Pizza's interesting to me because it's one of the few foods where I think the American variant is largely superior to the original. All of the "traditional style" pizza I've had simply doesn't have near enough cheese.
Sort of reminds me of how Japan has mastered high end denim despite it being a very American product.
"
Pizza's interesting to me because it's one of the few foods where I think the American variant is largely superior to the original. All of the "traditional style" pizza I've had simply doesn't have near enough cheese. "
It is such an American comment. Cheese is a very diverse food and putting on pizza itself not a quality.
But my main point is that: Ranking food is so American. I like to draw this comparision: Germany today has the highest share of people not born in the country (20%). So it is not a surprise the local cuisine is heavily influenced by foreign cuisines. The most famous dish of that process is Döner, originated from the Turkish Döner Kebab.
So what are the Germans handle this fact? At least if you read comments in r/Döner, it is seen as just two different dishes with its own qualities. You can't get the OG Döner Kebab (and all its variants) in Germany very easily, but vice versa German - styled Döner in Turkey isn't so good.
And I like that attitude. Food is art. You can't just rank art. But Americans still try.
Pizza in the US is so detached from its Italian origins that if you emphasized "authentic" pizza, a fair amount of people would think you're talking about New York style.
Personally I don't see the point in being so combative. People's food preferences depend on where they're from and what they've grown up eating. For example, someone from Hungary might think that raw onions on bread is a good lunch, while the rest of the world would consider that "a bit lunatic". I don’t have a problem with Americans preferring American pizza, Italians preferring Italian pizza, or Hungarians liking raw onion bread.
One thing is saying that they prefer, and other is saying that its the better version or even the best. Especially since its a well known fact that the US food safety standards are pretty low.
I mean there are many distinct styles of American pizza. And Italy itself is home to several different distinct styles of pizza. Is Pizza al Taglio "authentic"? What about Sicilian Pizza? Is Pizza Fritta "authentic"?
Sort of reminds me of how Japan has mastered high end denim despite it being a very American product.