Detroit-style pizza

File:Detroit-Style Pizza-Slice.jpg

Detroit-style pizza is a deep-dish rectangular pizza topped with Wisconsin brick cheese and a cooked tomato-based sauce. The dough typically has a hydration level of 70 percent or higher, which creates an open, porous, chewy crust with a crisp exterior.{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=About Detroit Style Pizza Co. |url=https://detroitstylepizza.com/about-detroit-style-pizza-co/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=DetroitStylePizza.com |language=en-US}} The fresh dough is double-proofed and stretched by hand to the pan corners.{{Cite web |title=What Are the Elements of an Authentic Detroit-Style Pizza? - PMQ Pizza Magazine |url=https://www.pmq.com/authentic-detroit-style-pizza/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.pmq.com}} When seasoning new steel pans, they usually need to be dry-baked using {{convert|10-18|oz|g|-1|abbr=off}} of dough per pan.{{Cite web |title=Shawn Randazzo Patents Method for Seasoning Detroit-Style Pizza Pans - PMQ Pizza Magazine |url=https://www.pmq.com/shawn-randazzo-patents-method-for-seasoning-detroit-style-pizza-pans/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.pmq.com}} Randazzo says that the crust should be about {{convert|1+1/2|in|mm|round=5|abbr=off|sp=us}} thick for true Detroit-style pizza.{{Cite web |title=Detroit-Style Pizza: Shawn Randazzo Shares His Recipe for the Detroit Twist - PMQ Pizza Magazine |url=https://www.pmq.com/detroit-style-pizza-recipe/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.pmq.com}} The buttery flavor of the crust results from a small quantity of oil and the melting properties of the mozzarella and Wisconsin brick cheeses.{{Cite web |title=The Square Beyond Compare: 8 Facts You Must Know About Detroit-Style Pizza - PMQ Pizza Magazine |url=https://www.pmq.com/the-square-beyond-compare-8-facts-you-must-know-about-detroit-style-pizza/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.pmq.com}} Shield's Pizza describes the importance of the sauce for flavor and how quality is ensured by consistently baking pizza for 13 minutes at {{cvt|440|F|C|round=5}}. Loui's Pizza places the pepperoni first, underneath almost one pound of brick cheese and then bakes the pizza at {{cvt|700|F|C|round=5}}. The brick cheese can withstand the heat due to the heavy butterfat content.

Pepperoni is sometimes placed directly on the crust, and other toppings may go directly on top of the cheese with the cooked sauce optionally as the final layer, applied in dollops or in "racing stripes", two or three lines of sauce.{{Cite web |date=29 October 2019 |title=A pan and a plan: how Buddy's "Detroit style" pizza evolved from local delicacy to national delight |url=https://www.michiganradio.org/post/pan-and-plan-how-buddy-s-detroit-style-pizza-evolved-local-delicacy-national-delight |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.michiganradio.org |language=en}} Some recipes call for the sauce to be added after the pizza comes out of the oven. The style is sometimes referred to as "red top" because the sauce is the final topping.

The cheese is spread to the edges and caramelizes against the high-sided heavyweight rectangular pan, giving the crust a lacy, crispy edge. This edge, known as frico, is the crispy caramelized cheese that runs along the edges of Detroit-style pizzas.{{Cite web |last=Unrein |first=John |date=2019-02-08 |title=Peter Reinhart discusses how to create the perfect pan pizza |url=https://www.bakemag.com/articles/11761-peter-reinhart-discusses-how-to-create-the-perfect-pan-pizza |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.bakemag.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kurlyandchik |first=Mark |date=2020-02-09 |title=2020 Restaurant of the Year Classic: Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant |url=https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/restaurant-of-the-year/2020/02/09/eastpointe-favorite-named-2020-restaurant-year-classic/4642061002/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Detroit Free Press |language=en-US}} According to the trade journal Pizza Today, "The key to this pizza is the delicious caramelized cheese that melts down the interior walls of the pan".

