavor that you find in a faithful reproduction of Neapolitan pizza to the Italian standard are completely missing. One of the first things Americans will notice in an appropriate Neapolitan pizza is that the cheese does not flood the pizza. Its quantity is reduced to appropriately contrast and compliment the thin layer of tomato sauce. And keep those wet veggies off my pizza.
    - chris-orgmenta 6y ago
      I suppose it's worth noting that the Neapolitan pizza can only have been in existence since 1548 at the earliest, and there are probably more 'real'/traditional pizzas sans tomato
      - _ZeD_ 6y ago
        Sorry its hystory it's just shy of 500 years?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
ineedasername 6y ago
Well, there's a wide variety of "American" style. First two main distinctions: NY/NJ style, which is generally the traditional American pizza. 1" crust, a little crispy, thin body, sauce, lots of cheese. This has a few variations though, most notable "thin crust", which is often cracker-thin and very firm & crispy, the body much thinner too. The other main variety is Chicago deep-dish pizza, which is very thick, anywhere from 1-3 inches deep in my experience. Both of these in their pure forms are difficult to find outside of their regions. But the NY/NJ style is popping up in places around the country. North Carolina Charlotte area for example, as transplants from the North-East find their way to other parts of the country. Then there's the various pizza chains: Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns... most of their pizzas most closely resemble the NY/NJ, but that's putting it loosely. They're sort of like a McDonald's Big Mac compared to a steak house burger, except at least for me, I sometimes just want the Big Mac, but I'd never choose the chain pizza when the alternative is available. Let me be clear though: some people are purists to one type or another and consider other varieties, or chain pizzas, to be blasphemy. But if you put aside ideological considerations, almost all pizza is fundamentally good. You can find bad pizza, but it's harder than finding good pizza. (Let the downvotes roll in from Chicago/NY purists :D )
- chongli 6y ago
  I’d like to chip in with a favourite of mine: Detroit style [1]. A rectangular pizza baked in a greased, shallow pan with cheese that goes all the way to the edge. The bottom comes out golden brown with a fried texture but the base is otherwise very light and fluffy. This gives a crispy/soft/chewy contrast with the sauce/cheese/pepperoni on top. This type of pizza can also handle more sauce and toppings than a New York style without getting soggy. I prefer crispy over soggy any day, and I love toppings. The cheese around the edges comes in contact with the metal pan and turns brown and crunchy, just like you get when the cheese leaks out into the pan with a grilled cheese sandwich. Amazing pizza! If you don’t have a rectangular pan you can also make it in a cast iron skillet. Works extremely well! [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/how-to-make-detroit-style-pizza.html https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/how-to-make-detroit-styl...
  - 6y ago
mycall 6y ago
The worst pizza I ever ate was in Rome. Nothing but bread and some sauce. Tiny too. The bill was not tiny. Nothing beats American-style pizza.
- tigershark 6y ago
  Nothing of the extremely limited options that you tried. It’s funny seeing people discussing authoritatively about things that they even admit to not know at all.
tluyben2 6y ago
> Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese This could be, I am fan of the pizza from Napoli and I have been to the best chefs over there; besides the Marinara, pizzas have plenty of cheese and the Italian people in the restaurants all consistently asked for an extra serving of mozzarella on top. As I try to copy the experience at home in my wood burned oven, I watched and read many italian (Italy and US based) Napoli pizza chefs and ‘rather little cheese’ never was mentioned. Are you talking about a different style or maybe compared to US style pizza? I had pizzas in the US, but I find them generally too heavy; probably because the base is too thick. I can eat 2 napoli ones while only 1/2 a US one (again, based on my very limited pizza experience in the US!). But I saw brilliant chefs on youtube from the US; my business trips did not allow me to travel the US for pizza tasting...
Animats 6y ago
That's the Cheese Mafia. The US dairy industry has a powerful lobby and sales operation, run in association with the US Department of Agriculture. Milk sales have been dropping for years, and the dairy industry has been trying to prop up sales by adding cheese to everything, with considerable success. Over half the Dunkin' Donuts menu has cheese, and they're changing their name to "Dunkin".
nomad543 6y ago
> Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese. Not true, authentic neapoletan pizza is marinara(no cheese) or margheritta (lots of cheese).

kibwen 6y ago

And some pizza doesn't have any cheese at all, such as pizza marinara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_marinara https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_marinara), which is rare in the US but was pretty common growing up in the Italian portions of Western Pennsylvania.

hated 6y ago
Cheese free pizza is a regression. It reminds of native Hawaiians becoming addicted to SPAM after living on it throughout World War 2. Nowadays many Hawaiians take pride in their cultural heritage of SPAM recipes (and heart disease?) Search for images of "hawaiian spam recipe"
alchemism 6y ago
Tomato Pies baked by Italians in Philadelphia are quite good, also.
astura 6y ago
Supposedly a "plain" pizza in New Haven has only a bit of pecorino romano on it - gotta specifically ask for "mozz" if you want it.
- acdha 6y ago
  It’s called apizza there, and a plain pie is surprisingly good: the places which do it (we liked Modern & Sallie’s) have really flavorful sauces which carry the day.

gjs278 6y ago

most italian pizza is trash compared to american. you’re eating a flatbread.

