New York pizza is known for its ultra-thin crust, simplicity, and use of mozzarella cheese. The water used in making the dough is said to be important, and ancient brick or stone ovens are used to bake the pizzas. Whole cakes are about 18 inches in diameter, and toppings like red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese are common.
New York pizza is often referred to as the original American pizza, as the first pizza place to open was in Manhattan. This is the famous Lombardi founded by Gennaro Lombardi in 1905, which still has an excellent and devoted fan base today. However, New York Pizza is credited to Lombardi’s employee, Antonio Totonno Pero, who opened his restaurant in 1924 on Coney Island.
The thing that makes New York pizza unique is its ultra-thin style. Actually people can bend the slices of pizza when eating it because the slices are quite big. Another characteristic of this type of pizza is its simplicity; a good slice or pie can be topped with just cheese and pizza sauce, though you can certainly add other toppings if you like.
New York pizza devotees point to several other differences and characteristics of the original American pizza. The crust, while thin, shouldn’t be thin or crusty, and the only cheese you should use is mozzarella. High-gluten bread flour tends to be the top choice of most pizza makers creating this style, and the crust recipes are notably simple: a mix of yeast, salt, flour, and water.
Lovers of true New York style might as well argue that pizza isn’t real “New York” unless it uses New York’s public water supply. Some believe that the water used is as important as any other ingredient. Unless you ship your water from New York City, purists say you couldn’t make New York pizza anywhere else in the world. Another notable feature is the use of ancient brick or stone ovens to bake the pizzas, which many claim adds their own special flavor to these pizzas.
One difference you might notice between real New York pizza and standard chain-delivery pizza is size. Whole cakes tend to be about 18 inches in diameter. This might seem impossibly large if the crust weren’t so thin, although some pizza places certainly do this size regularly as a “family size.” Many restaurants are also happy to sell you a slice of pizza if you don’t want to buy a whole pie.
Although toppings other than cheese and mozzarella are optional, eating toppings with this type of pizza is pretty standard. Typical additions, which are usually available tableside to spice up your pizza, include red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese. In many restaurants, you can also find spice mixes containing oregano and garlic.
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