Lucano Origins of Chicago-Style “Stuffed Pizza” and Possible Outfit Links

[PolackTony]

Bear with me people, as I wasn’t sure if I should post this in the “General” or “Mafia” forum lol.

Chicago received a major contingent of immigrants from the Basilicata and Puglia regions. These migration links began in the late 19th century and continue to this day. While Chicago has received many settlers from Metropolitan Bari, many also arrived in the Windy City from dirt poor and isolated comunes in the rugged mountains of the interior of the Italian south. These contingents of contadini , and their modern descendants, naturally brought their recipes with them, leaving a lasting mark on Chicago’s food culture. I strongly believe that the typical Chicago thin crust style is derived from “pizza a la Barese/Pugliese” (rolled out with a pin into a thin sheet unlike the hand-tossed Neapolitan-style pizza that caught on in NYC).

A more recent contribution is the distinctive Chicago “stuffed pizza” — with a second layer of dough over the cheese and meat — popularized mainly by the Giordano’s chain. This style was first developed by Lucani immigrants Rocco and Annunziata Palese in the early 1970s, who developed the recipe from older family recipes for scarcedda/scarcella, a variety of rustic “pizza” in the form of a layered pie stuffed with meat, cheese, tomatoes, and eggs served for Easter in Basilicata and Puglia. The Boglio brothers, northern Italian immigrants from Torino, probably ripped off the recipe from the Paleses and founded the Giordano’s chain (it’s been alleged that one of the Boglio worked for the Paleses before starting Giordano’s)

Apparently part of why the Paleses were not able to compete with the much more successful Boglios was that three of the Palese locations were bombed in the early 1980s. Being Chicago, the press naturally suspected that these bombings were mob related. The Outfit of course long had major interests in restaurants, food processing and distribution, and hospitality. Incidentally, the more famous (at least to outsiders) Chicago “deep dish” style pizza also had close Outfit connections, with the influential Gino’s East pizzeria founded by Outfit associates Fred Bartoli and George LoVerde (the latter brother of made Chicago member Frank “Butch” LoVerde).

In 1984, disgruntled former Palese franchisee Biaggio Cirrincione was convicted for the bombings. Given the MO, I still wonder if there was more to the story then a simple business dispute. Cirrincione was likely a Sicilian immigrant, and of course there seems to have been a notable influx of Sicilian OC operatives in Chicago and Rockford in the 1970s and ‘80s, so I wonder also if Cirrincione had any connections.

Anyone ever come across any info on this?

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

[Antiliar]

Possibly related, Barro's Pizza started out in Chicago. The founder, Angelina Barro was from Sarconi (in Potenza, Basilicata), Italy, and she and her sons opened the first Barro's Pizza in Chicago in 1961. In 1968 they spread out to Southern California, forming a chain that served some really good pizza. It won awards and I still remember the flavor. Unfortunately, around that time the son of the founder, John Barro, became connected with Outfit's Vito Dominic Spillone after the hierarchy of the Los Angeles Family was put away. John Barro was charged and tried for racketeering in 1985. Barro and Spillone denied they were running a loansharking ring. Spillone was convicted and Barro acquitted. Later, an informant admitted that he lied against Spillone and the others. Most of the Barro's restaurants shut down. Today there's only two left in SoCal. John's brother Angelo established headquarters in Arizona in 1980, and a cousin formed Rio's Pizza in El Monte.

Barro's pizza, as I remember it, wasn't as thick as Chicago deep dish pizzas, but it was thicker than what we had. I think that's why it was so popular.

[PolackTony]

Possibly related, Barro's Pizza started out in Chicago. The founder, Angelina Barro was from Sarconi (in Potenza, Basilicata), Italy, and she and her sons opened the first Barro's Pizza in Chicago in 1961. In 1968 they spread out to Southern California, forming a chain that served some really good pizza. It won awards and I still remember the flavor. Unfortunately, around that time the son of the founder, John Barro, became connected with Outfit's Vito Dominic Spillone after the hierarchy of the Los Angeles Family was put away. John Barro was charged and tried for racketeering in 1985. Barro and Spillone denied they were running a loansharking ring. Spillone was convicted and Barro acquitted. Later, an informant admitted that he lied against Spillone and the others. Most of the Barro's restaurants shut down. Today there's only two left in SoCal. John's brother Angelo established headquarters in Arizona in 1980, and a cousin formed Rio's Pizza in El Monte.

Barro's pizza, as I remember it, wasn't as thick as Chicago deep dish pizzas, but it was thicker than what we had. I think that's why it was so popular.

Thanks, cool info. I hadn’t heard of the Barro pizzerias or the John Barro case with Spillone.

Typically in Chicago our pizza is either very thick (deep dish, stuffed) or — more commonly — very thin. There are a few exceptions that fall in between, as of course back in the days plenty of Italians opened up pizzerias (after that became a popular thing) and served whatever regional, family-influenced recipe they had at hand.

