''What makes a Cuban pizza?'' asks one of the Three Guys from Miami in their eponymous website, 3guysfrommiami.com.
Pizza hit Cuba in the '50s, along with all things Italian. Movies starring bombshells Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren. Capri pants for women; tight-fitted suits for men. Italian jokes (the only one I remember is not suitable for a family newspaper).
And pizza.
Pizzerias were so trendy, that in Castro's early years, the then-young barbudo gave an interview to an American publication while dining on pizza at a fashionable joint, portraying himself as hip.
Much younger and less commanding than the comandante, I, too, ate pizza in my Cuban years. So I'm not surprised that, along with Cuban sandwiches, fritas, cafecitos, guava pastries and croquetas, pizza crossed the Florida Straits.
The Three Guys define Cuban pizza -- in Miami -- as having doughy, chewy crust; a sauce with a distinct Cuban flavor; ''cheesy'' cheese; and toppings like picadillo, chorizo and even plantains. The Guys are big on the chain El Rey ``The King of Pizza.''
I tried it and, indeed, the crust is doughy and chewy, the sauce is cubano (and a little greasy, but that's not a criticism, merely a cubano sauce trait), and, yes, those toppings are available.
I tried the picadillo, which tasted like substandard Cuban coffee-shop fare, but on a pizza was interesting. The cheese was cheesy, and not exactly Italian, possibly a blend, as the Three Guys speculate. The whole thing definitely tasted Cuban.
I found myself wanting to wolf it down, possibly having fallen victim to the gastronomic nostalgia that makes Cuban-Americans eat comfort food.
• El Rey ``The King of Pizza'', 6340 SW Eighth St., Miami (other locations in Miami, Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens); open 24 hours; 305-265-2040. Individual pizzas from $6.25. Free parking.
BEACH PARTY PIZZA
I liked Montes de Oca better, maybe because it was a friendlier, funkier environment.Montes de Oca (the founder's name) claims to be the original Varadero pizza, and signs warn clients, ''Don't be confused,'' i.e., don't accept substitutes. I never ate pizza at that famous Cuban beach resort, so I'll take their word for it.
My Montes de Oca pizza was chorizo-topped -- both places serve personal-sized pizzas, no slices -- and I liked it. It was doughier than El Rey's and less grease had seeped onto it, though I confess to missing the crunch and picadillo-soaked quality of El Rey's.
Montes de Oca, 5241 SW Eighth St., Miami (other locations in Miami, Doral and Hialeah); open 24 hours; 305-567-0306. Individual pizzas from $5.75. Free parking. Outdoor seating.
HOLD THE PLATANOS
The best Cuban pizza I've had was in Havana, at a paladar (private-home restaurant) for Cubans only (pesos, not dollars) and it was, as we say here, artisanal: handmade in small quantities. This down-home pizzeria had no gourmet pretensions, but the pie rocked.
Miami Cuban pizza is something I will wander back to because, well, I'm Cuban. Can it cross over? Yes, to Hialeah, to other Cubans.
I will leave it to my ''Anglo'' neighbors to decide if, free of nostalgia, it is intriguing, even seductive. You can have it with plantains, but, like ''Hawaiian'' pizza with pineapple, I'll pass.
Next time: Local Italian cuisine via Latin America.
