@ZachWeinersmith if you fall from a tall building, of which Chicago has many, and you land on a local pizza, your chances of survival are higher than in New York where the thin crust provides almost no cushioning at all.
Any New Yorker who insists that Chicago pizza isn't pizza but also calls New York pizza a 'pie' may be disregarded.
For me, if you like the cheese and sauce and fillings more than you like the crust, well that's what Chicago pizza brings to the table. I love it. But it is a different experience than other pizzas.
Note, the bready stuff from Old Chicago etc is not the same thing. That's just a normal pizza with a thicker crust.
@ZachWeinersmith Sort of the opposite of what you're asking for, but I had to link this old (but epic) Jon Stewart rant against deep dish pizza for anyone who hasn't seen it. I actually like deep dish pizza and don't think any respectable pizza should be foldable, but this bit still gets me every time. https://youtu.be/jCgYMFtxUUw
@ZachWeinersmith You can set up artillery behind the outer layer of crust, and then to provide enfilade fire you emplace Maxims under cover of cheese-breads spaced evenly around the main pizza itself. The pie should be essentially impregnable at this point. If you can keep a force ready to sally forth when enemies try to bypass your position, you should be able to crush them with little trouble.
@ZachWeinersmith When I think of ordering pizza no one seriously suggests Chicago style pizza. It's just a different kind of pizza and there are times you want to order specifically deep dish and that's when you get it. It's just a cheese casserole.
@ZachWeinersmith I'm not always in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but when I am, I stop at Papa Del's Pizza, which I've visited as recently as a few months ago and as far back as 1980, when I was first introduced to Papa Del's and the concept of Chicago deep-dish pizza. It is very very good and one might say I love, no, loof, no, lurve it. I've been tempted from time to time to order a frozen Papa Del's pizza shipped w/ dry ice overnight via FedEx, but I haven't ever done it . . . yet. 😎
@ZachWeinersmith if it has a city name you should wait until tried in that city before passing judgement. Often when taking something out of the city they cheat a bunch of little things that are important.
@ZachWeinersmith Chicago deep dish pizza: because sometimes you're craving pizza topping flavour, lots and lots of pizza toppings, but you don't want bread. Bread'll just fill you up so there's less room for pizza toppings. So, you put the pizza toppings in a quiche crust instead, piled way deeper than any flatbread crust would allow.
Main benefits:
Maximize pizza flavour density.
Lower carb to grease ratio.
One pizza can actually satisfy 4 people.
You can order garlic bread if you want bread.
@ZachWeinersmith Chicago style deep dish is an ingredient by ingredient embellishment and exaggeration of a pizza to create a dining experience others are not bold enough to attempt.
The crust is thick, cooked in a pan to achieve a crunchy crust like freshly baked bread. Strong enough to carry the rest of the ingredients and with a unique flavor of it's own.
The audaciously abundant cheese, bordering on excessive, provides a rich substrate for the "toppings."..
@ZachWeinersmith As a native Chicagoan, I presume you mean Chicago -style Deep Dish pizza, correct?
If you like pie, and you like pizza (carb! Tomato! Cheese!), then the appeal of Chicago style deep-dish is that it's pizza-flavored pie.
Try Lou Malnati's deep dish pepperoni for a sense of how it's supposed to taste: https://www.loumalnatis.com
That's got a bright, tangy tomato sauce, crust that's crispy (not soggy) and cheese that's browned on top, but chewy and densely cheesy in the body. Add pepperoni to round out the crispy/meaty dimension, and you've got what it's about.
The style is supposed to be filling: one wedge can be a whole meal.
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