File:Detroit-style pizza showing typica lacy cheese crust.jpg

File:Detroit Style Pizza from Calphalon Bread Pans.png

Detroit-style pizza was developed in 1946 at Buddy's Rendezvous, a former speakeasy owned by Gus and Anna Guerra located at the corner of Six Mile Road and Conant Street in Detroit.{{Cite web |last=Houck |first=Brenna |date=9 April 2019 |title=Detroit-Style Pizza Is Having a Moment. But Are Its Originators Getting Left Behind? |url=https://www.eater.com/2019/4/9/18300994/square-pizza-detroit-style-trend-buddys-emmy-squared-expansion |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214145419/https://www.eater.com/2019/4/9/18300994/square-pizza-detroit-style-trend-buddys-emmy-squared-expansion |archive-date=14 December 2019 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=Eater |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=López-Alt |first=J. Kenji |date=28 February 2017 |title=Detroit-Style Pizza Is the Best Thing You're Gonna Make This Year {{!}} The Food Lab |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/how-to-make-detroit-style-pizza.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414185018/https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/how-to-make-detroit-style-pizza.html |archive-date=2020-04-14 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Serious Eats |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Buddy's Pizza |url=https://www.buddyspizza.com/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Buddy's Pizza |language=en-US}} Sources disagree whether the original Sicilian-style recipe was based on Anna Guerra's mother's recipe for sfincione{{Cite web |date=9 February 2020 |title=Freep Names Detroit-Style Pizza Joint (Not Buddy's) 'Classic Restaurant' of 2020 |url=https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/24356/freep_names_detroit-style_pizza_joint_not_buddy_s_classic_restaurant_of_the_year |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.deadlinedetroit.com}} or a recipe from one of the restaurant's employees, a Sicilian woman named Connie Piccinato.{{cite web |last=Day |first=Jennifer |date=23 August 2018 |title=Detroit-Style Pizza, a Motor City Classic, Revs Up Chicago Dining Scene |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/foodfocus/ct-food-history-of-detroit-pizza-20180814-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829001505/http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/foodfocus/ct-food-history-of-detroit-pizza-20180814-story.html |archive-date=29 August 2018 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Chicago Tribune}}{{Cite web |title=Detroit-Style Pizza - Appears in Cook's Country August/September 2017, Cook's Country TV Season 11: Reimagining Italian American Classics |url=https://www.cookscountry.com/videos/3971-detroit-style-pizza |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521145933/https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cookscountry/recipes/9775-detroit-style-pizza |archive-date=2023-05-21 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.cookscountry.com}}{{Cite news |last=Schafer |first=Michael |date=2013-06-19 |title=Motor City Export |language=en-US |website=Hour Detroit Magazine |url=https://www.hourdetroit.com/restaurants-food/motor-city-export/ |access-date=2023-07-08}} The recipe created a "focaccia-like crust" and the restaurant baked it in blue steel pans available from local automotive suppliers because baking pans available at the time were not appropriate for the dish. The steel pans were made by Dover Parkersburg in the 1930s and 1940s and were originally used as drip trays or to hold small parts or scrap metal in automobile factories. Some 50- to 75-year-old pans are still in use.

