Meme by Request, #1

Nadine asked:

Well, i'd like to have explained exactly why NJ pizza is different/inferior to NY pizza, which some of NY-native friends keep telling me..

I don't see any substantial difference between NY and NJ pizza, honestly. To be more precise, the differences between different pizzerias swamp any differences between the two states (even if we're taking "NY" to be just New York City). It's all pretty much thinnish crust rather than deep-dish as the standard (though varying in how thin that is), with a mildly spiced tomato sauce (usually without large chunks of tomato) under cheese.

I mean, Chicago-style is very different. And those things they make in California aren't even really pizza. But the Philly-NJ-NY-CT swath has pretty much a consistent definition of pizza, with individual variations in particular shops.

Pizza shops in that area are usually at least OK -- which means locals can sometimes get really attached to what's only mediocre pizza -- but there are some really good ones. I tend to think that towns with at least two or three competing pizza places get the best, since even the slavish locals can try different places.

(For example, there are at least five pizza places within five minutes driving of where I live. Two of them are quite good, in different ways, and another one used to be wonderful -- and might still be -- but it was very greasy, so I haven't been back in a long time. Another place is a mediocre joint that caters to high school kids with a quick lunch hour. And the bottom-end pizza place when I moved in closed soon after that.)