Who makes the best pizza?

[Phogg]

I will vote for Chicago style, though I haven't often been places where its available.

A meal at a good pizzeria will enlighten you to become a Zen master.

They can make you one with everything.

[Iznogood]

My mother makes the best pizza

[Format C:]

I do.


The best pizzas (the "real" ones, like Napolitan use to say) are 22cm in diameter, thin (the slice must not stay straight when kept in hand: a pizza definitely have to folded in four to be eaten with hands), and with the minimum amount of topping necessary to give it flavour. You're eating pizza with a little of something on it, not toppings in tomato sauce with a slice of bread underneath!

It needs a 80g of fresh crushed peeled San Marzano tomatoes (no sauce), one or two leaf of basil (picked from the plant just in time), no more than 100g of "mozzarella di Bufala Campana D.O.P." (the less the better), 4g of extra virgin oil (from olives raised on cliffs facing west), and it has to be baked in a wood-fired oven at 485° C for a couple of minutes (you can go at 350°C for 5 minutes, but it's very unhortodox...).
And never ever put it in a carton box. Eat paper, instead: they have the same taste and paper is cheaper.

;-)

The denomination "Pizza Napoletana" is enforced by the EU: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...0R0097:EN:HTML

The first appearance of the "Pizza Napoletana" may be dated back to the period between 1715 and 1725. Vincenzo Corrado, a native of the town of Oria, and chief cook for Prince Emanuele di Francavilla, in a treatise on the foodstuffs most commonly used in Naples, stated that the tomato was used to season pizza and macaroni, thereby associating two products which have been the source of the fame of the city of Naples and the reason for its inclusion in the history of gastronomy. This quotation marks the official birth of the "Pizza Napoletana", a disc of dough seasoned with tomato.

A great number of historical documents attest to the Neapolitan origin of this culinary speciality. The writer Franco Salerno claimed that this product was one of the greatest inventions of Neapolitan cooking.

Even Italian-language dictionaries and the encyclopaedia Treccani expressly mention the "Pizza Napoletana". The expression "Pizza Napoletana" is also quoted in numerous literary texts.

There is no doubt that the first "pizzerie" (pizzerias) appeared in Naples where, until the middle of the twentieth century, this product was exclusive to the city and its pizzerias. In the eighteenth century, the city already had several shops known as "pizzerias". The King of Naples, Ferdinand of Bourbon, heard of their reputation and, in order to taste this dish in the typical Neapolitan tradition, breached court etiquette and visited one of the most renowned pizzerias. Since then the "pizzeria" has become a fashionable location, a place devoted to the exclusive preparation of the "pizza". The most popular and famous pizzas from Naples were the "Marinara", created in 1734, and the "Margherita", which dates from 1796-1810. The latter was presented to the Queen of Italy upon her visit to Naples in 1889, specifically on account of the colour of its seasoning (tomato, mozzarella and basil) which are reminiscent of the colours of the Italian flag.

Over time pizzerias appeared in every town in Italy and even abroad. However each of them, despite being located in a town other than Naples, has always linked its existence with the words "pizzeria napoletana", or used a term which in some way evokes its link with Naples, where for more than 300 years this product has retained its authenticity.

In May 1984 the "pizzaioli napoletani" drew up a brief product specification which was signed by the whole profession and registered by means of an official document witnessed by the notary Antonio Carannante of Naples.

Over the centuries the term "Pizza Napoletana" has become so widespread that everywhere, including outside Europe in Central and South America (e.g. Mexico and Guatemala) and Asia (e.g. Thailand and Malaysia), the product in question is known by its name "Pizza Napoletana", although the inhabitants sometimes do not have the slightest idea of the geographical location of the city of Naples.

[MJK2111]

Still another poll that assumes Chicagoans eat only deep dish pizza. We happen to have a plethora of pizza joints serving great thin crust pizza.

I don't have any facts or figures to support this, but I believe that most deep dish pizza in Chicago is ordered by tourists...

