Background: I found a pizza in Italy that was sold as "American pizza", and that used bell peppers, corn, and hot salami as toppings. In the USA, is there a pizza that is called "American pizza"?
Are there well-defined regional styles of pizza in America? If so, what are they called and what are their distinguishing characteristics?
Best Answer
No.
Those are not common pizza toppings in America at all.
In America there are these (rather well known) pizza styles:
Chicago style
Chicago style pizza is a deep-dish pizza that is baked in a thick heavy cornmeal based crust. The toppings are also added in reverse order of a traditional pizza. First the cheese is added, then a pound or more of sausage is added in a dense patty layer, finally it is topped with sauce. You eat it with a fork and knife.
New York style
New York style pizza is wide thin-crust pizza. The crust is made with a very high gluten bread flour and hand-tossed. Some say that it gets a lot of it's flavor from the NYC water. It is typically cut into only 8 slices for a large pie. You fold the piece in half to eat.
New Haven style
New Haven style pizza is a bit lesser known, and originates from New Haven, Connecticut. There it is commonly called "apizza". It is similar to a New York style pizza in that it has a thin crust, but it is always brick oven fired until crispy. You should not be able to fold a New Haven slice of pizza in half without cracking it. It should also be crispy enough to stand up to it's own weight when held by the crust.
In a New Haven pizza a "plain" does not have mozzarella. A plain pizza consists solely of sauce, oregano, and a bit of parmesan and romano grated on top. Mozzarella is considered a separate topping.
They are most known for their white pizzas. These have no tomatoes at all, the "sauce" consists of olive oil, oregano, chopped garlic, and grated parmesan. The most well known is the clam pie which has fresh clams as a topping. It is generally frowned upon to order this with mozarella.
Verace pizza napoletana style
Although this is the original Neapolitan pizza, it has become very popular in the Pacific Northwest (and maybe elsewhere?). There is a certifying organization, which has stringent requirements for the crust ingredients, oven and so forth. The pies are very thin in the interior, with a slightly puffy edge, and are typically lightly charred in spots, which contributes a lot of flavor. Toppings tend to be minimalist.