Pizza Authenticity Debate
The cluster revolves around heated discussions on what qualifies as 'real' or authentic pizza, primarily contrasting traditional Neapolitan Italian styles with American variants like New York, Chicago, and chain pizzas, including debates on ingredients, preparation, and cultural biases.
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Yeah, like pizza that doesn't come from Italy. And has pineapple on it.
I have eaten those style of pizza. They are tasty. Not everything must be Neapolitan to be edible. I think it may depends on local ingredients - since Italy has amazing ones it is just a matter of putting simple toppings with minimal heat processing not to fuck them up and serve.If there were no good local substitutes you have to pump up the grease and toast the ingredients a bit more to make it flavorful enough.
Just as importantly, don’t fall for fetishism. Neapolitan pizza is a very specific style of pizza that, while “authentic” and photogenic, is by no means a superior style of pizza. Especially made poorly, at home, in an oven that is 200 degrees colder than necessary!
Oh I know it can be tasty, I have eaten my fair share of greasy pizzas too. And I’m not saying neapolitan is the only possible pizza style, although in my opinion it’s the best one. Neapolitan is actually charred on the crust too, but it’s not that extreme - the crust from the pizza above is basically coal... Don’t get me wrong, I would eat it anyway (maybe skipping the crust), but it definitely doesn’t look like a “best in the world” pizza.As for the ingredients, I’m not sure why Italy would
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
“Of course it’s not real pizza, that’d have to be imported from the Pizza region in Italy”
Maybe it's my bias, being Italian and finding really great pizzas for cheap prices basically anywhere. In the US it might be another story.
Maybe the best pizza in the United States. I'm Italian, the classic United States pizza could hardly be called "pizza" here, since it's not risen enough for being a pizza.
We're talking about NY Pizza, not Italian or Napoletana.
Nothing, really (if it works for you!). It's just extremely far removed from the usual way pizza is consumed in Italy. I'm usually annoyed by the many culinary debates we like to have (e.g. when should you put cheese on your pasta), but this one I can relate to :-)