Sizzling in a rectangular pot and sliced into perfect squares, each corner boasting an irresistible crunch and cheesy flavor, Detroit-style pizza is taking America by storm.
This iconic pie was born in 1946 at Buddy's Pizza on Detroit's East Side, when a former restaurant owner borrowed a rectangular steel pan from a local auto factory.
During a recent visit to the original Buddy's location, Joe Dominiak, the company's chief operating officer, explained how the invention “turned pizza from round to square. And it brought out the true mettle of the auto industry.” He told Scripps News about it.
In the 1940s, rectangular steel trays were common inside Detroit auto plants to collect dripping oil. Nearly 80 years later, the recipe has not changed, and the intricate dough making begins early in the morning.
“New York style is you roll the dough, throw it up in the air, flatten it and boom. Our dough takes four and a half hours to get into the oven,” Dominic explained.
Once the dough is mixed, rolled and rolled out, it is topped with cheese and sometimes pepperoni to “infuse the flavor into the dough” and then left to rise for several hours.
It's then taken to the kitchen, where it's layered with more brick Wisconsin cheese all the way to the edges to create the pie's trademark caramelized crust.
You can add as many toppings as you like, but they all need to be underneath the sauce. This is what makes Detroit-style pizza unique.
“Our sauce is used to help it move with the cheese so it melts into the pizza, and we have sauce everywhere,” Dominiak said.
This is a unique pizza that is gaining popularity nationwide. Searches for Detroit-style pizza among elite critics jumped 26% from 2022 to 2023, according to a new study from Yelp.
The surge in popularity is fueled by Detroiters leaving town and yearning for a piece of their hometown.
As a result, Dominiak told Scripps News that popular Michigan chain Buddy's Pizza will soon expand beyond the Mitten State, bringing the Motor City's original blue-collar pie to pizza lovers across the country. He said he has plans to offer it.
“I love New York-style pizza, but nothing beats Detroit-style,” Dominic said.
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