National Deep Dish Pizza Day

National Deep Dish Pizza Day, observed on April 5th, celebrates the iconic Chicago-style pizza known for its thick, high-edged crust that resembles a pie more than a traditional flat pizza. Deep dish pizza is widely credited to Pizzeria Uno, opened in Chicago in 1943 by Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo, who wanted to create a heartier, more substantial dining experience than the thin-crust pizzas common in New York and elsewhere. The dish is built in reverse order from typical pizza: a thick, buttery crust is pressed up the sides of a deep, round pan, followed by a generous layer of cheese, then meat and vegetable toppings, and finally a chunky tomato sauce on top, which prevents the cheese from burning during the longer baking time required to cook through the thick layers. The result is a knife-and-fork pizza that can take 30 to 45 minutes to bake, far longer than a traditional pizza. Deep dish pizza sparked a long-running, good-natured rivalry with New York-style thin crust pizza over which represents "real" pizza, a debate that continues among pizza enthusiasts to this day. On this day, deep dish devotees celebrate by visiting iconic Chicago pizzerias or attempting to recreate the labor-intensive dish at home.