Yeah, for sure! Roma Pizza is a classic Hamilton, Ontario party food - potlucks, picnics, and birthday parties will often have one. It's a rectangular pizza with just bread and sauce, and a few varieties have toppings (banana peppers on one ,pepperoni on another) but no cheese - people disagree whether to eat it warm or cold (I eat it cold). Growing up, I thought it was all over, but even moving to the next city they don't know it. It's from a single, old-school bakery: https://romabakery.ca/pizza/
And here's a clip from a newspaper article that's also probably locked for non-subscribers
"Roma pizza has a cultlike following, with its secret sauce, bakery-fresh crust and unusual toppings — that is, there aren’t any... The seemingly blasphemous absence of cheese isn’t the only quirk: while the bread-style pizza can be heated in an oven or barbecue, it is traditionally served cold.
“Sometimes we’re a bit dumbfounded by it too, the huge following,” says Anthony DiFilippo, one of the family owners of the business, which next year will mark 70 years in the city. “But the product is all handmade, no preservatives or trans fats, it’s vegan and healthy.” (Their menu does offer a non-traditional option with pepperoni, presumably for those who skulk in from Toronto.) He admits that those who first encounter the pizza often don’t get it. “But if you grow up in Hamilton — you just know."
Oooh, Tomato Pie. May just have to make the 45 minute drive to Utica this weekend to get a slice. Our choice is the pie at Utica Bread.
That Utica tomato pie looks suspiciously like our homegrown favourite (of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), Roma pizza! Vice even did a video on it: https://video.vice.com/en_ca/video/this-slab-pizza-has-been-building-a-devout-following-for-50-years/5ab56163f1cdb314914727d1
Jessica - I couldn't watch that video, but I'm interested to learn more!
Yeah, for sure! Roma Pizza is a classic Hamilton, Ontario party food - potlucks, picnics, and birthday parties will often have one. It's a rectangular pizza with just bread and sauce, and a few varieties have toppings (banana peppers on one ,pepperoni on another) but no cheese - people disagree whether to eat it warm or cold (I eat it cold). Growing up, I thought it was all over, but even moving to the next city they don't know it. It's from a single, old-school bakery: https://romabakery.ca/pizza/
And here's a clip from a newspaper article that's also probably locked for non-subscribers
"Roma pizza has a cultlike following, with its secret sauce, bakery-fresh crust and unusual toppings — that is, there aren’t any... The seemingly blasphemous absence of cheese isn’t the only quirk: while the bread-style pizza can be heated in an oven or barbecue, it is traditionally served cold.
“Sometimes we’re a bit dumbfounded by it too, the huge following,” says Anthony DiFilippo, one of the family owners of the business, which next year will mark 70 years in the city. “But the product is all handmade, no preservatives or trans fats, it’s vegan and healthy.” (Their menu does offer a non-traditional option with pepperoni, presumably for those who skulk in from Toronto.) He admits that those who first encounter the pizza often don’t get it. “But if you grow up in Hamilton — you just know."
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2021/03/31/hamiltons-roma-pizza-offers-a-slice-of-home-to-the-homesick.html