New Haven-style pizza

New Haven-style pizza

White clam pie from Pepe's in New Haven, Connecticut
Alternative names Apizza
Type Pizza
Place of origin United States
Region or state New Haven, Connecticut
Creator Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Main ingredients Pizza dough, tomato sauce, pecorino romano
Cookbook:New Haven-style pizza  New Haven-style pizza
A red pie from Sally's Apizza
Red pie from Pepe's in New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven-style pizza, locally known as apizza (pronounced "a-BEETS" [1]), is a style of Neapolitan pizza common in and around New Haven, Connecticut. It originated at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana[2] and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area, most notably, Sally's Apizza, and Modern Apizza. This geographically limited pizza style has gained considerable culinary and historical importance.[3][4][5]

Characteristics

In a New Haven-style pizzeria a "plain" pizza is crust, oregano, and tomato sauce with a little bit of grated pecorino romano cheese sprinkled on. Mozzarella (known as "mootz" in the local Italian dialect) is considered to be a topping; a customer who wants it must ask for it.

Pepe invented the "white clam pie." Pepe's restaurant used to serve littleneck clams on the half shell at the bar which he eventually decided to put on the pizza.[6] The white clam pie is crust, olive oil, oregano, grated cheese, chopped garlic, and fresh littleneck clams.

What makes New Haven style pizza distinct is its thin, oblong crust, characteristic charring, chewy texture, and limited use of melting cheeses. It tends to be drier and thicker than, but closely related to, traditional New York style pizza. Both styles in turn are close descendants of the original Neapolitan style.

Cooking and serving methods

New Haven-style pizza is traditionally baked in a coal-fired oven[7] at extremely hot temperatures in excess of 650 °F and is sold whole rather than by the slice.

Availability

Although most commonly available in the New Haven area, New Haven-style pizza has begun to spread to other parts of Connecticut. It has been available in the Italian-American areas of Bridgeport and other shoreline communities for many years. It is beginning to be served in areas typically not known for large Italian-American populations, including towns in northern and central Connecticut as well as farther away in Hood River, Oregon,[8] Washington, DC,[9] Chicago, Illinois,[10] San Diego, California,[11] West Chester, Pennsylvania,[12] Key West, Florida,[13] Austin, Texas,[14] Farmington Hills, Michigan,[15] and Tokyo, Japan.[16]

Notable establishments

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Zuppardi’s Apizza in West Haven celebrates 80 years" http://www.nhregister.com/business/20141206/zuppardis-apizza-in-west-haven-celebrates-80-years
  2. ↑ American Eats: Pizza, The History Channel, 29 June 2006
  3. ↑ "American Pie". GQ Magazine. Conde Nast. June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-21. Sally's is ranked six, while Pepe's is ranked twelve, out of 25 restaurants nationally.
  4. ↑ Levine, Ed; Steingarten, Jeffrey (2005). Pizza: A Slice of Heaven. New York, NY: Universe Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 0-7893-1205-0. In my experience, the perfect Neapolitan-American pizzas are made in New York City and in New Haven, Connecticut, at the towering Frank Pepe's Pizzeria and Sally's Apizza.
  5. ↑ http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/10/22/new-haven-pizza-named-best-in-america/
  6. ↑ Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby (2005). Everybody Loves Pizza. Clerisy Press
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Levine, Ed (2011). Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making & Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 99–100. ISBN 030772087X. Retrieved November 2012.
  8. ↑ Doublemountainbrewery. Accessed January 5, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Menu - Apizza." Accessed August 7, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Piece Brewery & Pizzeria | Dine In or Carry Out :: Chicago" Accessed December 8, 2008
  11. ↑ "URBN Coal Fired Pizza - North Park, San Diego"
  12. ↑ "Pizzeria West Chester, PA ( Pennsylvania ) - New Haven Pizza". Newhavenpizzawc.com. 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  13. ↑ "Bobalu's Southern Cafe menu - Key West, FL 33040 - (305) 296-1664". Allmenus.com. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  14. ↑ "Salvation Pizza, Austin's Authentic New Haven Style Pizza". Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  15. ↑ "Farmington Hills – Authentic, Neapolitan via New Haven-Style Pizza – Dine in, Carry Out, Delivery, Catering, Lunch Buffet". Tomatoes Apizza. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  16. ↑ "Baird Taprooms: Nakameguro". Baird Beer. Retrieved 2015-03-21.

Further reading