What is Cornwall-style pizza? This television series wants the world to know

Did you know Cornwall, Ont. is home to its very own distinct style of pizza? A four-episode television comedy series debuts tomorrow exploring this topic.

What is a Cornwall-style pizza? A new television show that debuted this week is aiming to let the world know.

“Cheese on Top” is now streaming on Bell Fibe TV and the show’s creators say the singular, weighty pizza unique to the small eastern Ontario city is worthy of fame.

According to Chris Redmond, the show’s director, the pizza is defined by its heartiness and distinct cheese on top approach.

“The main defining element of Cornwall pizza is the cheese is on top. All the toppings are on the bottom, and it’s a thick layer of toppings” Redmond told CTV’s Your Morning Ottawa on Thursday.

“Stacks of meat, thick crust all around, and the cheese is on top. So, this is something that is done all over Cornwall.”

As Redmond explains, there are roughly 14 different mom and pop pizza joints in the city that serve up Cornwall-style pizza.

“They’re not affiliated with each other, but it’s got sort of a Greek heritage.”

“Cheese on Top,” which premiered on Friday with two episodes, follows Stacy Case, the show’s creator and host, as he goes to great lengths to make Cornwall pizza world famous.

“It’s real,” Case said. “The first episode, the show wrote itself for me because I’m doing real things.”

“There are other cities that think that they have the best pizza in Canada, if you can believe it. Places like Windsor think they have better pizza,” Redmond said. “No, no, no, we’re starting wars with Windsor. Okay, we staged a protest in our third episode on Windsor Street.”

As Redmond puts it, the series is “Anthony Bourdain meets Jackass.”

“We want to do a TV show that you know, doesn’t just look at pizza, that’s easy to do. We can sit; we can talk to people who make the pizza — we wanted to have a lot more fun with this,” Redmond said.

Both CTV News and Bell Fibe TV are owned by BCE.

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