Name: 李雪溱 Shirley Lee
Professor: Michael Cheng
Compare Essay
Date: March20, 2009
OutlineThesis Statement: Right then, I finally realized that pizza has more than one style to
be served, depending on the ingredients, the crust, the dishes it goes with, and the
cultures it represents.
BodyI.
History, variants and ingredients of Italian style pizza
II.
III.
History, variants and ingredients of American style pizza
Food serving and representative restaurants of American and Italian style
pizza
Conclusion: It should be more of emphasis whether one is going to the right
destination for certain desired style of pizza.
EssayI had my first slice of pizza in the childhood. It was a thick flat bread topped with
bacon, pineapples and cheese. As well, the order package included a bottle of Pepsi,
a box of chicken legs and some napkins. At that time, it was regarded as the real
picture of a typical pizza day--A fast order via a catchy dialing number. I did not find
out the fact that not every pizza meal took place at home. It wasn't until recent years
that I had my pizza delicately cut off by servers in a well-adorn restaurant,
sometimes even with tiramisu and pasta aside. Right then, I finally realized that pizza
has more than one style to be served, depending on the ingredients, the crust, the
dishes it goes with, and the culture it represents. The two major distinct styles are
American pizza and Italian pizza, both of which have their special features(This is a
basic division of pizza, for even America itself has countless kinds of regional styles1).
The questions are: How are these two styles of pizza different from each other, and
where should we head for as to get the right style of pizza we are craving for?
Although pizza might have originated from Greece, it was in Naples, Italy that
the food prospered and became worldwide renowned. 2 In sixteenth century,
Neapolitans created the original pizza—yeast dough added with tomatoes, olive oil,
herbs and cheese. It was at first a basic dish provided for the poor, but later made
for an incentive for tourists to venture into Naples. One authentic Italian pizza is
Margherita—a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese(it was the first kind
of pizza which cheese was added into) and basil, which was made to impress the
Queen Margherita by endorsing the three colors of Italian national flag into the pizza
in 1889.3 Furthermore, other typical Italian pizzas are “four season pizza” and
“marinara pizza.” The former one is one with mozzarella, tomato, mushrooms,
artichokes(a kind of plant), ham, olives, while the latter one is added with tomato,
garlic, oregano and oil. Generally speaking, authentic Italian pizzas are made with
ingredients such as tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, herbs, also topped with
Mediterranean food. According to Wikipedia, typical Italian pizzas should be
thin-crust, by definition of less than 3mm thick, and they should taste “crispy, tender
and fragrant.”4 As Italy was founding its authentic pizza flavors, America was about
to start off a new trend for pizza.
1
Slice Pizza Blog, by Adam Kuban, Jan.2008,
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/01/a-list-of-regional-pizza-styles.html
2
“Is Pizza Italian Or Is Pizza American?”, Mar 2009,
http://www.articlesbase.com/main-course-articles/is-pizza-italian-or-is-pizza-american-820899.html
3
“History of Pizza-The Soul of Italy”, by Justin Demetri, Mar.2010,
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pizza-history.asp
4
Pizza Types, Pizza, Wikipedia, March 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza#Pizza_types
Pizza arrived in America following Italians’ immigration in the late nineteenth
century. Owing to the wide influence of Italian immigrants in American culture, a
great amount of regional forms of pizza were developed, many bearing a
resemblance to the Italian originals. This especially happened in cities with large
Italian population, mostly northeastern cities, where pizzas were sold by street
vendors in immigrant community. Pizza restaurants(as we call “pizzeria”) and new
styles of pizzas appeared in America consequently. The first pizzeria is said to be
“Lombardo” founded in 1905 in Manhattan.5 Later in 1943 came “Chicago Deep-Dish
Pizza”, with its crust formed up the sides of a deep-dish pan, filled with loads of
cheese, tomatoes and sausages.6 Overall, American pizzas derive even more variants
than Italian pizzas do. American pizzas feature more non-traditional ingredients
considered by Italian cooks, such as pineapples, seafood, poultry, barbecue sauce,
garlic and chili peppers, as well as “white pizza” without typical ingredient—tomato
sauce.7 Moreover, unlike Italian thin-crusted pizzas, both thin and thick crusts are
commonly used in American pizzas. For instance, the Chicago style pizza mentioned
above is prone to thick crust, while “New York Style Pizza” traditionally contains
hand-tossed thin crust.8
Another distinction between these two styles is culture and lifestyle revealed as
in how they embark on a typical pizza meal. Frozen pizzas were introduced in 1957
and American pizza chain shops gradually boomed up in 1960s.9 Pizza chain outlets
have created a unique way, which as we have called “American style”, to consuming
5
History & Legends of Pizza, Mar. 2010,
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Pizza/PizzaHistory.htm
6
“A Field Guide to American Pizza-Chicago”, by Bret Stetka, Mar. 2010,
http://cityguides.msn.com/articles/article.aspx?cp-documentid=19549190&page=2
7
Pizzas In the United States, Wikipedia, Mar. 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_in_the_United_States
8
“New York-style Pizza: what it means”, by Betty Hallock, Mar. 2009,
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/25/food/fo-newyorkpizza25
9
“American Pie”, from American Heritage Magazine, April/May 2006, by Hanna Miller,
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/2/2006_2_30.shtml
pizzas. Pizza chains like Pizza Hut and Domino’s are much globalized that they can be
seen in Taiwan and everywhere else in the world nowadays.1011 There are several
ways you can dine with these Americanized pizza shops: One is to eat in the
franchised restaurant with buffet providing “all-you-can-eat” pizza, salad, fries and
nuggets, beverage and chicken legs12; another is to make your pizza order online or
via phone. “You’ve got thirty minutes,” said Domino’s TV commercial, leaving you a
hope to favor the food within such a short time!13 On the other hand, having pizza in
Italian style tends to be dining in an exquisite, European-like restaurant, with side
dishes like bread and tiramisu on table. There are some restaurants in Taiwan where
you can indulge in the exotic atmosphere. One example of them is a restaurant
franchise “Grazie,” with branches all over Taiwan.14 The restaurant’s specialty is
Italian cuisine, including pizza, pasta, risotto and such. Its exotic décor makes it a
perfect place to dig in Italian style pizza.
Both American-styled and Italian-styled pizzas have similar and different traits to
stand for. Toppings and crust added with pizza reflects the climate and representative
food in both regions. In addition, dining style for each type of pizza vary from
cultures, hence restaurants serving pizza don’t always sell with the same way. Fairly
speaking, in spite of the comparison between two styles, there should be no battle
between American style pizza and Italian style pizza on determining the one with
better taste. It should be more of emphasis whether one is going to the right
10
Domino’s Pizza Taiwan, March 20,
http://www.dominos.com.tw/
11
Pizza Hut Taiwan, March 20,
http://www.pizzahut.com.tw/English/location/Middle.asp
12
A Hungry Girl’s Guide to Taipei, Feb. 15, 2008,
http://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com/2008/01/revisitedpizzabuffet-pizza-hut.html
13
“Will a Twist on an Old Vow Deliver for Domino's Pizza?” by Janet Adamy, Dec 17 2007,
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119784843600332539-oueLUGs3hGQrgDILS9KzspIC8Rk_20081
216.html
14
Café Grazie, March 20, 2010,
http://www.grazie.com.tw/html/homepage.asp
destination for certain desired style of pizza. After all, savory food fitting the appetite
is the most important of all.