Here's a pizza style we neglected to round up in our list of Regional Pizza Styles: the pizza strip, which is apparently available in New England but thrives in Rhode Island. Native Ocean Stater Christopher Borrelli writes about it in the Chicago Tribune:
The pizza strip is the pizza I grew up on, and unique beyond its shape. I doubt I ever attended a party or cookout in Providence where a pile of strips was not served. A box of them was always in our kitchen, the cardboard studded with grease spots. Some call it bakery pizza. Or tomato pie. But "pizza strip" captures its spartan delight. It is basically bread (often a focaccia, with hints of rosemary or basil), a mess of tomato sauce (thick, and bright red)—and that's it. No cheese. Served at room temperature.
No cheese? Isn't that just a presauced breadstick, then? New Englanders, feel free to shout me down in the comments.
Adam, is this inspired at all by my comment about pizza strips in the Bob & Timmy's post? Come on, let me feel special!
As for your critique: First off, if I'm not mistaken the classic neapolitan Marinara has no cheese, right? And neither does the most traditional New Haven apizza! Secondly, if you really won't accept it as a pizza style without cheese, occasionally the pizza strips have a light dusting of grated cheese (probably some kind of romano or cheap parmesan). And finally, I can foresee further critiques that this is really more akin to a focaccia, but isn't that also true of Roman pizza bianca?
Basically, if I am forced to admit that Chicago deep dish is "pizza," then I think the rest of the world needs to acknowledge the pizza-ness of the RI pizza strip. No?
Adam, I am with Celeriac. Pizza in its broadest sense is a cooked bread with something on top of it. Indian Naan bread with toppings could be a form of pizza. Yes, Chicago deep-dish is pizza, casserole or not. So, you can qualify the pizza strips with various adjectives, but at the end of the day, it's pizza, cheese or not.
@Celeriac, @Mad Ernie: I was just stirring the pot. I am willing to accept it as a pizza style. Pizza strips look good. I need to make the trip to RI and do grilled pizza, pizza strips, and whatever else is good there.
@Celeriac: I did see your pizza strips comments. Which is probably why this thing in the Tribune caught my eye faster than it might have!
I grew up on the Pennsylvania/Jersey border, and our little Italian bakery sells this as tomato pie. As a picky younger eater I also used to refuse to call this pizza, but as my palate matured I came to realize that this food is friggin' delicious. I'm pretty sure the bakery puts some parmesan in the sauce, so yes, it is pizza.
In Upstate (Capital district) NY, Tomato Pies are served hot and they're round... for the most part. Cold tomato pie sounds more like stoner's delight than anything I'd voluntarily grab from a bakery.
@Mooner: That's a very good point about the Big Mac.
I also personally do not feel that just any type of bread topped with sauce is a qualifier for pizza. What about wonder bread topped with sauce and fired in a pizza oven? What about if it was topped with sauce and cheese and fired in a pizza oven? Many would scoff at such a thing being called pizza, but in the context of this thread, why not?
Wonder Bread, or for that matter Foccacia bread, is NOT pizza dough. It may be a good, tasty piece of foccacia topped with a good sauce which I might wanna eat alot of, but it just ain't pizza IMHO.
@Pizzablogger @Mooner
I hear what you're saying - everyone draws the line somewhere but how then do you classify a thick sicilian slice (like the one at L&B Spumoni Gardens) or pizza bianco (roman style) - both of these use doughs that differ considerably from the 'typical pizza slice'.
It's a tough call - one which I think eventually comes down to the customers to make. I mean you COULD try selling an open big mac as a pizza but I doubt it'd get very far.
"And that's the hardest part. Today everything is different; there's no action... have to wait around like everyone else. Can't even get decent food - right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup..."
Cold tomato pie or tomato pie in the CNY area (Rome/Utica/Syracuse) has been huge for years. Always served at room temp or cold, sometimes found in pizzerias, but mostly at Italian bakeries. It has been the staple of just about every kid's birthday party and office party I have ever been to. Dough similar to focaccia, tomato sauce and a sprinkling of romano and/or parmesan is all there is. I've always found it to be a very addictive snacking food. They always come in a rectangular shape and cut into small squares. When I was visiting family last fall in Rome, my sister brought home two of them from a local pizza/sausage company and I knocked back about 1/2 of one pie in a about a day. If you're ever in that area, email me and I'll give you the names of some places that serve it and I think you'll like it.
Some places in RI have really good pizza strips, but a lot of them can be awful. It's definitely pizza, but just a different experience. There used to be a place which took pizza strips, heated them up, and threw on some fresh mozzerella - which was quite awful. Some RI pizza strips do have some sort of grated cheese
Superior Bakery actually distributes pizza strips to gas stations! I've seen them at a couple of different Shell stations.
While in college, I had the glorious opportunity to eat the single BEST pizza I have ever eaten, and I mean I eat the whole thing, and thats a sheet pan pizza (you calling it pizza strip?) at Caserta's.
I don't know how they make this thing, but it is a PERFECT blend of crust, sauce and cheese. Its one of the best foods I have EVER eaten, ANYWHERE in the usa.
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16 Comments:
Adam, is this inspired at all by my comment about pizza strips in the Bob & Timmy's post? Come on, let me feel special!
As for your critique: First off, if I'm not mistaken the classic neapolitan Marinara has no cheese, right? And neither does the most traditional New Haven apizza! Secondly, if you really won't accept it as a pizza style without cheese, occasionally the pizza strips have a light dusting of grated cheese (probably some kind of romano or cheap parmesan). And finally, I can foresee further critiques that this is really more akin to a focaccia, but isn't that also true of Roman pizza bianca?