[Villain]

During the 1950s there was one August Deveno who owned a pizzeria on Taylor St but i dont have a clue what type of pizza they used to serve lol, although i know it was a front for narcotics.

[PolackTony]

Tangential to the OP, but it’s interesting to note that Chicago is the only family to have had multiple bosses of Lucano ancestry — Tony Capezio (Potenza), Jack Cerone (parents from Potenza), and Phil Alderisio (family from Matera). There were also a number of other influential Lucano members (Rocco Fanelli and Turk Torello come immediately to mind).

Has any other family even had one Lucano boss? A saying that I came across a while back was that historically Basilicata was too poor to develop a mafia (though that changed in more recent times of course). The region did have a long history of brigandage though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the old pan-Southern prison Camorra/Piccioteria left some influence there, perhaps lost to history.

[PolackTony]

During the 1950s there was one August Deveno who owned a pizzeria on Taylor St but i dont have a clue what type of pizza they used to serve lol, although i know it was a front for narcotics.

Yeah, plenty of those things over the years of course. As well as all the beef and hot dog stands.

Given the potential Sicilian angle of this story and the timeframe when the bombings occurred, I do wonder if any of that was at play here.

[Antiliar]

Possibly related, Barro's Pizza started out in Chicago. The founder, Angelina Barro was from Sarconi (in Potenza, Basilicata), Italy, and she and her sons opened the first Barro's Pizza in Chicago in 1961. In 1968 they spread out to Southern California, forming a chain that served some really good pizza. It won awards and I still remember the flavor. Unfortunately, around that time the son of the founder, John Barro, became connected with Outfit's Vito Dominic Spillone after the hierarchy of the Los Angeles Family was put away. John Barro was charged and tried for racketeering in 1985. Barro and Spillone denied they were running a loansharking ring. Spillone was convicted and Barro acquitted. Later, an informant admitted that he lied against Spillone and the others. Most of the Barro's restaurants shut down. Today there's only two left in SoCal. John's brother Angelo established headquarters in Arizona in 1980, and a cousin formed Rio's Pizza in El Monte.

Barro's pizza, as I remember it, wasn't as thick as Chicago deep dish pizzas, but it was thicker than what we had. I think that's why it was so popular.

Thanks, cool info. I hadn’t heard of the Barro pizzerias or the John Barro case with Spillone.

Typically in Chicago our pizza is either very thick (deep dish, stuffed) or — more commonly — very thin. There are a few exceptions that fall in between, as of course back in the days plenty of Italians opened up pizzerias (after that became a popular thing) and served whatever regional, family-influenced recipe they had at hand.

Last time I was in Chi-Town I stuffed myself on Pizzeria Uno. There is a place out here that's supposed to be similar to Giordano's, but haven't tried it.

[Villain]

I remember eastern Sicilians (Catania and Taormina) also mainly had a very thick pizza and in fact we were able to find thin type of pizza only in restaurants. They even had deep dish pizza with huge roles of sausages and french fries on top of it lol. In Palermo was different, meaning we were able to find thin pizza almost everywhere.

[Antiliar]

I looked up "deep dish pizza" on Newspapers.com and the earliest entry goes to 1955. It was a combination pizza and hamburger casserole. Most of the next entries are for deep dish tuna pizza. Tuna? Appears to have started in the South. Ike Sewell, founder of Pizzeria Uno, claimed he invented Chicago-style deep dish in 1945. The chef who worked there Adolph "Rudy" Malnati, claimed to be the actual inventor. Whatever the case, it appears to be an American invention. Stuffed pizza seems very similar.

[Etna]

I always thought the deep dish/sicilian pizza was basically an Americanized sfincione

[Frank]

Bear with me people, as I wasn’t sure if I should post this in the “General” or “Mafia” forum lol.

Chicago received a major contingent of immigrants from the Basilicata and Puglia regions. These migration links began in the late 19th century and continue to this day. While Chicago has received many settlers from Metropolitan Bari, many also arrived in the Windy City from dirt poor and isolated comunes in the rugged mountains of the interior of the Italian south. These contingents of contadini , and their modern descendants, naturally brought their recipes with them, leaving a lasting mark on Chicago’s food culture. I strongly believe that the typical Chicago thin crust style is derived from “pizza a la Barese/Pugliese” (rolled out with a pin into a thin sheet unlike the hand-tossed Neapolitan-style pizza that caught on in NYC).

A more recent contribution is the distinctive Chicago “stuffed pizza” — with a second layer of dough over the cheese and meat — popularized mainly by the Giordano’s chain. This style was first developed by Lucani immigrants Rocco and Annunziata Palese in the early 1970s, who developed the recipe from older family recipes for scarcedda/scarcella, a variety of rustic “pizza” in the form of a layered pie stuffed with meat, cheese, tomatoes, and eggs served for Easter in Basilicata and Puglia. The Boglio brothers, northern Italian immigrants from Torino, probably ripped off the recipe from the Paleses and founded the Giordano’s chain (it’s been alleged that one of the Boglio worked for the Paleses before starting Giordano’s)

Apparently part of why the Paleses were not able to compete with the much more successful Boglios was that three of the Palese locations were bombed in the early 1980s. Being Chicago, the press naturally suspected that these bombings were mob related. The Outfit of course long had major interests in restaurants, food processing and distribution, and hospitality. Incidentally, the more famous (at least to outsiders) Chicago “deep dish” style pizza also had close Outfit connections, with the influential Gino’s East pizzeria founded by Outfit associates Fred Bartoli and George LoVerde (the latter brother of made Chicago member Frank “Butch” LoVerde).

