Most people think pizza is pizza.
You order it, it arrives, you eat it. Tomato, cheese, maybe some toppings. Done.
If you have only ever eaten pizza outside of Italy, I understand why you think this. Most countries serve one style, maybe two, and call it Italian. But Italy is not like that. Italy is a country where food changes dramatically every 100 kilometers, where each region has its own ingredients, its own traditions, and its own very strong opinions about what good food looks like. If you want the wider context, our overview of what defines original Italian pizza is a good starting point.
Pizza is no exception.
I grew up near Rome, so I am obviously biased toward Roman style. My cousins and I brought that tradition to MaMeMi here in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. But I have eaten pizza all over Italy, and I have a genuine respect for what each region does with this simple dish.
Let me walk you through eight of the most important styles. Some you will know. Some will surprise you.
1. Pizza Napoletana (Naples, Campania)
This is where it all started, and the world knows it.
Neapolitan pizza was born in Naples in the 18th century when someone decided to put tomatoes, which had only recently arrived in Italy from the Americas, on flatbread. What started as cheap street food for Naples’ poor working class became one of the most influential foods in human history. If you want the full story of how it began, our blog on when pizza was invented takes you through the timeline.
In 2017, UNESCO recognized Neapolitan pizza-making as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. There is an organization in Naples called the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana that has written strict rules about what genuine Neapolitan pizza must be. The dough can contain only flour, water, salt, and yeast. It must be stretched by hand, never with a rolling pin. It must be baked in a wood-fired oven at 450 to 485 degrees Celsius for no more than 90 seconds.
The result is a pizza with a soft, chewy, slightly charred crust with a puffy edge called the cornicione. If you want to understand exactly what that edge is and why pizza people obsess over it, our blog on what is a cornicione explains it in detail. The center is wet and tender. You fold it to eat it. You eat it quickly before it cools.
The classic Neapolitan pizzas are Margherita, with San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil, and Marinara, with just tomato, garlic, oregano, and olive oil. No cheese. The original vegan pizza, you could say.
2. Pizza Romana (Rome, Lazio)
This is what we make at MaMeMi, and I am obviously going to tell you it is my favorite. But set my bias aside for a moment and let me explain what makes Roman pizza genuinely different and why it has been gaining recognition worldwide over the past decade. We have a dedicated blog comparing Roman vs Neapolitan pizza if you want the direct side-by-side.
Roman pizza is thin. Much thinner than Neapolitan. And it is crispy all the way through, not just on the bottom. Romans have a word for this crunch: scrocchiarella. It describes both the sound and the texture, that satisfying snap when you bite through the crust.
What makes Roman pizza crispy when Neapolitan is soft? Several things. Roman dough contains olive oil, which Neapolitan dough does not. This coats the gluten strands and enables a thinner roll while contributing to crispness during baking. The dough is also lower in hydration, meaning less water, which results in a drier, crunchier base. Roman pizza is baked at lower temperatures than Neapolitan, around 300 to 340 degrees, for longer, which cooks the pizza through evenly rather than blasting the surface.
The result is a pizza that holds its shape, travels better, and can be eaten without rushing. This is the style we consider the best pizza in Copenhagen — and no, we are not the only ones who think so. At MaMeMi, our Roman pizza uses a secret blend of five organic flours and ferments for 48 hours. The toppings go all the way to the edge of the pizza, unlike Neapolitan where they stay more toward the center.
3. Pizza al Taglio (Rome, Lazio)
This is Roman pizza’s street food cousin, and it is one of the great casual eating experiences Italy has to offer.
Pizza al taglio means “pizza by the cut.” It is baked in large rectangular metal trays, displayed in the window of a pizzeria or bakery, and sold by weight. You point to the section you want, they cut it with scissors, weigh it, and charge you accordingly. It is the original pay-by-weight fast food, and it is still one of the cheapest, most satisfying ways to eat in Rome.
The dough for pizza al taglio is very different from pizza tonda, the round Roman pizza we make at MaMeMi. Pizza al taglio dough has very high hydration, often 70 to 80 percent water to flour, and goes through a long fermentation that creates a structure full of large air pockets. The result is a crust that is airy and light inside with a crispy, golden bottom, somewhere between a pizza and a very good focaccia.