[Daithi]

I'm not a big fan of the original "Pizza Napoletana" from Italy. I like a little more on my pizza besides sauce and cheese, and a couple of salty fish on my pizza isn't one of my favorites either. Plus, the center of their pizzas can sometimes be a little, uh, how to say this, moist or soupy. Because of this, it's actually not uncommon for them to eat their pizza with a fork -- and pizza just should not be eaten with a fork. It just shouldn't. Lastly, they would look at you like you were insane if you tried ordering a pepperoni pizza in Italy. I mean, come on, how can you have pizza without pepperoni. Just say'n.

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by MJK2111

Still another poll that assumes Chicagoans eat only deep dish pizza. We happen to have a plethora of pizza joints serving great thin crust pizza.

I don't have any facts or figures to support this, but I believe that most deep dish pizza in Chicago is ordered by tourists...

Actually, the poll included a Thin/Roman Style. Throughout the Midwest the thin style pizzas are very popular, and not just in Chicago. However, I did give Pizano's, a Chicago pizzeria, as an example of this thin crust style. I just didn't call the category "Chicago Thin Crust".

[MJK2111]

Originally Posted by Daithi

Actually, the poll included a Thin/Roman Style. Throughout the Midwest the thin style pizzas are very popular, and not just in Chicago. However, I did give Pizano's, a Chicago pizzeria, as an example of this thin crust style. I just didn't call the category "Chicago Thin Crust".

You are correct (obviously...) and I didn't take care in reading the choices.

[lostmymarbles]

Domino's. Secret sauce. Crispy thin crust.
Nuff said!

[K. Molen]

Swedish Pizzerias

When I biked along most of Sweden (Ystad to Lulea) last summer, there was one thing pretty much every town, no matter how tiny, had in common: a local pizzeria.

And without fail the pizzas these places would serve were absolutely delicious. I don't keep track or anything, but if I was able to make a top 10 pizza list, I suspect 9 slots would be taken up by Swedish pizzas.

The thin crust was perfect. The sauce was perfect. And while unusual at times (thin steak and bearnaise sauce comes to mind) the toppings were top notch as well.

I'd recommend a trip to Sweden just to taste the pizzas.

[Xanthe]

Other - Any mom & pop pizzeria place in New Jersey, especially Sciortino's Harbor Lights, now in South Amboy NJ.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I cast my vote for Chicago Deep Dish, even though I have never eaten pizza from the associated establishments. It is just the closest to what I would rate as the best pizza I have ever had, the stuffed pizza at Zachary's Pizza. Originally a Berkeley, California pizza restaurant it is now a Bay Area wide chain.

My sister spent 30 years in Berkeley, and always longs for east coast pizza (NY, NJ). I guess it's what you grew up with.

A pizza where the oil makes a path down your arm and drips off your elbow (what are the Europeans thinking, using a knife and fork?). A pizza with consistent quality control, because the mob tells the Italian pizza parlor owners from whom they must buy their cheese and sauce. Ah, north Jersey pizza of a few decades ago, just wonderful.

P.S. I didn't vote. E.g., John's in the City seems like it should be representative of east coast pizza, but it doesn't hold a candle to the east coast pizza I grew up with.

[SteveEisenberg]

Papa Del's Pizza, Champaign IL.

Super bready very deep dish. I only went there once, and maybe it I lived nearby it would eventually lose its allure. I'm saying this because someone in the thread said Chicago deep dish is just for tourists. And I was just that.

[Shimarenda]

My mom. I think it might have been a Chef Boyardee kit. After Friday night away games with the marching band, my sister and I would get home at 1 o'clock in the morning, and Mom would be waiting up with pizza. We'd sit at the table, chat about the evening, and unwind with a few pieces (it was rectangular) before heading off to bed. That was the best.

The best I like that anyone can experience? DePalma's Italian Cafe. I think they call it Neapolitan. They started in Athens, GA, and have restaurants in Georgia, Alabama, and Seoul.