The Crunch Bunch: Thin & Crispy Pizza!

Pizza truly is amazing. It’s the food of the people. It brings people together, heals hangovers, broken hearts, and it’s a celebration of humble ingredients.

There are innumerable styles across the globe, and to celebrate National Pizza Month, we’re taking you on a journey of three of the most popular types. First up is Thin & Crispy...

Where to start… thin and crispy pizza is the type you grab a slice of at a party, or in a bar while watching the game with a cold beer. We’re going global with our low-down of three very distinct styles; Flammkuchen from Germany / France, New York from the USA, and finally Roman al Taglio from Italy...

Traditional Flammkuchen
Flammkuchen, tarte flambée, flame cake… This thin, crispy, and salty delight is a delicious pizza style that originates from the French/German border. Given its wood-fired cooking technique, all names translate to “pie baked in flames”. The thin oval shaped pizza is made from unleavened dough, and topped with crème fraîche, onions and lardons. Farmers from Alsace and Baden originally used the dish to test the heat of their wood fired bread ovens.

Each week when baking their bread, they’d push the embers aside and test the heat by pushing the Flammkuchen into the centre of the oven. The heat would scorch the edges and toppings of the flame cake, cooking it in a minute or two.

This thin and crispy pizza is super easy to create in Ooni, and utterly delicious. Check out Slicemonger’s recipe.

New York-Style Pizza
New York-style is hand-tossed thin crust pizza, that has fairly traditional toppings. New York-style is derived from Neapolitan style, brought by the Italian immigrants to New York in the early 1900s.

Today it is the favoured slice of New York folk, sold by the slice, and easily folded. It is an iconic part of New York life. Although it’s spread across the world, New York style is said to originate from Gennaro Lombardi, an immigrant pizzaiolo from Napoli. The tradition of buying by the slice is said to come from his grocery store in 1897. Many people couldn’t afford a whole pizza, so they started selling by the slice.

New York-style is around double the side of Neapolitan style pizzas. Much like Neapolitan style, the New York water is said to have a huge influence on the dough, with many out of state Pizzaioli importing New York water to create an authentic dough.

New York pizza is so ingrained into New York life that there’s something called the ‘Pizza Principle’. Since the early 1960s the price of a slice of pizza has matched the cost of a New York subway ride.

If you want to give it a spin, check out our how to guide...

Roman-Style Pizza
Rome has two styles of pizza, pizza al taglio and pizza tonda. Pizza al taglio is a focaccia like base, sold by the slice, and charged by weight. While pizza tonda is a round pizza, with a super thin, crisp base.

Al taglio was born in the 1950s, bakers were baking pizza in rectangular trays, in electric ovens and topping with sauce. However, the pizza was quite heavy. So, they increased the hydration of the dough which made it lighter and much easier to digest.

Today al taglio is found all over the world, but it’s true home is in Rome. It is an integral part of Roman street food, and there are many hotspots around the city to enjoy pizza by the slice.

The world-renowned Pizzarium is a metro ride away from the centre of Rome, but has become a destination for those wishing to experience carefully selected seasonal toppings. Try the Mortadella and chickpea, it’s quite incredible.

Kristian, inspired by his trip to Rome, developed a recipe for Pizza Bianca.

Thin Crispy Pizza