New York Style Pizza

By Bhawna

If you have ever been to the New York City, you definitely would have eaten the unique New York Style Pizza there. The New York City has got a number of food joints and pizza restaurants that serve the unique pizza of the city. The New York Style Pizza came out of Neapolitan-style pizza. This was the time when Italian immigrants brought pizza to the New York City and America. This was in the early 1990s. The New York Style Pizza has large and wide slices. There is a thin crust that is foldable and crispy too. It is topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and extra toppings on the top.
The pizza is sold by slice or it can be a whole pie. The pie is large of the size 18 inches. It is cut into 8 slices. Customers purchase a slice to eat quickly by folding it in half vertically. Traditionally, it was cooked in a coal-fired oven. A few places use that method but now, a regular gas oven is used.
Pizza has its roots in Italian cuisine but there are some coming from the New York. New York Style Pizza is different from the traditional pizzas that are sold in Italy and the world around.

History

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New York Style Pizza started with the opening of pizzeria, Lombardi’s. It was started by Gennaro Lombardi in Manhattan in 1905. An employee, Antonio Totonno Pero cooked the pizzas. In 1942, he left it to open his own pizzeria by the name Totonno’s in Coney Island. Both used coal-fired ovens. Both these restaurants are still working. Patsy’s started their pizzeria in 1993 and they also use coal-fired ovens.
Di Fara Pizza opened in 1964. It has been run by Domenico DeMarco. And many believe that they serve the best pizza in the New York City. They give a combination of New York and Neapolitan styles.
There are many pizzerias in the New York City by the name Ray’s Pizza or its versions like Famous Ray’s Pizza, Ray’s Original Pizza, and World Famous Original Pizza. All of these are independently owned, in general. They are at multiple locations. The first Ray’s Pizza was opened in 1959 in Little Italy. It closed in October 2011.

Ingredients

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New Yok style is full of ingredients more than that of the traditional Neapolitan pizza. The dough is created by sugar, olive oil, gluten bread flour, yeast, and water. The dough is hand-tossed. It is believed that the unique flavor and texture of the crust is the result of the minerals that are there in the New York City’s tap water.
There is a heavily-seasoned cooked tomato sauce. It is made up of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, and herbs like oregano, basil, and red pepper. It is different from Neapolitan sauce that is made from uncooked tomatoes and salt. The cheese used in New York style pizza is grated low-moisture mozzarella.
New York style pizza can have toppings like vegetables, meats, or other types of cheese. The ingredients that are used on the top of a slice after it is taken out from the oven are garlic powder, red pepper, oregano, and grated Parmesan cheese.
There is a thin hand-thrown crust. The crust of the pizza is very crisp. It is easy to break. The base of the pizza is flexible. It is easy to fold to eat.
This pizza has become the most popular among people. It is simply delicious.

Toppings

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Instead of wetting the dough in sauce, chefs place a light layer. This is done so that it doesn’t overlap with the flavors of the other ingredients. Then, there is full-fat mozzarella cheese. It is dried and grated on the pie. Other toppings like vegetables, meats, and other stuff is placed whenever required.

Big slice size

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The absolute size of the slices is something that makes the New York Style Pizza what it is. The base is bigger than a standard one-person pizza. It is stretched out in a way. While regular pizza doesn’t have anything to do with slices but New York Style Pizza slices are known for their gigantic slices. Because they are so huge, they are traditionally folded in half for eating. It allows the grease to come to the middle, so it doesn’t come onto the plate. Hence, the slice can be eaten on the go with just one hand if you are in a hurry. With all the busy-ness in the New York City, it can be seen that this food is really popular.



Crust and spices

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The crust of the pizza is very thin. It is thick around the outside. It is made from high-gluten bread flour. The New York Style Pizza is topped with spices like oregano, basil, and dried red pepper chili flakes.

Popularity outside New York

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The New York Style Pizza is offered in pizzerias across the world. Connecticut and New Jersey have many amazing options. There are many authentic New York Style Pizza outlets in North-eastern United States.





How to make it at home

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If you wish to create a New York Style Pizza at home, there are many recipes online. The key lies in setting the base correctly. Some say that one should use a food processor to create a smooth dough. Other say that it should be kneaded by hand. But you can take any of the approach. You just need to know when your dough is ready. And for this, you can use the windowpane test. This test will tell you whether or not your dough is ready to give you a thin base. So, to do this, you can break off a small piece like a marble size. Now, you need to hold it between your fingers and stretch it in a rectangular shape slowly. The idea is to make it thin as much as you can. As you are stretching it, you have to hold it to the light. If you get it thin like a windowpane, then you are done. A thing to keep in mind is that even a perfect dough will break ultimately. The thing is that you need to stretch it out to see through it before it happens. If it doesn’t happen, then you need to give it another knead.