One style is uniquely ours.
A hearty, no-nonsense pizza that's as intense as a Trent Cole quarterback sack: Tomato pie.
But the humble tomato pie has multiple personalities. A "bakery-style" version shows up in Italian bakeries across the region, notably in Manayunk, the northwest suburbs and the Far Northeast. It is a large, rectangular baking sheet of hand-rolled, yeasty crust, a rich, thick, chunky tomato sauce and sometimes a light sprinkling of grated cheese on top. Sold at room temperature, it's a staple for hundreds of tailgaters at every Eagles home game.
A tiny sliver of the Northeast along Frankford Avenue is home to a different kind of tomato pie: Round dough topped with slices of mozzarella or provolone (or both), followed by a spicy, garlicky tomato sauce. It emerges from the oven bright red, thin and crispy, with a room-filling fragrance.
And Trenton's version of a tomato pie is practically a religion. They first appeared in 1910, and the recipe remains unchanged: A round, hand-stretched, thin dough topped with a light amount of mozzarella, a judicious smattering of cooked, crushed tomatoes, and a drizzle of olive oil around the crust, baked at very high heat. It produces an impossibly light, slightly smoky, yeasty pie that is among the very best pizzas in the country.
Each style of tomato pie is a throwback to a simpler time. And each style has a story behind it, linking families, traditions and skills passed down through generations.
"Thank God for my mother," said Frank Marchiano, owner of Marchiano's Italian Bakery, in Manayunk. "Her recipes are responsible for our success. My mother, Nunziata, she was from Calabria, and she said that we should start baking some things and sell them to the local bars here in Manayunk."
