Pizza Today - July 2023 - 35

Our Editor-in-Chief embraces a style he didn't always love
By Jeremy White
f
or much of my early life, I didn't like
deep-dish pizza. It took too long to
bake. It was just too filling, too oily,
too ... much. To each his own. It just wasn't
for me.
Years later I discovered a shift (a refinement,
perhaps?) in my palate and an opening
of my mind. Maybe I was becoming the
foodie I had previously only fancied myself
to be. Or maybe I was just really hungry and
suddenly liked heavier dishes. Whatever the
case, I began slowly tolerating deep-dish pie.
Disclosure: for the context of this article,
I'm referring not only to " Chicago Deep
Dish " pizza - but to ALL thick pizza
cooked in a pan. I wasn't discriminant. I
disliked all thick pizza equally.
But then I had Shawn Randazzo's
Detroit-style pizza at the International
Pizza Challenge. And Jeff Smokevitch's
Detroit-style pizza at Pizza Expo. And
Tony Gemignani's Sicilian. And Audrey
Kelly's Sicilian pizza. I also had some terrific
stuffed pizzas in Chicago that changed my
mind on the matter entirely.
If given the option, generally speaking,
I'm still prone to go with a tavern-style
pizza over a stuffed pie most of the time.
But I do have to admit that something
within me clicked the first time I had a
remarkably good Detroit-style. And I still,
to this day, dream of a certain Sicilian pizza
I had in California.
So even though I was once a shameless
hater of thick pizzas, I've become quite
a proponent. Having said that, I recently
started using that to force myself to not just
love Detroit and Sicilian styles, but to get
more into the deep-dish pizza we all think
of when we think of 1940s Chicago.
Disclaimer: most people who actually live
in Chicago will tell you they eat " Chicago
thin " much more frequently than " Chicago
thick. " But let's face it: when tourists flood
the Windy City for summer vacation,
they're only thinking of one style when they
search out a " Chicago pizza. "
And it is that iteration of pizza that I had
to force myself to like. It took me a while. In
fact, it took many visits to various pizzerias
in and around Chicago before I moved from
lukewarm to embracing it. But, alas, here
we are. The style has merit whether I like it
or loathe it. But liking it, ultimately, finally
feels right to me.
With all that said, let's not pretend
deep-dish isn't a beast to prepare and bake.
Let's start with the dough. Obviously, you
must get it right before anything else. Here's
a recipe.
Deep-Dish Pizza Dough Recipe
Yields about 38 pounds of dough
25 pounds Flour (11 to 12 percent
protein)
9 1/2 pounds water (70-80 F)
3 ounces active dry yeast
4 ounces salt

Pizza Today - July 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - July 2023

Pizza Today - July 2023 - CT1
Pizza Today - July 2023 - CT2
Pizza Today - July 2023 - Cover1
Pizza Today - July 2023 - Cover2
Pizza Today - July 2023 - 3
Pizza Today - July 2023 - 4
Pizza Today - July 2023 - 5
Pizza Today - July 2023 - 6
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Pizza Today - July 2023 - Cover3
Pizza Today - July 2023 - Cover4
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