Here is a shot of a real Chicago pizza:
It is sometimes called Tavern style elsewhere.
The crust is thin but has a distinct crunch to it, unlike NY/Jersey thin crust, which is floppy.
Also on a good Chicago “Tavern” pizza, the toppings will be thicker than the crust.
This is the style they serve at Vito & Nick’s, and all across the South Side.
Please note that in the deep dish the crust is first, then cheese and sassage in a layer, and finally a whole can of raw tomatoes is dumped on top.
It’s then baked in a carbon steel pan.
The bottom crust is a little crispy, but all that moisture tends to make the rest of it soggy and heavy.
As a result, the stuff is a real gut bomb.
Well, apparently this tourist “crap” made Kenji Lopez-Alt swoon: http://archive.seattleweekly.com/home/961677-129/a-former-amazonian-is-making-some
That’s why I hazarded yet another $30 for a pie made in homage to Papa Del’s, Burt Katz (Pequod’s, Bert’s Place).
Oh well…
Suggest you take that up with him in the Q&A…
Nah, the point being that Kenji’s take on Chicago deepdish was the same as mine (meh), and then he raves–over this?
I’ve had lousy pizza in NYC and Naples, too, but no deepdish place with even great recs/revs has been the least bit redeeming to me.
A can of raw tomatoes dumped on top? Maybe THAT’S the reason the Cubs were cursed! Blecccchhhh.
My sincere sympathies.
If it’s any consolation I cant stand the thick stuff either.
It’s a gut bomb.
Su Casa is still there.
That photo definitely doesn’t look like the type of crust I expect from deep-dish Chicago style pizza. Here’s a photo from a Lou Malnati’s pie (my preferred deep-dish chain) - you can see that the crust is actually fairly thin, and holds a layer of cheese at least as thick as the crust.
Having made Malnati-style crust myself, I can tell you that the recipe for this crust is nothing at all like a typical pizza crust - it has much lower hydration, a good deal of fat, and it isn’t supposed to rise or have oven spring. It’s almost like a cross between a biscuit and a buttery cracker. Other deep-dish places do it differently, but I’ve never seen one like you posted.
VikingKaj, what you posted looks like what I know as St. Louis style pizza, although St. Louis style is also defined by the use of Provel cheese (an abomination). I have heard from Chicago natives that this thin style is also a thing there, but they have always specified “Chicago style thin crust” or “Chicago style deep dish.” For people who are not from Chicago, though, deep dish has taken over the meaning of “Chicago style.”
Only had one experience with Chicago Deep Dish. It was here. Palermo’s ran the kitchen. Four of us were amazed. It was a tasty pie.
That’s odd. I see only “Thin Crust” pizzas on Red Ivy’s/Palermo’s menu…
The only similarity is the square cut, I’ve had St. Louis and it tastes totally different.
St. Louis has a biscuit style crust (baking soda, no yeast) and the afore-mentioned provel cheese, which is like an Italian version of Velveeta. Not my thing, but under the Salmon theory of pizza, if you were raised on it, you probably prefer it and return to it.
Please note: there is no substitute for the genuine fennel laced fresh sassage that you get on a thin crust Chicago pizza !
When we went out for pizza with my friends and family while growing up, it was always thin crust at the neighborhood joints. The deep dish places back then were all downtown in a narrow cluster around Wabash Ave, I didn’t go to one of these until I was well into my teens. The uno style was not served outside the tourist district.
In the latter days there has been some controversy regarding who has the best deep dish style pizza, the general consensus is Malnati’s or Giordano’s. I am not a fan of either.
There are some 10-12 year old threads on CH about this, but it’s usually not a big deal like pizza seems to be in SF or NYC. It’s why I have a hard time understanding the concept of “elevated” pizza. I don’t think you would ever hear anyone in Chicago describe a pizza as “ethereal” like you see in the NY Times or Baghdad by the Bay.
Yes, I will agree with that, for people who are not from Chicago.
But I find it highly irksome that the deep dish is referred to as “Chicago-style” pizza, when actually most true Chicagoans eat something totally different.
Wow, really? Just shows you how loyal people are in Chicago to what they like.
As I recall that place served the most gringo-cized Mexican food ever.
I was not from Chicago originally, but spent 4 years around Chicago (that’s before I paid attention to eating, or had money for eating out). But the look of ‘Chicago deep dish’ looked unattractive to me at the time that I never tried. With that said, I had no idea the dish is not Chicago.
But then again, I can’t tell you how many times people told me ‘Chicago must be really windy’ and I had to explain to them every time.
I grew up in Chicago. That looks like the pizza we ate back then. I never had a deep dish pizza until much later. I think they weren’t invented when I was a kid. We used to go to Don & Angies - a local place on Roosevelt Road. The pizza guy was sort of in the middle against one wall & you could watch him throw the dough. Then on with the sauce, cheese & toppings & into the oven. The crust was thin, the sauce was light as was the cheese. Most pizzas around here (NJ) just have wayyy to much of everything on them for my taste. Especially delivered - they just become a soggy gloppy mass of cheese, sauce & dough. & nobody around here cuts them square. Oh & speaking of Chicago… I’ve been a Cubs fan for 55+ years. HOORAY CUBBIES!!!
Guess we can all go ice skating in hell now…
Now that’s what I’m talking about, Willis !
