The ultimate pizza primer

Dumbfounded by Detroit? New to Neapolitan? Let olive break down those pizza styles, slice by slice

- TONY NAYLOR

Once, pizza was simple: it was flat and round, occasionally deep-dish and sometimes had a stuffed crust. But recently Britain has undergone a pizza revolution, with a new wave of hip restaurants pushing niche pizza, from al taglio squares to New York slices. It can seem bewildering, but no more - read on for your ultimate pizza primer. Tuck in!

Detroit-style at Ramona, Manchester

Served in rectangular slices, Detroit-style pizza has a thick, focaccia-like base that's topped, in reverse order, with meat, cheese and an intense, cooked tomato sauce (hence its nickname, 'red top'). Fittingly for a pizza originally baked in shallow steel trays that were used in Detroit's car factories, the Manchester exponent of this style occupies a former MOT garage. Co-founder Dan Mullen describes Ramona's take as an "artisan approach" to Detroit pizza, inspired by a Californian second wave that in recent years has taken the style in a fresh, gastro-nerd direction. Ramona's toppings -"We make everything in-house," says Dan - include pancetta, pineapple and thyme, or salami, 'nduja, sweet peppers and homemade hot honey that adds "richness, acidity, heat". Some of Ramona's slices come garnished with scooped ricotta or pecorino snowdrifts, because you can never have too much cheese - least of all with Detroit pizza, which develops "a crispy crust of cheese around the edge as it caramelises to the pan. The corner is the slice you fight over". Slices from £5, takemetoramona.com

Also available at: London Detroit Pizza, London E1, detroitpizzalondon.com; Square, Newcastle, hiptoeatsquare.com; White Label Pizza, Maldon, Essex, whitelabeldetroitpizza.co.uk

Neapolitan-style at Otto, Lichfield