Before my New York move, I always thought I understood what New York pizza was all about - namely a thin crust (but not as thin as St. Louis style), and big, greasy slices. Greasy in a good way, mind you. I wasn't wrong, but I had a very limited understanding.
The big, thin, greasy slice does exist, and is quite good if you can get it fresh. Reheated slices are not so great.
Beyond that, there is a better pizza, which is very thin (thinner than normal for New York), a very crisp crust, and uses fresh mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella is whiter than the normal kind, and has a higher moisture content. Because of the higher moisture content, the cheese is used sparingly. Still, the center of the pizza tends to be a bit soggy. For this type, fresh basic is usually used to top it off. Even with the sogginess, the pizza tastes wonderful, and the sogginess actually adds a bit of textural contrast. Nick's, by my apartment , has this kind of pizza.
Another type of pizza they have in many places here is the "Grandma Slice", previously known to me as a Sicilian pizza. There may be a difference, the corner pizzeria by my office has both Sicilian and Grandma slices, but I'm not sure what the difference is. At any rate, these pieces are square, the tomato sauce is on top of the cheese, and the crust is thick but light. In most places, this is not so great, but some places top this with a very nice sauce and use the fresh mozzarella, and this makes for a really good pizza.
I'm eating way too much pizza these days. I'm almost back up to my college consumption of 3 pizzas a week.
Posted by ahyatt at August 14, 2004 08:48 PM