In 1984, disgruntled former Palese franchisee Biaggio Cirrincione was convicted for the bombings. Given the MO, I still wonder if there was more to the story then a simple business dispute. Cirrincione was likely a Sicilian immigrant, and of course there seems to have been a notable influx of Sicilian OC operatives in Chicago and Rockford in the 1970s and ‘80s, so I wonder also if Cirrincione had any connections.

Anyone ever come across any info on this?

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

Never knew that 3 locations of Nancys Pizza were bombed. Great post. Also didnt know the connection between Ginos and the Outfit. There's a Bartoli pizza too. Never had Nancys, but their getting pretty widespread. Not surprising about mob connections to Chicagoland Pizza

[Frank]

I looked up "deep dish pizza" on Newspapers.com and the earliest entry goes to 1955. It was a combination pizza and hamburger casserole. Most of the next entries are for deep dish tuna pizza. Tuna? Appears to have started in the South. Ike Sewell, founder of Pizzeria Uno, claimed he invented Chicago-style deep dish in 1945. The chef who worked there Adolph "Rudy" Malnati, claimed to be the actual inventor. Whatever the case, it appears to be an American invention. Stuffed pizza seems very similar.

My Mom who was half Italian had relatives that were first or second generation Italians. At Easter they made, what they called Pizza, and it was a Stuffed Pizza. This would have been pre Giordanos. Sauce was not on top of pizza, but was served on the side. The first time I seen it, I was kind of puzzled. Up until then I was only familier with Chicago Cut thin crust. These people were still very Italian and if they called it pizza thats good enough for me. It tasted fantastic, as all her cooking was. I believe it had ricotta and mozzarella for cheesebut dont know for a fact. Sausage too.

[Frank]

Ttoo.They came from Brienza

[PolackTony]

I always thought the deep dish/sicilian pizza was basically an Americanized sfincione

Yes, this was the story as I understand it about deep dish. As Antilliar already pointed out, the commercialized form of deep dish that was popularized in Chicago is credited to “Pizzeria Riccardo” (later renamed Pizzeria Zuni) founded by Chicago restauranteur and chef Riccardo Novaretti and Texan entrepreneur Ike Sewell. The cook, who many credit with the actual recipe, was Riccardo/Uno was Rudy Malnati. But both Malnati and Novaretti were northern Italian immigrants. As Novaretti already was well known in Chicago for running a very popular Italian restaurant, they may have come across some version of Sicilian pizza and decided to adapt it. The sauce on top is another clue that it may have had an origin in sfincione.

In Chicago we also have a more traditional sfincione, called “bakery pizza” that can only be found in a few old school Italian bakeries, like D’Amato’s on Grand Ave (incidentally I believe that the D’Amato family were probably related to Grand Ave crew associate Phil Amato).

As noted above, “stuffed pizza” was an entirely separate thing brought by families from Basilicata and Puglia and then adapted to capitalize on the growing “deep dish” trend.

[PolackTony]

I looked up "deep dish pizza" on Newspapers.com and the earliest entry goes to 1955. It was a combination pizza and hamburger casserole. Most of the next entries are for deep dish tuna pizza. Tuna? Appears to have started in the South. Ike Sewell, founder of Pizzeria Uno, claimed he invented Chicago-style deep dish in 1945. The chef who worked there Adolph "Rudy" Malnati, claimed to be the actual inventor. Whatever the case, it appears to be an American invention. Stuffed pizza seems very similar.

My Mom who was half Italian had relatives that were first or second generation Italians. At Easter they made, what they called Pizza, and it was a Stuffed Pizza. This would have been pre Giordanos. Sauce was not on top of pizza, but was served on the side. The first time I seen it, I was kind of puzzled. Up until then I was only familier with Chicago Cut thin crust. These people were still very Italian and if they called it pizza thats good enough for me. It tasted fantastic, as all her cooking was. I believe it had ricotta and mozzarella for cheesebut dont know for a fact. Sausage too.

Yes, that’s clearly a variety of scarcedda/scarcella, Lucano/Pugliese stuffed Easter pizza. Rocco Palese I’m sure saw the already growing popularity of deep dish and decided to tweak his mother’s scarcedda recipe accordingly (eg putting sauce on top).

Traditional recipes that I’ve seen for scarcedda have it filled with a mixture of ricotta (or other cheese), soppressata (or other meat), tomatoes, and often eggs.