April 5th is National Deep Dish Pizza Day, one of 12 annual pizza holidays. That’s a lot of pizza parties, but for today: the history of Chicago-style pizza, also known as deep dish pizza.

The differences between Chicago deep dish pizza, stuffed pizza, and Detroit-style pizza follow.
 
 
> A year of 12 pizza holidays.

> 40 different types of pizza.

> The history of pizza in Italy.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP DISH PIZZA

Chicago deep-dish pizza, also called Chicago-style pizza, is a pizza cooked in a pan with high edges, instead of on a baking tray or a flat pizza peel.

The deep pan affords a pie of several times the toppings/fillings of conventional pizza, and a crust almost as thick as a tart crust (and much taller—photos #1 and #2).

The layers are different, too. Because the deep dish needs to bake longer, the sauce layer is on top so the cheese doesn’t burn.

Thus, the fillings are layered in an inverted order, with the cheese at the bottom, meat and poultry, seafood, vegetables, and fruits (chiles, olives, pineapple) in the middle, and lastly, the sauce.

You should select the fillings that meet your fancy, including leftover meats and even leftover pasta!

Deep-dish pizza sauce is often chunky, not the smooth marinara that tops a regular slice. While the tastes are familiar, the experience is delightfully different.

Pizzeria Uno’s founder, Ike Sewell. is often credited with inventing Chicago deep dish pizza, in 1943. But the reality is slightly different.

According to Tim Samuelson, Chicago’s official cultural historian, there is not enough documentation to determine with certainty who invented Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. A 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News asserts that Uno’s original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the recipe.

And Michele Mohr from the Chicago Tribune reports that, according to the descendants of Saverio Rosati, the menu at Rosati’s Authentic Chicago Pizza has included deep-dish since the restaurant opened in 1926 [source].

Regardless, we’re glad it made out out of Chicago so the rest of us can have our share.
 
 
The Differences Between Chicago Deep Dish Pizza & Chicago Stuffed Pizza

Stuffed pizza was also invented in Chicago, but with differences. It is a variant of deep dish pizza created by Rocco Palese, owner of Guy’s Pizza and Nancy’s Pizza, based on his mother’s recipe for scarciedda.

A savory Italian Easter cake, scarciedda is stuffed with ricotta cheese, meats and other fillings (here’s a recipe).

 
Stuffed pizza was created by Rocco Palese’s wife, Nancy Palese, in 1974 at the eponymous Nancy’s Pizza. It had a completely different taste than deep-dish, with more crust and loaded with even more ingredients.
Here’s more about it.
 
 
The Differences Between Chicago Deep Dish Pizza & Detroit-Style Pizza.

Pizzerias in Detroit, Michigan, created their own version of the Chicago deep-dish pizza, called, unsurprisingly, Detroit-style pizza (photo #4).

Instead of a round pizza, Detroit chose a rectangular pan 8″ x 10″ x 2.25″. It has a lighter crust with an exterior crunch.

Brick or white Cheddar cheese is added to the mix of mozzarella and romano. Here’s a recipe.

As with Chicago-style pizza, Detroit uses an inverted-layers approach with cheese on the bottom, then meats and vegetables, with the sauce on top.

Here’s a fun idea for a pizza dinner: One of each pie!
 
 

[1] Make this deep dish pizza at home, with five suggested toppings. Here’s the recipe (photo © Ambitious Kitchen).

[2] Here’s another Chicago deep dish pizza recipe (photo © The Recipe Critic).

[3] Scarciedda, the savory Easter pie that inspired stuffed pizza (photo © Nancy’s Pizza).

[4] The side crust view of a Detroit-style pizza (photo © Joy Ride Pizza).

[4] A tall stuffed pizza (photo © Nono’s Stuffed Pizza).

[1] Crunchy cheesecake bites (photos #1 and #2 © Duda Fresh).

[2] Start with celery stalks.

So…you’d think that Cheesecake Celery Sticks are an April Fool’s Day joke.

After all…can crunchy celery sticks, a savory snack, be turned into a dessert with cheesecake filling and chocolate sauce?

Well…yes. April Fools!

> The history of April Fool’s Day.

> The history of cheesecake.

> The history of celery.

> More ways to use celery.
 
 
RECIPE: CHEESECAKE CELERY STICKS

Is it a snack? Is it a dessert? You decide!
 
Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
Preparation
 
1. COMBINE in a bowl the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Stir well.

2. SPREAD 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture evenly down the center of each celery stick.

3. TOP each with a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbles.

4. GARNISH with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Here’s a crowd pleaser of an idea for Easter dinner: an Easter candy “charcuterie board” (platter) at the end of the meal, instead of petit fours*.

Candies and cookies take the place of the meats on an actual charcuterie board†.

We serve ours at the end of the meal, after dessert, with coffee.

You can either create a platter that’s kid-friendly, or a “gourmet” version for the sophisticated foodie crowd, with artisan Easter candies.

You can substitute Easter cookies instead, or combine cookies and candy.

If you’re creating an elegant board for connoisseurs, head to your favorite chocolatiers and augment with petite cookies like mini macarons.

And you can apply the same principles to a Christmas candy or Valentine candy charcuterie board. It’s an all-celebration concept.

And because it’s arranged in advance, you can hide the board from your guests and bring it out as an after-dinner surprise.

Thanks to the International Charcuterie Association for inspiring this article.
 
 
CREATE YOUR CANDY CHARCUTERIE BOARD
 
 
STEP 1: Select a tray, platter, or cheese board as the base. It doesn’t have to be large; after eating dinner, people’s capacity for candy will be smaller. Trays with a rim are better to contain the candies after people start to dig in.

Provide small paper or plastic cups (muffin/cupcake liners work) and serving spoons for people can help themselves.
 
 
STEP 2: Pick Your Treats

Focus on the color palette (as in the photos) to make your board pop.

Check out candies in Easter colors or pastels, or gold or color-foil-wrapped:

 
Also look for

 
 
*FOOD 101: MIGNARDISES (PETIT-FOURS) & FRIANDISES

These are different types of sweets served at the end of a meal with coffee. Liqueurs can also be served.

Mignardises (min-yar-DEEZ), from the French for “preciousness,” belong to the group of after-dinner cookies called petit-fours (French for “small baked pastries”).

Petit-fours (pronounced petty-foor) are tiny cakes or other tiny baked goods, like mini macaroons and other mini cookies. The words are French for “small ovens” but mean “small baked pastries.”

There are many varieties of petit-four; the most familiar in the U.S. is a one-inch-square layered sponge cake, filled with butter cream and iced in a variety of colored fondants, often with tiny roses or other piped embellishments (photo #6). A truly American addition to a petit-fours plate would be mini cupcakes.

In France, this style is not common; and there are confections that can be included on a petit-fours plate. See Friandises, below. that are not baked at all.

There are two styles of petit-fours: glacée (iced) and sec (dry).

[1] It’s easy to put together an Easter “charcuterie” board, substituting candy for charcuterie (photo © Taste Of Home | TMB Studio).

[2] A mixture of cookies and candy (photo © Lil Luna—here’s how she made it).

[3] Candy grass can hold jelly beans or other candy, then eaten (photo © The Typical Mom.

[4] Gold foil-wrapped mini bunnies add glimmer to the board (photo © Lindt USA).

[5] A mix of candy and cookies, with an army of chicken and bunny Peeps (photo © Galloway Grazes | Instagram).

[6] Easter petit-fours (photo © Mackenzie Ltd.).

[7] Modern mignardises: We have always loved these speckled eggs with candy exteriors and silken ganache insides from artisan chocolatier Fritz Knipschildt | Chocopologie (photo © Williams Sonoma).

[1] The beautiful Pinkglow® Pineapple (all photos © Fresh Del Monte).

[2] A memorable tropical fruit salad.

[3] Order online and this beautiful box arrives.

A truly delightful gift for any foodie is Fresh Del Monte’s Pinkglow® Pineapple. It looks like a regular pineapple on the outside, but the flesh is rosy pink through and through.

Gift it for Easter, Mother’s Day, hostess gifts, or any occasion where delicious, nutritious, low-calorie* fruit is appreciated.

This unique, exclusive gift comes with pink presentation packaging that showcases the world’s first and only fresh pink pineapple.

Beyond its captivating appearance, the pineapple offers a juicier and less tart (sweeter) flavor than traditional varieties.
 
 
HOW IS IT PINK?

Fresh Del Monte’s Pinkglow® Pineapple derives its unique pink color from lycopene, a natural pigment and well-known antioxidant found in red-colored produce such as cranberries, grapes, tomatoes, and watermelons.

