Just What is Pizza?

So, just what is this thing we call pizza, that Italian invention that has, like so many other things, been adopted by Americans and evolved into so many wonderful varieties?  Well, we all know pizza is a crust, usually round, topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and optionally other toppings, right?  Many a New Yorker will tell you that this is the only real pizza and everything else is just stealing the name, especially if it’s not made in New York.

Not so fast, some pizzas don’t have cheese.  I know what many would say – blasphemy!!  But did you know that a common variety of pizza in Naples, the birthplace of modern pizza, is called marinara and doesn’t have any cheese.

Well, then surely pizza has to have tomato sauce.  Again, this isn’t always the case.  There are many different varieties today that don’t use tomato sauce.  Instead, they may use pesto, a white herb sauce, or any number of other sauces.

Okay, but pizza has to have some kind of crust, right?  This is where I’ll have to agree.  But, it can be thick or thin and doesn’t even have to be round.  Many traditional pizza styles are rectangular in shape, like Sicilian.  In fact, it doesn’t even have to be the traditional pizza dough.  There are some great alternatives out there, like the pissaladiere from Provence.  Pizza can even be made on French bread, English muffins, middle-eastern pitas, or any number of other breads.

Finally, pizza doesn’t even have to be a savory dish.  There are many great dessert pizzas out there.

All of these and probably many others can be considered pizza, unless, of course, you’re from New York.