Globally, pizza has progressively ascended to the top of the list of most popular foods.
From the type of dough and size of the crust to the acidity and consistency of the tomato sauce, the type and quantity of cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, cream cheese, or ricotta), and the toppings, if any, a wonderful Italian pizza can be produced in a variety of ways.
For many people, the way the pizza is sliced is one of the most crucial factors.
Although there is much debate, the two most common forms for cutting pizza are square and triangle.
Even among pizza fans, opinions might vary widely on who makes the best pie. The question is, which pizza cut is best overall?
The only way to know is to investigate.
What is a Square Cut Pizza?
All of it started in 1946, in the kitchen of Buddy’s Rendezvous. Buddy’s owner Gus Guerra tweaked a Sicilian-style pizza recipe to create a thick, focaccia-like crust by pressing dough into rectangular blue steel pans popular among automotive workers.
Buddy’s is located in a neighborhood approximately 15 minutes from Detroit’s city center.
He added pepperoni, melty Wisconsin brick cheese, and sauce on top of that foundation.
With its flawlessly permeable crust and crunchy, caramelized cheese edges, the Detroit-style pizza was created.
If you buy thin-crust pizza or bar-style pie in the Midwest, including those in Chicago and St. Louis, it will likely arrive in square pieces, according to Chicagoans.
Those who grew up in New York, New Jersey, and along the East Coast will argue that pizza exclusively comes in slices unless you order a rectangle pizza pie, like a Sicilian slice.
In contrast, pizza is often served in slices everywhere in the nation and, dare we say, the globe, with one circle containing eight pieces.
Not to be mistaken with deep-dish, a thick, dense pizza served in a high-sided pan, is this Chicago-style square sliced pizza.
Due to its weight, deep-dish pizza is often served in slices. But there are many various kinds of pizza, and some of our favorites come as squares rather than pie pieces.
Numerous offshoots of the square Buddy’s pizza have sprung up all across metro Detroit.
At some time, Guerra would take the well-known dish to a restaurant named Cloverleaf in what was then known as East Detroit (now the suburb of Eastpointe).
In Hazel Park, Michigan, Loui’s Pizza was established by another former employee of Buddy’s. Locations like Niki’s Pizza and Shield’s Pizza also adopted the custom and created their own variations.
However, unlike other regional pizzas like New York-style or Chicago deep dish, Detroit-style pizza mostly remained a Detroit phenomenon for a very long time.
Later, something was altered. The popularity of square pan pizza has skyrocketed during the last ten years or so in the United States. Due to this pattern, two opposing camps have appeared:
Local Detroit pizzerias and eateries on one side stick to their traditional, family-style heritage by topping the dough directly, adding a layer of processed brick cheese, and adding sauce on top.
Then there are the square “artisanal” pizzas with their aged crusts, organic toppings, raw cheeses, and “frico” toppings.
These stylish square slices, which differ from Buddy’s checkered tablecloths are sometimes cooked in a wood-fired oven and often served on metal trays.
And in this new age of Detroit-style pizza, many Americans are learning about it for the first time through this appealing variation.
It’s convenient, but it’s not as useful as it seems.
A party-cut pizza is more enticing, but it also has sharp edges that penalize anybody who grabs it first. A pie-cut pizza, on the other hand, delivers enough food for everyone.
If you don’t like parties, you may like a square-cut pizza party.
Its appeal is mostly due to the fact that it caters to partygoers’ appetites more effectively than party-cut pizza does.
Square Cut vs. Triangle Cut
Since huge pizzas are often created in the form of enormous rectangles, it makes it natural that the portions be sliced into tiny squares.
As was already said, the square pizzas flourish in the party pizza setting, especially for charcuteries. Since you cut the pizza in a grid pattern with straight slices, it makes sense.
In general, this cut produces more pieces.
Despite the fact that the pieces are smaller, this has the advantage of making the pizza appear to last longer.
The greatest diversity of components is also provided by the square cut.
You may get a piece with crust, one without crust, or a wonderful corner piece with a lot of crust if you like crust.
In a restaurant or for a casual pizza night with friends, the triangular cut flourishes.
Because you can cut straight lines through the middle of a traditional round pizza, it is ideal for making triangles.
They are a beautiful huge size with decent geometry, and you may cut them into smaller or larger pieces.
This will assist support the pizza as it travels from your plate to your mouth.
Additionally, since it makes about even sorts of pizza and is typically bigger, toppings may be distributed.