thelean12 6y ago

I grew up on pizza in the NYC/NJ area. The Italian styles with minimal cheese are a disappointment to me. Many are able to get the crust and sauce perfect, which is no small feat, and then it feels like they just gave up with the cheese. Pizza in NYC usually not only has great crust and sauce, but it also has plenty of cheese. They don't "overload" it like many places outside the area. (I am purposely separating "Pizza in NYC" from "NYC Style" because people around the US suck at emulating it).

dkersten 6y ago
> The Italian styles with minimal cheese are a disappointment to me. Have you had one in Italy? Personally, I quite like American style pizza, but the Italian style I still find has a more interesting flavour profile and therefore I tend to prefer it.
- hated 6y ago
  As far as I am concerned the Neapolitan pizza is the only real pizza. Compare it to the archetypical Dominoes Margherita pizza. American variants of "pizza" definitely deliver melted cheese, tomato sauce, and heated bread in large quantities but the layers of flavor that you find in a faithful reproduction of Neapolitan pizza to the Italian standard are completely missing. One of the first things Americans will notice in an appropriate Neapolitan pizza is that the cheese does not flood the pizza. Its quantity is reduced to appropriately contrast and compliment the thin layer of tomato sauce. And keep those wet veggies off my pizza.
  - chris-orgmenta 6y ago
    I suppose it's worth noting that the Neapolitan pizza can only have been in existence since 1548 at the earliest, and there are probably more 'real'/traditional pizzas sans tomato
    - _ZeD_ 6y ago
      Sorry its hystory it's just shy of 500 years?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

ineedasername 6y ago

Well, there's a wide variety of "American" style. First two main distinctions: NY/NJ style, which is generally the traditional American pizza. 1" crust, a little crispy, thin body, sauce, lots of cheese. This has a few variations though, most notable "thin crust", which is often cracker-thin and very firm & crispy, the body much thinner too. The other main variety is Chicago deep-dish pizza, which is very thick, anywhere from 1-3 inches deep in my experience. Both of these in their pure forms are difficult to find outside of their regions. But the NY/NJ style is popping up in places around the country. North Carolina Charlotte area for example, as transplants from the North-East find their way to other parts of the country. Then there's the various pizza chains: Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns... most of their pizzas most closely resemble the NY/NJ, but that's putting it loosely. They're sort of like a McDonald's Big Mac compared to a steak house burger, except at least for me, I sometimes just want the Big Mac, but I'd never choose the chain pizza when the alternative is available. Let me be clear though: some people are purists to one type or another and consider other varieties, or chain pizzas, to be blasphemy. But if you put aside ideological considerations, almost all pizza is fundamentally good. You can find bad pizza, but it's harder than finding good pizza. (Let the downvotes roll in from Chicago/NY purists :D )

chongli 6y ago
I’d like to chip in with a favourite of mine: Detroit style [1]. A rectangular pizza baked in a greased, shallow pan with cheese that goes all the way to the edge. The bottom comes out golden brown with a fried texture but the base is otherwise very light and fluffy. This gives a crispy/soft/chewy contrast with the sauce/cheese/pepperoni on top. This type of pizza can also handle more sauce and toppings than a New York style without getting soggy. I prefer crispy over soggy any day, and I love toppings. The cheese around the edges comes in contact with the metal pan and turns brown and crunchy, just like you get when the cheese leaks out into the pan with a grilled cheese sandwich. Amazing pizza! If you don’t have a rectangular pan you can also make it in a cast iron skillet. Works extremely well! [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/how-to-make-detroit-style-pizza.html https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/how-to-make-detroit-styl...
- 6y ago

mycall 6y ago

The worst pizza I ever ate was in Rome. Nothing but bread and some sauce. Tiny too. The bill was not tiny. Nothing beats American-style pizza.

tigershark 6y ago
Nothing of the extremely limited options that you tried. It’s funny seeing people discussing authoritatively about things that they even admit to not know at all.

tluyben2 6y ago

> Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese This could be, I am fan of the pizza from Napoli and I have been to the best chefs over there; besides the Marinara, pizzas have plenty of cheese and the Italian people in the restaurants all consistently asked for an extra serving of mozzarella on top. As I try to copy the experience at home in my wood burned oven, I watched and read many italian (Italy and US based) Napoli pizza chefs and ‘rather little cheese’ never was mentioned. Are you talking about a different style or maybe compared to US style pizza? I had pizzas in the US, but I find them generally too heavy; probably because the base is too thick. I can eat 2 napoli ones while only 1/2 a US one (again, based on my very limited pizza experience in the US!). But I saw brilliant chefs on youtube from the US; my business trips did not allow me to travel the US for pizza tasting...

Animats 6y ago

That's the Cheese Mafia. The US dairy industry has a powerful lobby and sales operation, run in association with the US Department of Agriculture. Milk sales have been dropping for years, and the dairy industry has been trying to prop up sales by adding cheese to everything, with considerable success. Over half the Dunkin' Donuts menu has cheese, and they're changing their name to "Dunkin".

nomad543 6y ago

> Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese. Not true, authentic neapoletan pizza is marinara(no cheese) or margheritta (lots of cheese).