Pizza carrée — Algeria

Pizza carrée is a square-cut street food pizza whose dough, made from flour or a mix of flour and semolina, is left thicker and airier than thin-crust styles, then baked in a rectangular tray and cut into portions. The crumb stays soft and slightly chewy, closer to a flatbread than to a crisp, thin pizza base. It is reported from Algeria, sold from street stalls and snack counters where it is prepared in trays and cut into squares rather than the round slices more common elsewhere, often wrapped in paper to eat on the move. To prepare it, a yeasted dough is left to rise until airy, pressed into an oiled rectangular tray and topped with tomato sauce and black olives. The dish version stays free of cheese, finished instead with anchovy fillets or sliced hot pepper and parsley, then baked until the crust puffs and turns lightly golden, filling the tray with the smell of baked dough and olives. Within the broader pizza family, pizza carrée is set apart by its square format, its semolina-enriched airy dough and its cheese-free topping of tomato, olives and anchovies, closer in spirit to a savory street snack than to a restaurant pizza.