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Where’s the Cheese?<\/h1>\n
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By Chadd McGlone<\/p>\n
Chapel Hill, NC, United States<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Travel around the United States, and you\u2019ll notice that pizza changes. New York has its big, thin slices that you can fold in half. Chicago is famous for deep-dish pizza. Detroit has thick, rectangular pizzas with crispy cheese baked around the edges, originally cooked in steel trays used to hold parts in automobile factories. Rhode Island<\/strong> has something a little different.<\/p>\n I discovered it one fall evening after a professional meeting in Providence. Everyone had gathered for snacks, and I was starving. When my host, Gina, told me there was pizza, I was delighted.<\/p>\n Then she handed me a rectangular strip of thick bread topped edge to edge with a layer of tomato sauce. I looked at it. There was no pepperoni. No stretchy layer of melted cheese. It wasn\u2019t even warm.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the pizza?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a pizza strip,\u201d Gina said. \u201cTry it.\u201d<\/p>\n The bread was chewy, with a little crunch at the edge. The sauce was thick and rich with tomatoes and herbs. I took another bite. I must say, it was among the best pizza I had ever eaten. But I had questions.<\/p>\n Gina explained that pizza strips come from Rhode Island\u2019s Italian-American bakery tradition. Bakers spread bread dough into large rectangular pans and cover it with seasoned tomato sauce. After baking, they let it cool and cut it into strips. The bread is similar to focaccia, and the sauce gets far more attention than it would beneath a thick blanket of mozzarella.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”9px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-40px||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Adaptation of \u201cWeekday Morning in the Italian District, Federal Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, 1979<\/a>\u201d by Michael Edward Bell. Public domain.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n \u201cSo you don\u2019t heat it up?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Gina said. \u201cPizza strips are served at room temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n That suited me. I was already halfway through mine.<\/p>\n \u201cBut why leave off the cheese?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, there\u2019s a story behind the missing cheese,\u201d Gina said.<\/p>\n In the early 1900s, local bakeries used leftover bread dough to make pizzas and left them on the counter for customers to buy. According to the story passed down in Rhode Island bakeries, health inspectors objected to cheese sitting out without refrigeration. Rather than refrigerate the pizza, some bakers simply stopped adding the cheese.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they kept the pizza and lost the cheese,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you don\u2019t seem to be missing it.\u201d<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere would I go to get more?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStart with an Italian bakery,\u201d Gina said. \u201cAsk for pizza strips. You might also hear them called bakery pizza or party pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n I wondered whether I could order a pizza strip with toppings.<\/p>\n \u201cCould I get pepperoni on one?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot on these.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMushrooms?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSausage?\u201d<\/p>\n She shook her head.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about mozzarella?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust bread and sauce,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe a very small amount of grated Romano or Parmesan. That\u2019s a traditional red strip.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”9px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-40px||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Adaptation of \u201cBox o’ Strips<\/a>\u201d by David Iannotti. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Rhode Islanders eat plenty of other kinds of pizza, with melted cheese and all sorts of toppings. Pizza strips are something different. You buy them from local bakeries, carry them home in boxes, and eat them at room temperature. They show up at birthday parties, ball games, meetings, beach trips, and family gatherings. In Rhode Island, a box of pizza strips can be as ordinary as a pitcher of sweet tea in the South.<\/p>\n Around us, people kept talking and helping themselves to the food. I grabbed another strip before they were gone.<\/p>\n Before leaving Rhode Island for the drive home, I stopped at a local bakery. Inside were those now-familiar red rectangles, ready to go.<\/p>\n \u201cOne pizza strip for the road,\u201d I said. \u201cHold the pepperoni.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Have a suggestion for this story? We\u2019d love for you to\u00a0submit it<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/mathkind.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Rhode-Island-GMS-plate-of-pizza-strips.png” alt=”Rectangular Rhode Island pizza strips topped with seasoned tomato sauce, cut into individual pieces and arranged on a white serving tray” title_text=”Rhode Island GMS plate of pizza strips” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”9px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-40px||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Adaptation of “Rhode Island Party Pizza<\/a>\u201d by Mark Bonica. Licensed under CC BY 2.0<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/mathkind.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Rhode-Island-GMS-pan-of-pizza-strips.png” alt=”Traditional Rhode Island pizza strips topped with tomato sauce and herbs, baked in a large rectangular black metal pan” title_text=”Rhode Island GMS pan of pizza strips” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”9px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-40px||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Adaptation of “Sfincione palermitano<\/a>\u201d by Rino Porrovecchio. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_accordion _builder_version=”4.27.9″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Blank” open=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_css_main_element=”display: none; ” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Blank<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Math Resources” open_toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ toggle_font_size=”18px” open=”off” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Sample Problems:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Extension Questions” open_toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ toggle_font_size=”18px” open=”off” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Explore Further” open_toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ global_colors_info=”{}” toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ toggle_font_size=”18px” open=”off”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Share Your Story” open_toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” toggle_text_color=”#0a1766″ toggle_font_size=”18px” open=”off”]<\/p>\n![\"Historic](\"https:\/\/mathkind.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Rhode-Island-GMS_bakery-1000-x-667-px.png\")
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