This maybe one of the things which most make people curious whenever they come to visit Italy. If you order pizza at home, for example from Pizza Hut or Domino’s, you are maybe used to order just a single pizza for your family. At the fact, it is quite common to share a pizza with other people. In Italy, instead, everyone eats an entire pizza. If you have a family and want to order pizza for 3 people, you call the pizzeria and ask for “3 pizzas to be delivered, please”. No one in Italy would think about ordering a single pizza for 3 people, even if it may be more common to order a single pizza for two people (if these people are not much hungry or want to eat also something else). What’s the reason?
The reason stays in the substantial difference between American & Italian pizza. Italian pizzas are generally much more light than American ones, even if there are heavy Italian pizzas as well. Anyway things like würstel inside the crust or replacing crudt with cheese bites don’t really happen in Italian pizzerias and so, even many caloric Italian pizzas, would be maybe still lighter than the American counterparts. That’s why an Italian can easily eat an entire pizza and it is quite normal to eat like this. Obviously it seems a little hard to eat an entire giant pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and cheesy bites too (Italian pizza features also generally less cheese than the American counterparts). Adding the fact Italian pizzas are also generally thinner than the American counterparts, it is easy to understand why it is not impossible to eat an entire pizza.
As well, if you order American pizza, dividing it with other people is maybe the best thing to do. If you order an Italian pizza, instead, don’t be afraid to eat an entire one: you can really do it!
What about Italian American pizza @user_not_found I had the delight of sharing one with @TraciC at L&B Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn, NY and it was enormous!! We made a valiant effort to eat it all, but alas failure. I took the left overs with me and had them for breakfast the next day. Really yummy. I liked it so much I plan to travel 16,662 km just to eat there again and to have some more Coney Island Beer :).
Here in Australia we have various sizes from 20cm up to 80cm and in some places 100cm. One person can usually chew through a 20cm pizza with ease but the bigger ones are all about sharing.
@user_not_found I would agree that while I’ve never been to Italy, when I’ve been to Italian pizza spots (and not Brooklyn places), it IS possible to eat an entire pizza on your own because it’s so light. As @PaulPavlinovich said, we could NOT finish the whole pizza between us simply because it was so thick and heavy but oh so delicious!
@PaulPavlinovich pizza in Italy has usually a diameter of 30 cm so it stays in the measures you have given. Well, 20 cm is still a little less, ours is really 30 cm, sometimes also 35 cm. You can also find larger pizzas as many pizzerias cook them as well (you can also find them in many pizza takeaways which usually make large trays of pizza slices and they are all meant to be shared as well. Generally a foreigner in Italy may find it challenging to finish an entire pizza, even if at the end I guess it’s also the belief of eating too much which contributes to feeling not able to finish it. Pizzas larger than 30-35 cm are meant to be shared also in Italy: they are usually called “pizza gigante” (giant pizza), “pizza large” or with similar names.
@TraciC the thing which may surprise you is that also in Italy there is a particular variant of pizza meant to be eaten in slices because made very heavy and thick. In Milan there is a chain called “Spontini” which cooks this particular pizza, even if there are also independent places as well. We call it “pizza toscana” also because of the Spontini’s founder origin, but also “Milanese pizza” (as Spontini chain is popular in Milan). And the recipe itself is inspired by the Sicilian “sfincione”, so there’s really no specific Italian area to attribute to this pizza. Well, s single slice of this pizza will make you easily full.
@TraciC Have actually accepted the challenge and wanted to look for a place in New York which can serve an acceptable Italian style pizza. The photos of this place are really inspiring me:
Some photos really look like Italian style pizzas. I think you may try fried calzone menu section, or Neapolitan style pizza, if food is yummy as it looks in the photos…, it’s a good place!
@marcorp I guess the “famous” pizza with pineapple (famous because in Italy it is always the center of jokes about pizza, even if I wouldn’t be scared to try it at least once in my life - honestly am curious to try it) is easy to find in Peru, isn’t it? I imagine tropical add-ons are popular in that country. I love veggies on pizza. Here’s a slice of vegan pizza with veggies tomatoes and tofu at the Bistrot Milano Centrale:
@user_not_found yeah! I´m not a big fan of pizza with pinneapple but it´s pretty common in Perú. Pizza Hut, and most international franchises sell this kind of pizza. But, on the other hand, there are some serious specialty/artisan pizzas that are outstanding.
@user_not_found I’ve been to Prince Street Pizza. We actually went a few years back as a bunch of Local Guides as everyone loves their pepperoni pizza. It’s pretty good but it’s pretty heavy!!!
Nice post!! In Argentina we usually share pizza. You can orden 12, 8 or 4 portions pizza. And you can have different toppings in each section of your pizza.
Now, do you think I can find anything just as good in NYC?
