How the thin crust pizza changed to deep dish variant

The history of deep dish pizzas is almost 75 years old. It was probably invented in 1943 by Ike Sewell in Chicago.

In today’s time if one is asked to name the comfort party food, I am sure a majority would go for Pizza.
In India, thanks to the fast food chains Pizza Hut and Dominos, Pizza has become a favorite amongst the masses. Originated in Italy where the classic version is made with a thin crust, it changed when it reached the Indian subcontinent. Except for the popular restaurants in hotels where one can find thin crust pizza, what we get most often is cheese-loaded deep dish variants that people here love.

The history of deep dish pizzas is almost 75 years old. It was probably invented in 1943 by Ike Sewell in Chicago. Due to its origin in Chicago, deep dish pizzas are also popular across the world as Chicago style pizzas.  Ike Sewell, the founder of Pizzeria Uno in Chicago did an experiment where he baked a pizza in a deep dish pan making the crust that had tall edges like a fruit pie unlike the usual flat bread. He along with his chef Rudy Malnati developed a recipe which combined authentic Italian spices with tomatoes and cheese. Not just that he also used a different baking pan and dough that had corn meal and semolina along with the wheat flour.

Even the assembly of deep dish pizza is upside down — the crust is covered with cheese slices followed by various meat options over which the toppings of veggies and finally a layer of tomatoes is put.

In India one may find Chicago Pizzas here and there but it lacks the authenticity of the classic deep dish of Pizzeria Uno. I am glad that Uno’s have entered India now. I visited the Noida outlet of Uno Chicago Bar & Grill to satisfy my cravings of a loaded deep dish Chicago style pizza. I was quite impressed by its décor and the selection of pizzas in the menu. Not wasting much time I ordered two variants. First was the classic Uno Cheese & Tomato followed by Chicago Meat market.

While my pizzas were in the oven, I had Spinach Artichoke deep dip as an appetizer. The deep dip was a revelation and though I came there for the pizzas this dip was one thing which would bring me back to Uno’s for sure.

My recommendation for cheese lovers who want to get their hands dirty is just dig into the deep dip. Out of the two the classic cheese and tomato was quite good which helped me to satisfy my cravings of a good deep dish pizza.

Osama jalali
Food Historian and writer