The variety of toppings is extraordinary. Walk into a good Roman pizza al taglio shop and you might see thirty or forty different options. Potato and rosemary. Zucchini flowers and anchovies. Mortadella and pistachio. Seasonal vegetables. The creativity is the whole point — see our guide to different Italian pizza styles for more on how each region approaches variety.
4. Pinsa Romana (Rome, Lazio)
Pinsa is having a moment right now, and for good reason.
It is an ancient Roman flatbread that has been reimagined by modern pizza makers as something genuinely distinct from regular pizza. The name comes from the Latin word pinsere, meaning to stretch or flatten. Pinsa has been made in Rome for centuries, though the modern version was developed more recently as a specific artisan product.
What makes pinsa different is the flour blend. Traditional pinsa uses a mix of wheat flour, rice flour, soy flour, and sometimes spelt, combined with a very high water content, often 80 percent or more hydration. The dough ferments for a very long time, sometimes 72 hours or longer. The result is a dough that is incredibly light and almost cloud-like when baked. The texture is completely unique — crispy on the outside, airy and soft inside, with a slightly irregular oval shape.
Pinsa has become popular internationally over the past few years as people seek out lighter, more digestible alternatives to standard pizza. The high water content and long fermentation make it one of the easiest styles for people who are sensitive to gluten, though it is not gluten free. It is part of the wider authentic Italian pizza tradition of using time and quality flours to make dough that actually feels good to eat.
5. Sfincione (Palermo, Sicily)
If you come from the Neapolitan pizza tradition and think Sicily must make something similar, you are in for a surprise.
Sfincione is the great pizza of Palermo, and it has almost nothing in common with what you might expect. The name comes from the Latin word for sponge, which tells you something about the texture. Sfincione has a thick, soft, spongy crust, baked in rectangular trays, that is closer to focaccia than to pizza.
The toppings are equally distinctive. Traditional sfincione is topped with tomato sauce cooked with onions, anchovies, and herbs. Then caciocavallo cheese, a sharp, slightly tangy aged cheese that is a staple of Sicilian cooking. Then, the touch that makes sfincione completely unique, a generous topping of toasted breadcrumbs that absorbs the sauce during baking and creates an intensely flavored, slightly crunchy crust on top.
The story goes that sfincione was invented by nuns at a monastery in Palermo in the 17th century as a way to make a more substantial version of plain bread, what locals called pane schittu. It quickly became one of the essential street foods of Palermo, sold from carts in the markets and streets of the city.
Today sfincione is sold everywhere in Palermo, at room temperature or slightly warm, wrapped in paper and eaten on the go. It is humble, bold, intensely flavored, and completely delicious. One of Italy’s most underappreciated regional foods.
6. Pizza al Padellino (Turin, Piedmont)
Move north to Turin and you find something completely different again.
Pizza al padellino is the Italian answer to Chicago deep dish, but it has been in Turin for far longer — and if you want to understand where deep dish sits from an Italian point of view, our blog on what is deep pan pizza is an honest take. The name means “small pan pizza,” and it is cooked in individual round pans, each serving one person. The dough is thicker than either Neapolitan or Roman style, and it rises more during baking. The bottom of the crust browns and crisps in the oil-greased pan while the inside stays soft and fluffy.
Piedmont is one of the great food regions of Italy, home to white truffles, some of the best wines in the country, and an ingredient-obsessed food culture that leans toward the rich and luxurious. Pizza al padellino reflects this. The toppings often feature local Piedmontese cheeses, cured meats, and in the right season, shaved white truffle.
It is not the kind of pizza you eat quickly. It is substantial and filling, the kind of thing you eat on a cold northern Italian evening with a glass of Barolo — one of the great Italian wines that Danilo can tell you a great deal about.
7. Pizza Fritta (Naples, Campania)
This one was born out of necessity, and it became iconic.
After World War II, Naples was devastated. Wood for pizza ovens was scarce and expensive. But people still wanted pizza. The solution was to fry the dough instead of bake it, and pizza fritta was born.
