Daniel Hwang

Alta Loma HS

11th grade

Pieces of the pies

Pizza is a favorite to numerous amounts of people today. Pizza first originated in Italy but began to spread. Many countries around the world, including United States, now produce all kinds of pizza adapted to their own tastes. But how big are the differences between American pizzas and traditional Italian pizzas?

According to the blog from Hungry Howie’s, the key difference between American and Italian pizzas is the type of sauce used. Americans typically use slow-cooked tomato sauce while Italians regularly use variety of sauces including olive oil, pureed fresh tomatoes, garlic, and oregano. American pizzas are also usually topped with many meat toppings such as sausage, bacon, ham, and pepperoni. However, this is apparently not the case in Italy. Italians mostly like to appreciate the unique flavors of each type of meat, meaning they do not mix many meat toppings onto one pizza. Additionally, in the US, we have the deep-dish pizza, an original American creation while in Italy, the crust varies widely across each village with some being so thin that it’s like eating cheese crackers.

Through my research, I found out that many Americans favored American pizzas while many Italians preferred Italian pizzas. An internet user living in Rome stated that “fresh ingredients are the standard in Italy, and that is what makes the difference.” She said that Americans typically eat at places like Domino’s or Papa John’s and these places produce foods through processing. Another user, though, living in the US, commented that “original does not mean better.” He thought that pizzas started in Italy but were perfected in the US. Typically, when Italians were asked what they thought of American pizzas, they mostly said that American pizzas are way too thick and greasy and focus too much on the toppings than the crust. When Americans were asked to evaluate Italian pizzas, they mostly responded that nothing beats Chicago deep dish pizza.

From my perspective, it appears to be that Italians like to cook pizzas slowly with fresh ingredients and less toppings while Americans cook pizzas with much more grease and toppings. From reading all the reviews and looking at all the pictures, it seems to me that Italian pizzas look and sound better, with their fresh ingredients and thin crusts. In reality, however, none of these pizzas could ever be considered better than each other. The best pizza always depends on each person’s styles and preference.

<Daniel Whang, Alta Loma HS, 11th Grade>