The pineapple was bred to produce lower levels of certain enzymes already in a conventional pineapple. These enzymes convert the pink pigment lycopene to the yellow pigment beta carotene that creates the color of traditional pineapple flesh. Less of those enzymes leads to pink pineapple.

After 16 years of development, Fresh Del Monte Produce released Pinkglow pineapples in 2020: a singular, luxurious fruit.

The pineapples grow on a select farm in the south-central region of Costa Rica, which has the ideal soil and climate to produce them.
 
 
GET YOUR PINKGLOW PINEAPPLES

For more information including online purchasing and delicious recipes, head to PinkglowPineapple.com.

The fruit is available for shipping across the U.S.† and Canada, nicely packaged.

You also can find Del Monte’s Pinkglow Pineapple at select local retailers, starting at $14.99.
 
 
PINEAPPLES: A SYMBOL OF WEALTH

Until the broadscale cultivation of pineapples in the 1900s, a pineapple brought to Europe from South America was very costly.

It was a gift given to kings and nobles. Pineapples remained so uncommon and coveted that King Charles II of England posed with one in an official portrait (see the portrait).

For lesser wealthy mortals, a pineapple centerpiece on a formal dining table said much about a family’s affluence and rank in society.

Guests were delighted just to see a pineapple. It wasn’t eaten. The fruits were so expensive and so much in demand that confectioners would often rent them by the day!

> Here’s more on the history of pineapple.

†Pineapple cannot be shipped to Hawaii.

For an Easter gift idea that isn’t chocolate, take a look at these charming Happy O tumblers.

The set includes 4 tumblers with color insets in pink, green, yellow, and blue, which not only add color to the Easter table. The pretty pastels are perfect for spring and summer.

The color is only in the base of the glass, so it doesn’t interfere with the appearance of your beverages while it adds a charming note.

Happy O tumblers are ideal for all drinks from juice to water—and wine, of course.

While you can serve wine in all-purpose Happy O’s, of course, Riedel makes tumblers—stemless glassware with bowls shaped to accommodate individual wines.

The bowls are shaped specifically to showcase Cabernet/Merlot, Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo, Viognier/Chardonnay, white wine, whiskey, and others.

Introduced in 2004, Riedel’s The O Wine Tumbler was the first varietal-specific wine tumbler in history—a revelation for wine drinkers who wanted an alternative to stemware (clumsy to hold, too often breakable).

Since most people moved away from holding the stem to holding the glass by the bowl, why not just create a series of tumblers.

O is an innovative take on the casual wine glass, based on the benchmark shapes of Riedel’s Vinum series—premium stemware with bowls to bring out the best aromas and flavors specific varietals.

Better yet, the O Tumbler fits into every dishwasher so broken stems are a thing of the past.
 
 
GET YOUR TUMBLERS

Head to Riedel.

And while you’re there, look at all the fine glassware.

For a wine connoisseur, the Tasting Set contains four glasses from the Riedel Veloce series: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc.

These are the glasses that we use for our fine wines, and you’ll be surprised at the big difference they make.

Just try your wines from generic wine glasses and then discover how the shape and size of a Riedel wine-specific glass enhances your perception of aroma and flavor.
 
 
ABOUT RIEDEL

Riedel is an Austrian company that has been making fine glassware since 1756. A long-standing tradition of craftsmanship and innovation in glass-making—and their breakthrough engineering of fine wine glasses, specifically tailored to different wine varietals—have proven themselves to enhance the enjoyment of wine.

Extensive research and development has shown wine connoisseurs that the shape and design of a glass can significantly impact the taste and aroma of wine. Each glass type is optimized for a specific wine varietal, including Champagne.

And for people who don’t want so many different glasses, they have engineered better wine glasses for red wines and white wines.

The company also produces spirits glasses and decanters, all crafted with the same level of precision and attention to detail.

The brand is highly regarded by wine enthusiasts and professionals alike for its quality, craftsmanship, and ability to enhance the sensory experience of enjoying wine. It’s always a welcome gift.

[1] Riedel’s Happy O tumblers (photos #1, #2, and #4 © Riedel The Wine Glass Company).

[2] The pastel bases, in pink, green, blue, and yellow, add a happy spot of color without altering the color of the beverage.

[3] Fill the perky tumblers with any beverage you like—or with desserts, too, like ice cream and pudding (photo © Dillard’s).

[4] Riedel is always elegant.

> The different types of whiskey.