At Slice, we often used slightly specialized terminology to talk about pizza. Here, we demystify some crust terminology.

cornicione

The edge or lip of a pizza. This is what most Americans refer to as the "crust." While this might work for casual conversation, we have to be a little more technical at Slice, as we typically use crust to refer to the entire bread component of a pie. On Slice, we sometimes call the cornicione the "end crust."

char

We at Slice believe that a certain amount of "charring" is acceptable and even desirable in a crust. It gives it some flavor and, yes, a little bit of visual appeal.

"But isn't that burned," you ask. Oh, boy. We've had that conversation many times before on this site.

undercarriage (upskirt)

What's going on in those "char" photos above? Who takes a photo of the bottom of their pizza? In Slice land, you'll see it referred to as either an upskirt (though we've since moved away from that term a bit) or an undercarriage shot. It's simply there to show how well done a pizza crust is.

See also: The 'Pizza Upskirt' — Toward a New Pizzalogical Lexicon »

leopard-spotting

Leopard-spotting is a subset of charring — it's the little spots of char that occur on the rim of the pizza. Sometimes large or sometimes pinprick-size. True pizza nerds would not refer to the blackened spots on the undercarriage as leopard-spotting — that's just char.

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