Question: Greek Style - Italian Style Pizza

April 24, 2010
Here in New England we have people always saying thing like "they make Greek style pizza" or "they make Italian style pizza" but no one seems to be able to tell us what it means! So what does it mean and they are almost always talking about the crust.

Answers

Chris Paulk's picture

I would guess that the answer is subjective- different things to different folks.
When I make Greek Pizza at home - I use phyllo dough as the crust.
I top it with spinach (or grape leaves) tomatoes, onions, olives feta and mozzarella, and a sprinkling of fresh oregano.
Per Wikpedia:

"Greek pizza can refer to either of two styles of pizza.
One usage refers to a pizza with typically (or stereotypically) Greek ingredients as toppings. These include authentic toppings such as feta cheese, onion, Kalamata olives, fresh tomato, and green bell pepper, as well as others borrowed from unrelated Greek dishes such as gyros meat[1] or others incorrectly believed to be typical of Greek cuisine, such as spinach.
The other usage refers to a style of pizza crust rather than its toppings. This style is baked in a pan, instead of directly on the bricks of the pizza oven (as is more traditional for Italian pizza.) It has a crust that is usually quite oily. This style of pizza is referred to as "Greek pizza" even when it has non-Greek toppings, since it is typical of pizzerias owned by Greek immigrants. These establishments often also sell Greek specialities, such as Greek salads and gyros, and tend to brand themselves as "Pizza and Pasta" or as a "House of Pizza"; a code signifying that it is not an Italian restaurant, but a Greek restaurant serving Italian style food.."