Front Page: how pizza became American
Pizza crossed the Atlantic with Italian immigrants and, within a century, produced a family of distinctly American styles. The gazette below files twenty briefs — six Italian classics the settlers remembered and fourteen American forms they invented — plus the four ingredients every one of them is built from.
The story starts in Naples, where the flat, sauced bread of the working districts was perfected into a national symbol. In 1889 a Neapolitan baker honored the visiting queen with a tomato, mozzarella and basil pie — the Margherita — and pizza stopped being merely street food.
America enters the record at the turn of the twentieth century. Italian bakers in New York, Chicago and beyond adjusted to local ovens, stronger flours and bigger appetites. The New York slice learned to fold; Chicago stacked its pie in a tall pan; Detroit pressed brick cheese to the edges; California let the farmers market write the menu.
The briefs that follow are compiled from generally accepted culinary references and edited by Pierre Marc J D Jannot. Ingredient lines describe the typical build of each style — a reference, not a recipe.
The Pantry: four ingredients, many answers
Dough & crust
Flour, water, yeast, salt. Thin and foldable in New York, tall and buttery in Chicago, cracker-thin and yeastless in St. Louis.
Sauce
Tomato nearly everywhere — crushed, strained, chunky or striped on top. White bases use olive oil or cream.
Cheese
Low-moisture mozzarella melts the cleanest; brick, Provel, cheddar and gorgonzola define particular cities.
Toppings
Pepperoni leads the American order book; Italian tables favor restraint — a mushroom, a slice of prosciutto, herbs.
Twenty briefs on pizza styles
1. Margherita
Naples' flagship — tomato, mozzarella and basil on a blistered thin crust, the Italian flag in edible form.
Typical build: thin dough · tomato · fresh mozzarella · basil · olive oil
2. Neapolitan
The protected original: soft hydrated dough, minimal toppings, about ninety seconds of ferocious oven. Its char is the signature.
Typical build: hydrated dough · crushed tomato · fior di latte · olive oil · salt
3. Marinara
The no-cheese classic — tomato, garlic and oregano. The oldest written entry in the family and naturally dairy-free.
Typical build: thin dough · tomato · garlic · oregano · olive oil
4. Classic Italian
The everyday Italian style: slender crust, one or two toppings, quality over quantity. An approach more than a recipe.
Typical build: thin crust · tomato or oil base · mozzarella · 1–2 toppings
5. Roman
Rome rolls it paper-thin and crisp, sells it by weight, cuts it with scissors. Texture first, toppings modest.
Typical build: oiled thin crust · tomato · mozzarella · anchovies or oregano
6. Sicilian
The tall square of the island: airy dough in a pan, sauce over cheese, breadcrumbs on top — and the ancestor of America's pan pies.
Typical build: tall dough · tomato · cheese · onions · breadcrumbs
7. New York Style
The foldable slice: wide, thin, chewy, a little greasy on purpose. Sold by the slice, eaten standing, oregano on top.
Typical build: high-gluten dough · tomato sauce · mozzarella · oregano
8. Chicago Deep Dish
Pie with walls: buttery crust in a tall pan, cheese below, chunky sauce on top. Fork and knife strongly suggested.
Typical build: buttery tall crust · mozzarella · chunky tomato · sausage
9. Chicago Thin (Tavern)
The city's other side: cracker crust, sauce to the edges, scissored into squares. Deep dish's crispy understudy.
Typical build: cracker crust · tomato sauce · mozzarella · fennel sausage
10. California Style
The market's edition — light crust, seasonal produce, goat cheese and arugula arriving after the bake.
Typical build: light crust · olive oil or light sauce · fresh cheese · seasonal produce
11. Texas Style
Smokehouse on a crust: cornmeal dough, barbecue sauce, smoked brisket, cheddar in the blend, jalapeño for punctuation.
Typical build: cornmeal crust · BBQ sauce · smoked brisket · cheddar · jalapeños
12. Detroit Style
The rectangle from the Motor City: airy dough in blue steel, brick cheese to a caramelized edge, sauce striped on after.
Typical build: rectangular dough · brick cheese · tomato stripes · cupped pepperoni
13. St. Louis Style
Yeastless and razor-thin, crowned with Provel and cut into squares. A style with a home address and nowhere else.
Typical build: unleavened crust · Provel · oregano sauce · square cuts
14. Pepperoni
The best-seller of the American order book: a cheese pie finished with pepperoni that curls into crisp, sauce-holding cups.
Typical build: hand-tossed dough · tomato sauce · mozzarella · pepperoni
15. Meat Lovers
Pepperoni, sausage, bacon and ham over a reinforced base — the heavyweight brief of the American line.
Typical build: sturdy dough · tomato sauce · mozzarella · four meats
16. BBQ Chicken
Barbecue sauce takes the tomato seat; smoked gouda and grilled chicken share it with raw red onion.
Typical build: crust · BBQ sauce · grilled chicken · gouda · red onion
17. Buffalo Chicken
Game day, printed as a pie: buffalo-hot chicken, mozzarella base and a cooling ribbon of ranch or blue cheese.
Typical build: crust · buffalo sauce · chicken · mozzarella · ranch
18. Hawaiian
Ham and pineapple — invented in Canada under an Italian-inspired name, argued over at every table since.
Typical build: crust · tomato sauce · mozzarella · ham · pineapple
19. Four Cheese
Tomato excused: mozzarella for stretch, gorgonzola for bite, parmesan for salt, fontina for melt — one crust, four voices.
Typical build: crust · mozzarella · gorgonzola · parmesan · fontina
20. Veggie Garden
The garden desk's entry: peppers, mushrooms, onion, cherry tomatoes and olives over cheese, restocked each season.
Typical build: crust · tomato or pesto · mozzarella · garden vegetables
The Free Quick Sheet
Twenty Styles — The Quick Sheet (PDF)
A two-page printable supplement: the whole guide — history, composition and the twenty briefs with their typical builds — in one file. Click to download; no e-mail requested, no registration exists.
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