The restaurant was later renamed Buddy's Pizza. In 1953, the Guerras sold it and opened Cloverleaf Bar in Eastpointe, Michigan. Former Buddy's employee Louis Tourtois made pizzas at Shield's before founding Loui's Pizza in Hazel Park, Michigan.{{Cite web |date=7 August 2012 |title=A History of Detroit-Style Pizza and Where to Find It |url=https://www.michigan.org/article/trip-idea/history-of-detroit-style-pizza-where-to-find-it |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Michigan |language=en}} The Detroit News called Tourtois the "king of pizzas" in 1978. National chain Jet's, local chain Shield's, and Luigi's the Original of Harrison Township are other locally-notable restaurants serving the style.{{Cite web |last=Houck |first=Brenna |date=19 January 2016 |title=Detroit-Style Pizza: The Definitive Guide |url=https://www.eater.com/2016/1/19/10787414/detroit-style-pizza-best-where-to-eat |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221155302/https://www.eater.com/2016/1/19/10787414/detroit-style-pizza-best-where-to-eat |archive-date=21 February 2020 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Eater |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Selasky |first=Susan |date=30 July 2019 |title=6 places to get Detroit-style pizza in metro Detroit |url=https://www.freep.com/in-depth/entertainment/dining/2019/07/30/detroit-style-pizza-restaurants/1772065001/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Detroit Free Press |language=en}}

Buddy's Pizza chief brand officer Wesley Pikula, who started at Buddy's as a busboy in the 1980s, said that he had never heard the term "Detroit-style" before the 1980s when a trade magazine used it and that even afterward it was seldom used except in national trade articles. As late as 2007, some local media were referring to the style as "Sicilian-style".{{Cite web |date=12 August 2007 |title=Buddy's Pizza revives Detroit tradition: Friday night bocce is back |url=https://www.newslibrary.com/newspapers?sort=dsc&formType=basic&alltext=Buddy%27s+Pizza+revives+Detroit+tradition%3A+Friday+night+bocce+is+back |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=The Detroit News}} Some makers of Detroit-style pizza in other areas questioned whether to call their pizza by that name, as "sometimes people have negative thoughts about Detroit."{{Cite web |last=Rector |first=Sylvia |date=2013-03-31 |title=Detroit-style pizza gaining fame, winning fans nationwide |url=http://www.freep.com/article/20130331/ENT08/303310184/Detroit-style-pizza-gaining-fame-winning-fans-nationwide |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130402125142/http://www.freep.com/article/20130331/ENT08/303310184/Detroit-style-pizza-gaining-fame-winning-fans-nationwide|archive-date= April 2, 2013|access-date=2023-07-09 |website=Detroit Free Press |language=en-US}}

The Detroit-style pizza was popular throughout the Detroit area but until the 2010s was not often found at restaurants outside the area. In 2011 two Detroit brothers, Zane and Brandon Hunt, opened a Detroit-style pizza restaurant in Austin, Texas, named Via 313, using the "Detroit-style" name as a point of differentiation. In 2012, a New York restaurateur created a pizza he called "Detroit-style", though he had never visited Detroit, using focaccia dough, mozzarella, and ricotta.

File:IMG-9087 - Copy.jpg

In 2012, local restaurant cook Shawn Randazzo won the Las Vegas International Pizza Expo world championship with a Detroit-style pizza, and according to pizza educator Tony Gemignani, the reaction was immediate. "After he won, I must have had six phone calls from operators, from guys who are big in the industry, saying, 'Give me a recipe for Detroit. How do I figure this out?{{'"}}

According to Serious Eats, "in early 2016 or so, everyone seemed to be talking about it or writing about it or opening up restaurants devoted to it." Trade journal Pizza Today wrote in 2018 that "Perhaps no pizza style has entered the public consciousness in quite the way that Detroit-style pan pizza has."{{Cite web |date=1 May 2018 |title=Knead to Know: Detroit Style Dough |url=https://www.pizzatoday.com/departments/in-the-kitchen/knead-to-know-detroit-style-dough/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521024105/https://www.pizzatoday.com/departments/in-the-kitchen/knead-to-know-detroit-style-dough/ |archive-date=May 21, 2018 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Pizza Today |language=en}} Trade journal Restaurant Hospitality said the style had become popular on Instagram.{{Cite web |last=Dawson |first=Gloria |date=24 April 2018 |title=Detroit-style pizza finds its niche outside Motor City |url=https://www.restaurant-hospitality.com/food-trends/detroit-style-pizza-finds-its-niche-outside-motor-city |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Restaurant Hospitality |language=en}}

