La pizza al estilo de Nueva York gana terreno en España
Gracias a la inmigración italiana, la ciudad que nunca duerme tiene su propia versión de este clásico, y su auge en España demuestra las ganas de explorar otras masas más allá de la napolitana.
There are pizzas beyond Naples, but in Spain the influence of Parthenope reigns supreme: when you hear the word pizza, the first thing that comes to mind is a steaming disc, with leopard-print edges, fresh out of a wood-fired oven.
There's no shortage of restaurants that follow other Italian styles, such as Roman pizza, which is thinner and crispier, pinsa, or pizzetta sarda, which is eaten folded. Even so, Neapolitan style is overwhelmingly dominant, and the rise of New York-style pizza is a clear sign that people are eager to try other types of dough.
Pigeons, yellow taxis, George Costanza: few images connect as directly with New York as the triangular slice of pepperoni pizza, which is also one of the most used emojis on WhatsApp. Lombardi's, founded by Neapolitan immigrants in the early 20th century, claims to be the first pizzeria in America, although several studies have debunked this.
Modernist Pizza, the definitive modern work on this product, places the first documented New York pizzeria in the late 19th century, in a dilapidated building on Mulberry Street, where Italian immigrants eked out a living in precarious conditions. Lombardi's continues to claim to be the first, and the legend lives on: in the world of New York pizza, myths carry as much weight as facts.
What is undeniable is that, without the Italian immigrants who crossed the Atlantic between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pizza would likely have remained a Neapolitan phenomenon. That's why a slice of pizza is part of the identity of New York, the quintessential immigrant city, and a source of pride for New Yorkers, who display it with more enthusiasm than their own flag.