Basically, if I am forced to admit that Chicago deep dish is "pizza," then I think the rest of the world needs to acknowledge the pizza-ness of the RI pizza strip. No?
Celeriac at 10:13AM on 07/28/09
Adam, I am with Celeriac. Pizza in its broadest sense is a cooked bread with something on top of it. Indian Naan bread with toppings could be a form of pizza. Yes, Chicago deep-dish is pizza, casserole or not. So, you can qualify the pizza strips with various adjectives, but at the end of the day, it's pizza, cheese or not.
Mad Ernie at 10:28AM on 07/28/09
@Celeriac, @Mad Ernie: I was just stirring the pot. I am willing to accept it as a pizza style. Pizza strips look good. I need to make the trip to RI and do grilled pizza, pizza strips, and whatever else is good there.
@Celeriac: I did see your pizza strips comments. Which is probably why this thing in the Tribune caught my eye faster than it might have!
Adam Kuban at 10:58AM on 07/28/09
Bread with salt on it would be considered pizza, then????
Mooner at 12:09PM on 07/28/09
If you flopped a Big Mac open, that's a pizza?
Mooner at 12:10PM on 07/28/09
I grew up on the Pennsylvania/Jersey border, and our little Italian bakery sells this as tomato pie. As a picky younger eater I also used to refuse to call this pizza, but as my palate matured I came to realize that this food is friggin' delicious. I'm pretty sure the bakery puts some parmesan in the sauce, so yes, it is pizza.
PrettyNicola at 1:01PM on 07/28/09
yeah, tomato pie. it's all over the philadelphia area, delicious too. honestly, the good stuff is better than most regular pizza in philly.
moesizlacks at 1:11PM on 07/28/09
Who are they kidding? It's rectangular slices of tomato pie and most accounts all point to Utica NY as the place where that dish originated
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato_pie
Not to mention that it's also widely regarded as the birthplace of Utica Greens, Chicken Riggies and the Half-Moon cookie.
phaelon56 at 1:30PM on 07/28/09
In Upstate (Capital district) NY, Tomato Pies are served hot and they're round... for the most part. Cold tomato pie sounds more like stoner's delight than anything I'd voluntarily grab from a bakery.
RachelDP at 3:16PM on 07/28/09
@Mooner: That's a very good point about the Big Mac.
I also personally do not feel that just any type of bread topped with sauce is a qualifier for pizza. What about wonder bread topped with sauce and fired in a pizza oven? What about if it was topped with sauce and cheese and fired in a pizza oven? Many would scoff at such a thing being called pizza, but in the context of this thread, why not?
Wonder Bread, or for that matter Foccacia bread, is NOT pizza dough. It may be a good, tasty piece of foccacia topped with a good sauce which I might wanna eat alot of, but it just ain't pizza IMHO.
Pizzablogger at 6:15PM on 07/28/09
@Pizzablogger @Mooner
I hear what you're saying - everyone draws the line somewhere but how then do you classify a thick sicilian slice (like the one at L&B Spumoni Gardens) or pizza bianco (roman style) - both of these use doughs that differ considerably from the 'typical pizza slice'.
It's a tough call - one which I think eventually comes down to the customers to make. I mean you COULD try selling an open big mac as a pizza but I doubt it'd get very far.
"And that's the hardest part. Today everything is different; there's no action... have to wait around like everyone else. Can't even get decent food - right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup..."
foolishpoolish at 9:55PM on 07/28/09
@Adam Hey! I had pizza strip comments too!
Mdotmet at 11:51PM on 07/29/09
@Mdot: D'oh! I'm going to have to compile all the Pizza Strip comments into a separate post!
Adam Kuban at 12:17AM on 07/30/09
@RachelDP
Cold tomato pie or tomato pie in the CNY area (Rome/Utica/Syracuse) has been huge for years. Always served at room temp or cold, sometimes found in pizzerias, but mostly at Italian bakeries. It has been the staple of just about every kid's birthday party and office party I have ever been to. Dough similar to focaccia, tomato sauce and a sprinkling of romano and/or parmesan is all there is. I've always found it to be a very addictive snacking food. They always come in a rectangular shape and cut into small squares. When I was visiting family last fall in Rome, my sister brought home two of them from a local pizza/sausage company and I knocked back about 1/2 of one pie in a about a day. If you're ever in that area, email me and I'll give you the names of some places that serve it and I think you'll like it.
billyboy at 1:53AM on 07/31/09
Some places in RI have really good pizza strips, but a lot of them can be awful. It's definitely pizza, but just a different experience. There used to be a place which took pizza strips, heated them up, and threw on some fresh mozzerella - which was quite awful. Some RI pizza strips do have some sort of grated cheese
Superior Bakery actually distributes pizza strips to gas stations! I've seen them at a couple of different Shell stations.
addicted2pizza at 10:53AM on 08/01/09
While in college, I had the glorious opportunity to eat the single BEST pizza I have ever eaten, and I mean I eat the whole thing, and thats a sheet pan pizza (you calling it pizza strip?) at Caserta's.
I don't know how they make this thing, but it is a PERFECT blend of crust, sauce and cheese. Its one of the best foods I have EVER eaten, ANYWHERE in the usa.
gabagool at 9:47AM on 09/16/09