Why Can't Restaurants here Make Really Good PIZZA?

Hey, back home some people are so into the crust that there are places that put a big cooked doughball in the centre to keep the lid of the box from touching the cheese.

A good, tasty dough means thick or thin will meet my needs, although I prefer it more as a delivery mechanism than an intrinsic part... some will know this about me already, lol.

ferret wrote:Many moons ago, I was told by an Italian family (ex brother-in-law) that the pizza crust is what divides northern Italy from southern Italy. Northern Italy...thin...Southern Italy and Sicilian...thick....or maybe it's a$$ backwards.
Anybody actually experienced this in their travels? I happen to like both styles of crust.

Well, ferret, I have never been north of Genoa in Italy but have traveled extensively in Central and Southern Italy including Naples, reputedly the place where pizza was invented to the best of my knowledge. I can´t therefore speak intelligently about the style of pizza to be found in the far north of the country but all pizzas I enjoyed in Italy from Genoa south to Naples were thin crusted pies. Now, I was in Italy in the 1960s and, since I had the good fortune to marry into a French family in 1971, I have not had occasion to eat in Italy after that as French cuisine has met my needs since. I do recall, as best my memory serves me, that the pizzas in Naples are relatively small, super-thin crusted pies about the size for one person or, maybe, two people usually with nothing more as toppings than tomato sauce and , perhaps, cheese. I can´t recall ever seing a thick crusted pizza in France either even though I have had occasion to travel there many times from Lille in the far north to Marseilles and Nice on the Mediterranean to Arcachon and La Rochelle on the Atlantic. I really like the pizza in Marseilles but the crust there is super thin and toppings are scarce. These pizzas with myriad toppings seem to be an American invention but some of you may be more knowledgable about that than am I.

Thick crusted pizza is Chicago, no?

I would imagine the thin crusts in France and Italy are historical and cultural, just like their fantastic breads, which are designed to meet a need (heavy farm bread or light and crusty baguettes for a home lunch). On the American side, everything is always "better if it's bigger"; very little finesse. Thus, thicker crusts on the pizza. There's also the unforgiveable yet immutable concept that the more you fill someone up with junk, the less you have to spend on the good stuff.

johninajijic wrote:Why can't restaurants here make really good Pizza? It's easy to make. It's not rocket science... Where have you had really good Pizza?

John, to help you in your search, what do you define as really good pizza? Do you mean pizza as defined by Americans? http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1695/who-invented-pizza

Have you tried the brick oven pizza at La Taverna de Quattro Mori (Tavern of the Four Moors)? I don't eat pizza often, I'm usually a low-carbing carnivore, but I have enjoyed theirs and feel it is authentic Mediterranean style (if that is what you are looking for).

Merry

[quote="hound dog Thick crusted pizza is Chicago, no? [/quote]

Deep dish is a "Chicago style." The standard crust there is moderately thick.

CG - Thanks. Very interesting read.

[quote="merry
Have you tried the brick oven pizza at La Taverna de Quattro Mori (Tavern of the Four Moors)? I don't eat pizza often, I'm usually a low-carbing carnivore, but I have enjoyed theirs and feel it is authentic Mediterranean style (if that is what you are looking for).

Merry

[/quote]

I love the Pizza at La Taverna but I wouldn't characterize it as "Mediterranean" style. They're from Veneto so maybe it's "Adriatic" style. Med style to me is what you get on the Med coast of France and Spain. Never the less, Giuliano and Maria Grazie make very good pizza! Lots of other good dishes too! It's one of our most favorite places to dine.

Is anyone old enough (1940's) to remember when Italian restaurants in the midde of the US offered up "pizza pie". This was a "double crust" (top and bottom) pizza with only meat, onion, tomatoes (sauce), and cheese. No selection of ingredients and no "open face" pizza.
This was the standard "pizza" from Chicago, St. Louis, Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas City, and Denver.
When the pizza craze hit the US, this type of pizza disappeared, never to return (in my experience).

slainte39 wrote:Is anyone old enough (1940's) to remember when Italian restaurants in the midde of the US offered up "pizza pie". This was a "double crust" (top and bottom) pizza with only meat, onion, tomatoes (sauce), and cheese. No selection of ingredients and no "open face" pizza.
This was the standard "pizza" from Chicago, St. Louis, Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas City, and Denver.
When the pizza craze hit the US, this type of pizza disappeared, never to return (in my experience).

U must be older than dirt if U remember that !!

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie......

hockables wrote:

slainte39 wrote:Is anyone old enough (1940's) to remember when Italian restaurants in the midde of the US offered up "pizza pie". This was a "double crust" (top and bottom) pizza with only meat, onion, tomatoes (sauce), and cheese. No selection of ingredients and no "open face" pizza.
This was the standard "pizza" from Chicago, St. Louis, Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas City, and Denver.
When the pizza craze hit the US, this type of pizza disappeared, never to return (in my experience).

U must be older than dirt if U remember that !!

Yes, I do remember the first dirt...it was so clean for dirt...never to return

That's my last one for the evening.

I just finished talking with my daughter who lives in northern Italy. According to her, and her husband scarfs pizza like my son scarfs tacos, in the north, since pizza originated in the south, you will find all types of pizza crusts, thick and thin. In the south the thicker crust is the norm.

And you'll also find pizzas without the tomato sauce, the "white" pizza or pizza bianca.