Taryn Varricchio: If you're visiting Philly
for the first time, this rectangular loaf of bread
dressed in red tomato sauce
might not be at the top of your food bucket list,
but locals will tell you it's a must-try.
This is tomato pie, and it's one of the city's
oldest and most favorite dishes.
Customer: It's a legend. Staple.
Doesn't get any better than this.
Taryn: We're in South Philly today,
which is basically like
the Italian neighborhood of Philadelphia,
and we're heading to Sarcone's Bakery
to try tomato pie.
I have never heard of it because
I'm not from this area, so we wanna know,
why are Philadelphians so into tomato pie?
Let's go find out.
Tomato pie has been a beloved piece
of Philly's culinary scene for decades.
It starts with a thick bottom layer of bread dough
molded into a rectangular shape.
At Sarcone's, the pie is partially baked
in a massive, decades-old brick oven
until lightly crisped.
Current owner Lou and his father, Luigi,
use a 15-foot peel to pull it out
before spreading on heavy helpings
of the family's original tomato sauce,
what they call "gravy" at the shop.
Once the gravy is spread evenly,
the pie heads back into the oven
for several minutes more,
ensuring the crust cooks all the way through
and turns a golden brown.
It becomes firm on the bottom
with a soft, fluffy texture on top
that absorbs each bite of savory gravy.
Customer: Been eating it since I was a little kid.
By far, this is my favorite tomato pie.
It's got good gravy on basically a loaf of bread.
Taryn: Lou sprinkles a handful of Parmesan cheese,
but the pie is otherwise void of dairy.
From just one look, this red sea of sauce
is the most notable feature of the dish
and what makes it distinctly not pizza.
Customer: Whenever I tell people about it,
they're always confused, and they just go,
"Is that pizza?"
And it's not pizza. You know, it's totally different.
So, I think it is something
regional and special for here.
Taryn: Thick square slices are set
at the front of the store,
where they're wrapped in wax paper
and often served at room temperature.
Some customers grab a slice on the go,
while others pick up whole pies
to bring back to the office.
Customer: I started eating it really young.
I think it is special for here,
you know what I mean?
So when I have a chance to share that
with other people that maybe aren't from around here,
I think it's a really cool treat to bring them.
Taryn: The same goes for Jimmy Rubino,
who owns the oldest Italian restaurant
in Philly, right next door.
Jimmy Rubino: My grandmother made her own dough,
and she made her own tomato pie,
Friday's usually 'cause we didn't eat meat.
Yeah, grew up on it.
Love it.
Taryn: I'm eating this room temperature right now,
and so it more of less
reminds me of an appetizer,
like focaccia with sauce on top,
and so, like, I can imagine eating this before a meal,
before I had pasta for dinner, or picking this up.
And, like, people were telling us
this is a grab-and-go snack for them.
Tomato pie is a century-old tradition
started by Italian immigrants
who settled in South Philly
and began working at bakeries in the early 1900s.
At the end of the day, they would turn
any leftover bread into tomato pie.
Louis Sarcone III: What bakers used to do back then,
whenever they had leftover dough,
they would just,
instead of having it go to waste,
they would make pizza shells out of it.
So, it's
a little bit different than a normal pizza,
'cause the dough is not a pizza dough.
It's a bread dough.
Taryn: It has much more of a bread-like texture.
It's not pizza dough, as Lou was telling us,
and so it's very airy
and kind of light.
So you're biting into it,
it's like biting into a cloud
rather than biting into, like, dense crust of a pizza.
Customer: Brings me back to when I was a kid.
It's an Italian tradition.