Pizza, Flatbread. You Tell Me

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Andy M.

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I've given this some thought and frankly see no consistent difference that would clearly identify one vs. the other. Except flatbreads are usually more expensive.

So, what's your take on the subject? They both have a relatively flat crust, often round but sometimes not. They both have toppings. They both are baked.

Do exotic toppings make it a flatbread with pizza toppings limited to more mundane items such as pepperoni or onions? Is it that pizzas have a sauce? Is the crust the difference?

Is it a pizza or is it a flatbread? You tell me.
 
In my opinion, the term "flatbread" covers an entire category of breads, including pizza, which is really nothing more than flatbread with toppings. In fact, the word "pizza" itself derives from the same word as "pita", which is a type of Greek flatbread. This leads me to believe that an unleavened bread came first, perhaps in Greece, and was later embellished with toppings by the Italians.

Also, not all flatbreads have toppings. For example, Indian and African flatbreads (naan, chapati, roti, injera) are most always served topless :)ohmy:), or at least they were until influenced by Western cuisines. Now we have variants like garlic and onion naan.

So, if it's flat, I call it flatbread, regardless of whether there is stuff on top or not.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.
 
Buonasera,

Good post.

I agree with Steve on this vocabulary below.

Flatbread: various types of breads made from unleavened dough and baked in flat form ( Sardinian Music Sheet Carta di Musica, Ligurian Focaccia, Campagnia Pizza, Indian Nan etcetra.)

Pizza: a pizza is a baked pie originally believed to be created in Napoli and Sicilia, consisting of shallow bread crust with a tomato sauce, cheese, tomato, and other toppings.

Pizza is only one type of a flat bread. In Sicila the flatbread, a Calzone, is rolled with stuffings.

The Greeks, The Moors and the Indians as well as the Mid Eastern Tribes, all have flat breads, even today, both in savoury bread form and sweet form.

I believe the Corn Tortilla ( Aztec: 13th Century ) is a good example of how ancient some are.

Ciao, Margi.
 
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i like my pizza very thin & crispy with a minimum of simple toppings.i always use flatbread when i make them at home.costco used to do a fab moroccan fb which was perfect,but they don't sell it anymore.they do sell the pittas from the same manufacturer,menissez it think it is,so i just "butterfly" a couple of those.
 
In my opinion, the term "flatbread" covers an entire category of breads, including pizza, which is really nothing more than flatbread with toppings. In fact, the word "pizza" itself derives from the same word as "pita", which is a type of Greek flatbread. This leads me to believe that an unleavened bread came first, perhaps in Greece, and was later embellished with toppings by the Italians.

Also, not all flatbreads have toppings. For example, Indian and African flatbreads (naan, chapati, roti, injera) are most always served topless :)ohmy:), or at least they were until influenced by Western cuisines. Now we have variants like garlic and onion naan.

So, if it's flat, I call it flatbread, regardless of whether there is stuff on top or not.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks Steve, lots of good info.

I should have been more clear when I posed the original question.

I wasn't thinking of a comparison between pizza and pita, naan or chapati. I was picturing a flatbread with toppings as you would order in a restaurant for an appetizer or a meal. I had intended the comparison to be between a topped flatbread and a pizza.

Why is the first image a flatbread and the second a pizza?

...or is it the other way around?
 

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I wasn't thinking of a comparison between pizza and pita, naan or chapati. I was picturing a flatbread with toppings as you would order in a restaurant for an appetizer or a meal. I had intended the comparison to be between a topped flatbread and a pizza.

Why is the first image a flatbread and the second a pizza?

...or is it the other way around?
If they were set in front of me at a table without explanation, I would probably call both images "pizza" - simply because that's what most people call a round flatbread with toppings. However, in restaurant lingo, "flatbread" appears to be one of those trendy euphemisms that they use to make something old appear to be something new - and thus charge an appropriately inflated price. Similar to the way the Patagonian Toothfish became known as Chilean Sea Bass.
 
