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Chicago Essential: Neapolitan Pizza at Spacca Napoli
"Spacca Napoli cannot take credit for reintroducing Chicago to Neapolitan pizza; Pizzeria D.O.C...came first."
I thought D.O.C. made Roman pizza.
Covo a Welcome Addition to West Harlem Pizza Scene
"How do I define serious? The oven ...has to get hot enough (800°F, at least) to slightly char the pie and cook the crust all the way through in a few minutes. The cheese has to be fresh mozzarella, and high-quality canned tomatoes must be used for sauce."
Oy vai..."serious" pizza? Seriously?
Isn't whether its "delicious" or not the heart of the matter? I've had many "serious" pizzas around the country that have been rather medicore-- or worse. Conversely, I've had many pizzas that don't fit your description at all that have been "delicious" destination type pizzas.
.
Examples? Last visit to "De Lorenzo's" on Hudson St. tomatoe pie cook time around 10 minutes at 550F with no fresh mozz. "Sally's" sliced tomatoe and garlic took around 6 to 7 minutes which implies around 600F if memory serves w/ no fresh mozz. Francis at Pepe's told me they cook pies at 600F and I don't remember any fresh mozz on my sausage pie.
In fact for my top six or so pizza experiences only Franny's sausage pie and Di Fara's sicilian slice would qualify as "serious" under your definition.
BTW, Sally's sliced tomatoe and garlic and De Lorenzon's sausage pie would be on my list. As would a certain cracker sausage pie and--gasp!!--a Chicago type pan pizza... but that is another story.
Cheers, Reg Jones..
P.S. Hope that didn't sound too snarky, Ed. I did enjoy your book and it helped greatly when I traveled around this great country.
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@Daniel Zamans: Heh, Dan. I enjoy your work. From what I remember of DOC in the 2007-2008 period their pizzas were thin crust, cracker, "wood fired" in the 3-6 minute range (guess). Perhaps the issue is some people mistakenly equate "wood fired" with "Neapolitan". From what I remember Via Stato (circa 2009) does share D.O.C's similiar cracker crust. FWIW, I didn't find either that great.
Anyway check this video uploaded in 2008 at 0:58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY_G8DvoIsk