Kind of a weird video. It basically comes down to "This isn't Neopolitan Pizza so it's not as good."
Neopolitan pizza has a whole association that certifies restaurants and Lombardi's isn't on that list. It's no surprise that the pizza will a different style.
It's also pretty funny he mentions that in Italy they fold their pizza, when that is practically the defining characteristic of New York style pizza.
Neapolitan pizza is one thing, Roman pizza is another, and much more akin to New York-style pizza. One type is made in big rectangular pans and sold by weight, it's similar to Focaccia. There is also a round style that is thinner and crispier, which is the best IMO. Fold and eat.
While I do enjoy a good old-fashioned Neapolitan pizza, I much prefer the Roman style, specifically the round thin style and by extension the NY style.
The problem I find with any reference to 'US pizza' - is it's an impossible comparison. There is, of course, no such thing. There are approximately 407 different pizza establishments in every small city in the US, and they all make their pizza differently. One thing the US doesn't lack for, is variety in its pizza offerings.
It's the same problem that crops up when foreigners proclaim that American chocolate is horrible. Which of the countless different domestic brands? They think Hershey's chocolate is the primary chocolate Americans can buy, it's amusing. The same thing happens in discussions about cheese.
It stems from most nations having small consumer & manufacturing economies, small numbers of suppliers of things. It makes it difficult to understand or relate to the enormous scale of the US consumer market (so large it produced Walmart, a $523 billion sales behemoth that is as big as the economies of Poland, Belgium or Sweden). The only proper consumer & manufacturing scale references are to the entire EU or China. It's almost the equivalent of saying pizza in the EU is good or bad; or cheese in the EU is good or bad. It would make absolutely no sense.
I don't think that most people who have had pizza from the top US pizza chains and have had a more "authentic" Italian pizza have trouble distinguishing the two. Italian pizzas are known for having thinner crust, a small amount of sauce, and more basic ingredients(albeit much more fresh usually), probably incorporates more olive oil, in contrast with something from, say, Pizza Hutt. American pizza has breadier and simply uses more of everything. A lot more saucy, a lot more cheesy. Don't get me started on stuffed crust! While there is a variety of toppings, most people go for a handful. Right now, zany combinations of toppings and sauces are popular, but people still most often choose pepperoni, sausage, "veggies", bacon w/ pineapple, etc. I don't understand how you can call it an impossible comparison; most pizza joints in America share very similar menus and kinds of pizzas.
Even pizza in New Zealand, when I lived there, was significantly different from American pizza. It's closer to American pizza, but Kiwis really love to use tangier sauces, which for some reason they also drizzled on to the pizzas. They even did this at Pizza Hutt.
Everywhere has regional differences. To claim otherwise is a bit blind, in my opinion. Just because American culture is mainstream doesn't mean that it's not distinct from other cultures it's related to.
> I don't think that most people who have had pizza from the top US pizza chains and have had a more "authentic" Italian pizza have trouble distinguishing the two.
That ain't the comparison being made, though. American pizza doesn't stop at Pizza Hut or Domino's. It includes the hole-in-the-wall pizza parlor with generic boxes and the ever-so-creative name of "New York Pizza". It includes the boutique shop with a proper stone oven and the thin crusts and "traditional" ingredients you'd expect from an "authentically-Italian" pizza. It includes hip vegan pizzas with cauliflower crusts. It includes pizza served alongside - or even incorporating - curry or kebab (side note: if you haven't had butter chicken pizza, stop what you're doing right now and find some). Hell, it even includes the "Bahn Mi'zza" I had for dinner a while back.
There are, in all, 70,000+ pizza restaurants in the United States, and that's just the ones that focus specifically on pizza - i.e. not including "Italian" restaurants as a whole, and not including restaurants that serve pizza as one component of a broader non-pizza-focused menu. All said and done, you've likely got more than a hundred thousand restaurants each putting their own spin - subtle or drastic, intentional or accidental - on the phrase "American pizza". That's in the ballpark of a 10:1 ratio of places serving pizza to incorporated cities/towns/villages/boroughs in the United States.
Point being, American pizza tastes - and thus the restaurants catering to those tastes - are so varied that "American pizza" v. "Italian pizza" ain't exactly a useful comparison. Same with Italian tastes, for that matter; not all Italian pizzas are the Neapolitan ones you're describing (prime example: Roman and Sicilian pizzas both feature thick crusts). Even regional comparisons are fraught with peril, but that'd be at least closer. Pizza is, fundamentally, a canvas begging for a painter to express one's creative vision upon it, be that a celebration of tradition or an exploration of new tastes.
I think it's fair to say that when people reference "X country's Y is awful" they are generalising. The US obviously has examples of decent chocolate, pizza, cheese etc.
I do think you should be able to compare the average experience:
If you drive around the US and visit pizza places on the way vs doing the same while driving around Italy.
If you go to the main US supermarkets and pick up an assortment of different US chocolate brands to try vs doing the same in, say, Belgium.
My local grocery store ( Wegmans) in a larger New York city has at least 60 options of chocolate bars available. A local pharmacy in my tiny rural village with a small selection still has 12-15 unique chocolate bars. This is a different selection than the standard candy aisle.
There is no good mass market American chocolate, but there is readily available access to gourmet chocolates and pseudo gourmet chocolates.
Chuao Chocalates comes to mind as having frequent distribution and can be found in many places, Sees chocolates is fairly easy to find and has been around for a century,it gets mentioned on cooking shows so I think it has some prestige/familiarity to it.
Gertrude Hawk chocolates exists in many eastern us malls (maybe elsewhere), it's made not far from Hershey park. The samplers arent bad, never really gave it a proper try.
I happen to like Godiva chocolates which is owned by Campbell's soup company and also has a factory near Hershey's but that is maybe nostalgia as I often purchased them only around Christmas and rarely even consider buying them now.
Ghirardelli is American and Theos chocolate has some esteem.
By conventional meaning of mass market, I believe only Lindt and Ghirardelli qualify and fit the description of "good"
I recently tried Callier chocolate which I read had quite a prestigious swiss heritage, it blew away any mass market Hershey/Mars "chocolate" bars but it wasnt particularly exceptional compared to similarly priced artisanal chocolates already available in the local grocery store.
‘Greasy’ pizza deserves its own category, comparing an amazingly greasy slice of meat topped pizza with a spicy sauce to NYC pizza or American ‘Neapolitan’ pizza via New Haven ala Sally’s (it’s better than Pepe’s, fight me) is like comparing sushi to ramen. All of it can be great!