In 2019, Esquire called the style "one of the hottest food trends across America",{{Cite web |last=Mamoon |first=Omar |date=14 February 2019 |title=Hip to Be Square: Detroit-Style Pizza Is Conquering America |url=https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/a26242751/best-detroit-style-pizza/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Esquire |language=en-US}} and both the Detroit Free Press and Eater said Detroit-style pizza was "having its moment". Eater wrote that pizzerias offering the style were spreading across the US, but that the new pizzas were different:

{{Blockquote|text=On one side are the local Detroit pizzerias and restaurants devoted to their normcore, family-restaurant roots with toppings directly on the crust, a layer of processed brick cheese, and sauce on top. Then there are the "artisanal" square pizzas, with their aged doughs, organic toppings, unprocessed cheeses, and "frico" crust. These designer square slices are sometimes baked in a wood-fired oven and often served on Instagrammable metal trays in perfect lighting—a departure from the checkered tablecloths, no-frills boat drinks, and generous displays of bocce ball plaques at Buddy's. And in this new era of Detroit-style pizza, it's this photogenic version that many Americans are discovering first.|author=|title=|source=}}

File:Detroit-style pizza.jpg

Eater said the artisanal trend was slow to catch on in Detroit. Along with the Coney Island hot dog and the Boston cooler, the traditional Detroit-style is one of Detroit's iconic local foods.{{Cite web |last=Lande |first=Samantha |date=26 July 2017 |title=5 Foods To Try in Detroit |url=https://traveler.marriott.com/detroit/hungry-motor-city-heres-dig-5-must-try-detroit-foods/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Marriott Bonvoy Traveler |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Marklew |first=Tim |date=12 January 2018 |title=10 Iconic Detroit Dishes You Need to Try |url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/michigan/articles/10-iconic-detroit-dishes-you-need-to-try/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Culture Trip}}{{Cite web |last1=Houck |first1=Brenna |last2=Williams |first2=Monica |date=17 March 2021 |title=30 Iconic Foods to Eat in Detroit |url=https://detroit.eater.com/maps/best-detroit-dishes-food |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Eater Detroit |language=en}}

According to a 2021 forecast report, Yelp.com noted that Detroit-style pizza was national and reported that reviews mentioning "Detroit-style pizza" were up 52%.{{Cite news |last=Baetens |first=Melody |date=February 24, 2021 |title=Detroit-style pizza is on the rise nationally |work=The Detroit News |url=https://eu.detroitnews.com/in-depth/entertainment/dining/2021/02/24/detroit-style-square-pizza-rise-nationally-best-guide-pan/6724926002/ |url-status=live |access-date=2023-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227092558/https://eu.detroitnews.com/in-depth/entertainment/dining/2021/02/24/detroit-style-square-pizza-rise-nationally-best-guide-pan/6724926002/ |archive-date=2021-02-27}} In 2023, Detroit-based author Karen Dybis published Detroit-Style Pizza: A Doughtown History covering three waves of Detroit-style pizza, ranging from the original innovators up through current pizzerias around the country.{{Cite web |last=Baetens |first=Melody |date=2023-06-21 |title=New book details The Detroit News' role in Detroit-style pizza history |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/06/21/new-book-details-the-detroit-news-role-in-detroit-style-pizza-history/70329977007/ |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=The Detroit News |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=New Book Relates the Origins of Detroit-Style Pizza - PMQ Pizza Magazine |url=https://www.pmq.com/detroit-style-pizza-book/ |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=PMQ Pizza Media}}

