The History of Pizza
Pizza: what would our lives be without this delicious dish? It’s not often that national dishes receive international recognition but, in the case of the Italians, pizza has made its way far and wide across the world into the hearts (and stomachs) of all pizza-lovers worldwide.
While there are hundreds of different pizza variations today, there is only one true iconic back story to this delicious dish.
Have you ever considered where the origins of pizza lay? Let’s take a trip down pizza-lane to discover the history of our much-loved pizza.
How it All Started
In its simplest form, pizza is very closely related to flatbread which was eaten by the Greeks. This flatbread was made from dough and water, laid on a hot stone and seasoned with herbs. The flatbread was then eaten with stews and broths.
While this is not quite what we call pizza today, it is very similar to modern focaccia bread.
By the middle ages, these “pizzas” began to take on a more modern look. The peasants at the time used the few ingredients they could muster to create the dough and topped it with olive oil and herbs.
Once the Italian Water Buffalo arrived, mozzarella cheese was made and this was used on top of the pizzas too. In traditional pizzas today, mozzarella from the Italian Water Buffalo is still used as common practice.
Tomatoes were introduced to Italian cuisine, particularly pizzas, only in the late 18th to early 19th century which gave pizza the official modern feel.
When tomatoes arrived in Italy in the 1530s it was widely believed that tomatoes are poisonous. For this reason, tomatoes were planted for purely decorative reasons.
However, the hungry peasants of Naples started using tomatoes in their foods and on pizzas. It took some time for the rest of society to accept tomatoes as a consumable food.
When the aristocrats tasted pizza for the first time, pizza was already been sold on the streets in Naples. As popularity increased, vendors began opening stores where custom pizzas could be ordered with different topping combinations.
In 1830, the “Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba” became the first pizzeria in Naples and is still producing delicious pizzas today.
The History of the Margherita
If you go into any pizzeria today, Margherita remains one of the traditional pizza types on the menu and this is because it was named after Italy’s Queen Margherita who visited Pizzeria Brandi in Naples in 1889.
The pizza maker on duty that day, Rafaele Esposito, created a pizza especially for the Queen with the three colours of the Italian flag in mind: the red being the tomato, white the mozzarella and green the fresh basil.
The Queen loved the pizza so much that the style was spread throughout Italy and is still a popular traditional choice today.
It was at this moment that pizza became recognized as a dish fit for the wealthy and not only the poor. Pizza then became a recognized national Italian dish along-side pasta.
Fun Pizza Facts
While there are hundreds of pizza variations all over the world, there is a set standard for the making of traditional Italian pizza. Italian pizzas are always:
- Round in shape
- Cooked in a wood-fired oven
But pizza is a food of love and it is enjoyed all over the world in different variations and flavours.
These interesting pizza facts should tickle your taste buds:
- Although pizza was given the royal blessing by Queen Margherita, it was not until the late 1800s that pizza became better-known outside the city of Naples. When the Italians began to migrate to America, they took their traditional pizza recipe with them.
- In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi opened the first pizzeria in Manhattan. The pizzeria is still in operation today and has the same oven in use as what was fitted in 1905.
- In 1943, Ike Sewell opened Uno’s in Chicago which gave rise to the Chicago-style pizza that still exists today.
- Pizza Hut opened its doors in 1958 while Dominos opened in 1960.
- In 1957, Celentano’s began making frozen pizzas. Frozen pizza soon became the most popular of all frozen foods.
- The entire pizza industry makes billions every year.
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From 200 years ago to today, pizza still remains a family favourite. Getting pizza is now as easy as ordering from the phone.
Know any other interesting historical pizza facts? Please share them in the comments on Kerrygold’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages for all the pizza-loving followers to see.