The process is simple. Pizza dough is stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, and tomato sauce, sometimes with the addition of salami or other fillings, then folded over and sealed before being deep-fried in hot oil. The result is a golden, crispy outside with a soft, molten, impossibly satisfying interior.
Pizza fritta became a staple of Neapolitan street food. It was cheap, filling, and could be eaten standing up in the street. The great Neapolitan actor and comedian Totò immortalized it in a 1954 film where he plays a poor pizza seller, cementing pizza fritta as part of Neapolitan cultural identity. You can read more about the traditional Italian oven work that shaped these techniques in our blog on how pizza is cooked in Italy.
Today pizza fritta has been elevated by serious pizza makers. Gino Sorbillo, who is considered one of the greatest pizza makers in Naples, has a dedicated pizza fritta restaurant. Franco Pepe has created extraordinary modern versions. It is no longer just poverty food. It is an art form.
8. Focaccia Barese (Bari, Puglia)
Strictly speaking, focaccia is not pizza. Italians will tell you this immediately and firmly if you suggest otherwise.
But focaccia barese from the city of Bari in Puglia is so close to a pizza in spirit and in the way it is made and eaten that it deserves a place in any honest guide to Italian flatbreads.
The dough for focaccia barese uses a combination of semolina flour and regular flour, sometimes with a small amount of mashed potato added, which gives it a particular fluffiness that is completely unique to this style. It is pressed into round metal baking pans with a generous amount of olive oil, which creates a crispy, almost fried bottom crust.
The topping is simple and seasonal. Fresh cherry tomatoes pressed into the dough. Olives from the region, which produce some of the best in Italy. Oregano. More olive oil. That is it. No cheese, no sauce, just extraordinary produce treated with respect.
The result is something that is crispy on the bottom, soft and pillowy inside, intensely savory from the tomatoes and olives, and deeply satisfying in the way that simple food made with perfect ingredients always is.
Focaccia barese is sold in bakeries in Bari from early morning. People take it to the beach, eat it as a snack, share it with family. It is everyday food, not restaurant food, which is maybe why it has not become famous internationally. But anyone who has eaten it in Bari knows it is special.
What All These Styles Have in Common
Eight completely different styles of pizza, from eight different regions, with different doughs, different shapes, different baking methods, different toppings. They look nothing alike and taste nothing alike.
But they all share something fundamental.
They are made with simple, quality ingredients. They respect the local produce and traditions of their region. They are not trying to be complicated or impressive. They are just trying to be delicious. If you want more on the wider comparison, our blog on what are the different styles of Italian pizza covers the regional map in a different way.
This is the Italian philosophy of food that my cousins and I brought to MaMeMi when we opened in Copenhagen. You do not need to overcomplicate things. You need good ingredients, proper technique, and respect for the tradition you come from. That is our story, in one paragraph.
For us, that tradition is Roman. Thin, crispy, scrocchiarella. Made with organic flour blended carefully, fermented for 48 hours, baked until golden and crunchy.
Come Try the Roman Style in Copenhagen
Of these eight styles, only one is available in Copenhagen the way it is meant to be made, by people who grew up eating it in Rome.
That is what we do at MaMeMi. We brought Roman pizza to Vesterbro and we have been making it the right way for over ten years.
Come visit us at Mysundegade 28, on the corner with Istedgade. We are just two minutes from Enghave Plads metro. Let us show you what Roman pizza tastes like when it is made properly. Pair it with a natural Italian wine from our Italian wine bar in Copenhagen, where Danilo has personally selected over 1000 bottles and lets the evening take its time.
See the full menu online, or book your table. Weekend lunch is also open every Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 if you want to start your day the Roman way.
See you soon.
Francesco
MaMeMi serves authentic Roman-style pizza in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. We are the only restaurant in Copenhagen making Roman pizza the traditional way, with a secret blend of five organic flours fermented for 48 hours. Over 1000 natural Italian wines curated by our sommelier Danilo. Book your table or walk in at Mysundegade 28, just two minutes from Enghave Plads metro.