GQ food critic Alan Richman included Buddy's Pizza and Luigi's the Original among his 2009 list of 25 best pizzas in the USA.{{cite web |last=Richman |first=Alan |date=22 May 2009 |title=25 best pizzas around the country |url=https://www.today.com/food/25-best-pizzas-around-country-2D80555317 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109080900/http://www.today.com/food/25-best-pizzas-around-country-2D80555317 |archive-date=9 November 2017 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Today}} A Detroit-style pizza made by Randazzo, who was then working at Cloverleaf, won the 2012 Las Vegas International Pizza Expo world championship. The Chicago Tribune reviewed Jet's Pizza in 2013 and rated it very highly.{{Cite web |last1=Arnett |first1=Lisa |last2=RedEye |date=January 15, 2013 |title=Pizza review: Jet's Pizza |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/redeye/ct-red-pizza-review-jets-pizza-20130116-story.html |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=The Chicago Tribune}} In 2019, The Daily Meal named Buddy's the best pizza in Michigan.{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=Dan |date=29 April 2019 |title=The Best Pizza in Every State |url=https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/best-pizza-every-state-slideshow/slide-22 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=The Daily Meal |language=en}} The Detroit Free Press named the Cloverleaf its Classic Restaurant of 2020.

In 2020, four Detroit-area restaurants, Buddy's, Supino Pizzeria, Loui's Pizza, and Cloverleaf Pizza, were listed in the 101 Best Pizzas in America by The Daily Meal.{{Cite web |last=Rock |first=Taylor |date=2020-09-10 |title=The 101 Best Pizzas in America |url=https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/101-best-pizzas-america-2020 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=The Daily Meal |language=en}} Pizza Today named Via 313, one of the leading Detroit-style pizza shops in the country, its "Independent Pizzeria of the Year" in 2020.{{Cite web |title=2020 Pizzeria of the Year: Via 313, Austin, Texas |url=https://pizzatoday.com/topics/people-pizzerias/2020-pizzeria-of-the-year-via-313-austin-texas/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=Pizza Today |language=en-US}} Plate mentions that "The chewy crust, crispy cheese corners, and hearty meal of a slice fits precisely with what customers want right now: rich, satisfying comfort to-go."{{Cite web |last=Tomky |first=Naomi |date=2020-09-17 |title=How Detroit-Style Pizza Won Pandemic Hearts and Stomachs |url=https://plateonline.com/food/trending-now/how-detroit-style-pizza-won-pandemic-hearts-and-stomachs?allowguest=true |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=SmartBrief |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101004730/https://plateonline.com/food/trending-now/how-detroit-style-pizza-won-pandemic-hearts-and-stomachs?allowguest=true |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |language=en}} The Palm Beach Post describes how within minutes, a Delray Beach, Florida, bakery with a Detroit-style pizza pop-up store sells out its takeout pizza that is ordered online at noon on a Monday for pickup on the following Sunday.{{Cite web |last=Balmaseda |first=Liz |date=2020-09-21 |title=Death By Pizza: Delray's new pizza obsession sells out within minutes |url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/entertainment/dining/2020/09/18/delray-beach-pizza-window-sells-out-within-minutes-each-week/5810519002/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=The Palm Beach Post |language=en-US}} A writer for Delish originally from Chicago and now based in New York City provided a positive review in an article correspondingly entitled "What Is Detroit-Style Pizza? It's Way Better Than Your Deep Dish Or New York Slice".{{Cite web |last=Schaltegger |first=Megan |date=2019-08-15 |title=Sorry, Detroit-Style Pizza Is Way Better Than Deep Dish Or A New York Slice |url=https://www.delish.com/food/a28662638/what-is-detroit-style-pizza/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Delish |language=en-US}}

{{Portal|United States|Food}}

• Cuisine of the Midwestern United States § Detroit
• List of pizza varieties by country
• Pan pizza

{{Reflist}}

• {{commons category-inline|Detroit-style pizza}}

{{Pizza in the United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Detroit-Style Pizza}}

Category:Pizza in the United States

Category:Cuisine of the Midwestern United States

Category:Culture of Detroit

Category:Food and drink introduced in 1946

Category:Pizza styles

Category:Italian-American culture in Michigan

Category:Italian-American cuisine