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Foccaccia with sea salt & fresh herbs

Buonsera,

Interesting thread.

In Italia, it is very rare that someone would put cheese and tomato on a flat bread, the most renowned being Foccaccia. It is normally prepared with just sea salt, Evoo and fresh herbs, sage, rosemary or oregano or basil.

Furthermore, it is dipped into Evoo with herbs ... Nothing more ... Just a glass of wine of choice ...

Have nice Thursday.
Margi.
 
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These people clearly have an identity crisis.
I love this one, in particular...
Bedford Community Flatbread – Our wood-fired cauldron tomato sauce, organic caramelized onions, organic mushrooms, premium whole milk mozzarella and imported Parmesan cheese baked on organic bread dough with homemade organic garlic oil, sprinkled with our own blend of organic herbs. Large 17.00
Let's see... flatbread with tomato sauce, onions, and mushrooms, topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Um... sure sounds like a pizza to me. :glare:
 
In Italia, it is very rare that someone would put cheese and tomato on a flat bread, the most renowned being Foccaccia. It is normally prepared with just sea salt, Evoo and fresh herbs, sage, rosemary or oregano or basil.

Furthermore, it is dipped into Evoo with herbs ... Nothing more ... Just a glass of wine of choice ...
Margi, I sometimes get the feeling that we Americans tend to be more willing to break the rules. Even after several hundred years, we still don't have a fixed national identity when it comes to food. Instead, we borrow from and fuse together the cuisines of the many cultures that make up our country (for better or worse). For example, pizza, to us, has a different meaning than it does to, say, a Neapolitan. Napoli has rigid rules concerning pizza. We have no such thing in the US.

I suspect Italy did the same thing at various points in its history as it found itself with unfamiliar foods being imported from the new world. Tomatoes, for example. Today, they are considered an integral part of Italian cuisine. However, it wasn't that long ago that they were unknown in the Mediterranean.
 
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Thanks Steve, lots of good info.

I should have been more clear when I posed the original question.

I wasn't thinking of a comparison between pizza and pita, naan or chapati. I was picturing a flatbread with toppings as you would order in a restaurant for an appetizer or a meal. I had intended the comparison to be between a topped flatbread and a pizza.

Why is the first image a flatbread and the second a pizza?

...or is it the other way around?

Though pizza crust is technically a flatbread, it is leavened with either baking powder or baking soda and an acid, or with yeast. It is also worked more to develop the gluten, which gives it a chewy texture.

Flatbreads such as tortillas, whether flour or corn, and unleavened, as are many of the others mentioned.

As appetizers go, it boils down to the toppings to be served on the flatbread as to which kind to use. For wet toppings, such as salsa, I would choose somthing like a tortilla that is dense and can hold up to the liquid. For a topping such as cold meat, Meat salads, or cheese and meat, I would choose another uleavend flatbread, such as a pita, or even naan. If I wanted to top with pesto, I would use the leavened flat bread, same with using a simple bruschetta (good and crusty bread slathered with first-pressed olive oil, toasted over fire, and rubbed with fresh garlic).

Think of the textures of the foods going onto the bread, and the textures of teh bread. imagine them in your mouth. Flavor will generally take care of itself, as most flatbreads taste similar, except for corn tortillas, and the yeasty flavor of pizza crust.

And don't forget the frybread category of flatbreads. They can make a wonderful canvas on which to paint a luxurious splash of color and flavor.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
In my opinion, pizza has become something of a generic term for just about any hot, topped flatbread that isn't Mexican (tostada for example). The typical American (really ??) pizza has a chewy/crispy slightly raised dough, although there are certainly many variations on it. Even take-n-bake places like Papa Murphy's have a lot of exotic variations (like the Chicken Bacon Artichoke deLITE) which they still call pizza. Some of their combinations would be on the menu as flatbreads in an upscale sit down restaurant.

Taco Bell even offers a self-styled Mexican pizza (although it tastes about the same as anything else from Taco Bell - How can they sell so many different forms all with the same exact flavor??? All that changes is the texture.)
 
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