Why Ohio Cuts Their Pizza In Squares
To be clear, not all of Ohio’s pizzas are sliced into squares; just the majority of them are.
A few characteristics of Dayton’s square-cut pizza can be identified, including the cracker-thin, often salty dough that is sometimes coated with cornmeal, the very light sauce, and the colossal, edge-to-edge toppings.
Of course, the fact that the pizza is sliced into manageable pieces is crucial.
For instance, it’s difficult to distinguish where the crust starts and the pepperoni stops on a Dayton-style pepperoni pizza.
The characteristic sausage with fennel seed from Marion’s, a franchise restaurant in the Dayton style, is crumbled over the pie.
The Cassano family introduced its pizza to the community in Dayton, Ohio, during the years after World War II by selling it out of the back of their Donisi family market in Kettering.
At first, Vic Cassano, Sr., and his mother-in-law Caroline Donisi struggled with clients who still thought of pizza as an exotic delicacy from the 1950s.
Pizza originated in the Naples area of Italy and arrived in New York City in the late 1800s, but it wasn’t until after the war that it was introduced to the Midwest, primarily by intrepid soldiers who had seen it while on service tours passing through New York and Philadelphia.
The square-cut was created by Ron Holp, a former Cassano’s franchisee who split off in 1964 and established Ron’s Pizza in Miamisburg, Ohio.
Holp also cited the number of toppings on the pizzas as a justification for the square-cut pieces.
Best Way To Cut A Pizza
Fresh pizza is one of life’s greatest joys, whether you paid for delivery or spent hours making a handmade pie.
Ideally, the cheese should be just piping hot enough to gulp down without scorching your lips, and the crust should be toasty, crunchy, and have a subtle yeasty aroma.
Your pizza order is influenced by a variety of things. You must choose your toppings, sauce, and crust type before you eat.
You would assume that your selection process is over after you’ve decided on the components for your pizza, but there is still one choice left: how you want your pizza to be sliced.
Depending on the size of the pizza, many pizza places have their own slicing techniques. However, when eating out, asking for your preferred manner of slicing may really make a difference.
Pizza is best consumed when it is sliced into the typical triangular form. The equal-sized pieces of pizza with a triangular cut are one of its outstanding features.
The pizza is divided into equal pieces and most of the slices will be the same size.
The first bite of a pizza in the traditional triangular form is the best since you can eat the pizza all the way from the center to the crust.
In terms of toppings, the traditional triangle is preferable for pizza with only one topping, such as mozzarella, pepperoni, or olives.
Another way to cut your pizza is to have them tavern cut. The tavern-style cuts in restaurants cut the pizza in square patterns for bigger pizzas.
Pizzas are round, thus the size of the pieces varies. While the central parts have the typical square form, the crust’s outside borders might have tiny triangular shapes.
The smaller pizza pieces are simpler to distribute among bigger groups of people.
Everyone receives a decent quantity, and since you have more slices, you feel like you are receiving more pizza. When you order a pizza with several toppings, square-cut pizza also performs well.
The additional toppings may cause the pizza’s little tip to droop when cut into triangles.
With square slices, the toppings are distributed equally, and you are less likely to accidentally drop the meat lover’s pizza over your lap.
As a last option, you may request that your pizza be cut into thin slices.
Pizza cut into four to six-inch strips is not only simple to grasp and consume, but also great for dipping.
Pizza strips may be dipped into any of the sauces that you order as an additional topping for your pizza.
Only the beginning of the pizza and the crust may fit into a dipping cup with a regular slice. Slices with a strip cut enable you to dip them many times into the dip of your choosing.
Final Thoughts
Although some may find the square-sliced pizza unusual, it’s really a terrific method to enjoy pizza with a group of friends, family, colleagues, or even complete strangers.
Pizza with square cuts is simple to consume, encourages neighborhood and social gatherings, aids in portion management, and is the only method to sample a variety of pizza varieties.
The fact that square-sliced pizza may be enjoyed guilt-free is one of its finest features.
Pizza with a square cut is great for snacking since you can adjust how much you eat depending on how hungry you are. Pizza is often sliced into squares, so there will always be some bigger and some smaller pieces.
Grab a little square piece if you simply want a taste and see how you feel.
We won’t pass judgment on those who want their pizza sliced into a triangular cut.
Everyone still gets to experience the same amount of delicious goodness that the best pizza delivers, regardless of the style of pizza cut, whether it may be a triangular slice with a pizza crust—thin crust or stuffed crust, or a tavern-style pizza slice where you skip eating the crispy crust part of it.
