The story behind the legendary New York Style Pizza
A greasy slice of pizza on the go; the fuel of the fast-moving on the U.S. East Coast. Rich in history, rich in flavour. How did this relatively "simple" snack become famous around the world?
Few snacks in the U.S. may ever come closer to being called systemically important than New York's legendary Pizza Slice. Hundreds of thousands of metropolitans would not get through subways, urban canyons and 14-hour days without their valuable fuel.
Lombardi's long road to the slice
The first pizzeria in New York is said to have been opened by Gennaro Lombardi in 1905 - the Manhattan restaurant still exists today. According to food blogger Ed Levine, however, this did not mean that piecemeal sales were born overnight. The coal ovens of the time made the pizzas tough as they cooled. It wasn't until the invention of the less-hot gas oven in the 1930s that pizzerias relied on wagon wheel-sized doughs, which were sold in pieces and reheated.
The classic
What actually is THE New York pizza slice? The key data: a triangular piece, a bit larger than the paper plate on which it is often served. The dough is thin, crispy, yet flexible enough to fold lengthwise. The tomato sauce is uncooked and simple, the cheese is a mozzarella with low water content.
That's all it took for the first golden age of New York pizza in the second half of the 20th century. Hardly anyone embodied this era like Domenico "Dom" DeMarco, who came to New York from near Naples in 1959. For decades, his store "Di Fara Pizza" drew hundreds daily to the tiny corner restaurant in deepest Brooklyn - including superstars like Leonardo DiCaprio.
Dom went to great lengths - from the dough to the tomatoes to the cheese - to bake the perfect pieces. According to legend he took the finished pizzas out of the oven with his bare hands. In 2004 DeMarco told the New York Times, "I have no plans to retire. But I want my children to take over. They have to follow me. They have to follow my idea." Last year, DeMarco died.
Eternal pizza heritage and current hotspots
There is probably no best list which excludes the slice store "L'Industrie Pizzeria" in the Williamsburg neighbourhood in Brooklyn. Other stores such as "My Pie Pizzeria Romana", "Scarr's Pizza " and "Patsy's Pizzeria" are also currently considered popular. Meanwhile, things are probably different at "Di Fara Pizza" in Brooklyn. "There's a reason I didn't include this place in my best places list," says pizza fan Scott Wiener. Since the death of pizza legend DeMarco, he said, quality has declined. One consolation may be that DeMarco's work, dedication and energy live on in hundreds of New York pizzerias. (APA/dpa)
