The different types of pizza from around the world 🍕
Pizza can be extremely diverse. From one country to another (even one city to another), the taste of pizza can be totally different. The main difference we’ll be talking about here is the crust. Whether it’s thin, thick, fried, or baked... pizza is a godsend. 🍕
Neapolitan Style
This style of pizza is also known as pizza Napolitana or Naples-style pizza because of its origin: Naples. The dough is soft, light, fluffy, and airy, and while the bottom dough is thin, the crust is a bit thicker, but still feels like a cloud. It is characterised by burnt air bubbles in the crust, which probably happens because it is cooked at extremely high temperatures. This kind of pizza is probably the one that gave birth to the idea of pizza in general. It started in the 1880s as a pizza Margherita, named after Queen Margherita who travelled to Naples in 1889. 🇮🇹
Toppings are simple, but Italians pride in the freshness of them. The most popular is pizza Margherita, with the most basic of toppings but probably the most delicious. There’s actually an Italian association that certifies restaurants serving Neapolitan style pizza, so if you see a restaurant that is certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), you know it’s the real deal.
Chicago Deep Dish Style
Chicago-style pizza is a seriously thick type of pizza. It is basically a pizza pie that oozes warm, melted mozzarella. It is baked in a pan and requires longer to cook than other types of pizza. Due to this, the toppings are not placed in the usual order. The cheese goes first, followed by your preferred toppings, and finished with the sauce. 🍅
Apart from the usual sauce and cheese, the toppings usually include sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions. The thickness of this pizza pie might make it difficult for you to eat this with your hands, so get your cutlery ready.
New York Style
This type of pizza is usually sold by the slice. The crust is not too thin, but not too thick, and gives you just a little bit of a crunch. The dough is soft and foldable, making it easier for you to eat it on the go. 🗽
This type of pizza is extremely popular in New York, of course. There are a number of pizza places selling slices of NY-Style pizza or else whole, large pizzas for customers to share. Toppings are usually simple, with the most common ones being mozzarella and pepperoni. Simple toppings and a foldable slice make for the perfect snack!
Sicilian Style
This mouth-watering, thick-crusted pizza is another Italian gem. As its name suggests, it originated in the island of Sicily and boasts a beautiful thick crust. It is sold in rectangular pieces and also goes by the name ‘sfincione’. 👌
The dough is quite similar to a focaccia - thick, soft, airy. Toppings are usually what makes a Sicilian style pizza, Sicilian-style: tomatoes, Sicilian Toma cheese, anchovies, onions, and different herbs.
Detroit Style
Detroit style pizza is quite similar to the Sicilian style. It has a chewy, thick crust and it is also rectangularly shaped. While Sicilian style pizza is baked in a deep baking sheet, Detroit pizza is baked in a deep pan. Sicilian pizza also has more oil than its counterpart, but both make a delicious, fluffy crust.
Detroit style pizza is characterised by a crispy bottom layer and a soft, fluffy interior, which is a result of the pizza being baked in a deep pan.
Californian Style
This type of pizza is a mid-way between Italian and New York style pizzas. Its crust is thin and toppings vary greatly - including gourmet toppings. Chef Ed LaDou is known to be the one to give rise to this style of pizza back in the 1980s, which was then made popular in the rest of the US by Chef Wolfgang Puck. 🤩
Toppings include fresh and local ingredients, including seasonal produce, such as smoked salmon, goat’s cheese, red onions, and vegetables.
St Louis Style
Another rectangularly cut pizza is the St Louis pizza. What makes this type of pizza so unique is that it does not contain yeast, making the dough super thin and quite crunchy, so much so that you would not be able to fold it the same way you would with a NY-style pizza. This is also the main reason why this type of pizza is cut into rectangles rather than triangular slices. 🤤
The toppings are also quite unique. The cheese topping is actually a nice blend of different cheeses called Provel, which mainly includes Swiss, white cheddar, and provolone, so it’s not your typical mozzarella layer. We’d love to try this!
We cannot find all these types of pizza in Malta unfortunately, but who knows? Maybe we can inspire someone to bring the world of pizza to us! Nowadays, pizza crust is being made with a variety of different flavours in itself, allowing pizzaiolos to make an even vaster pizza menu which can cater to customers with certain food intolerances. 🍕
Locally, our Pizza Poll winner Marrobbio offers a wide array of pizza dough. Check them out here.
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