A Slice of History
Pizza feels
so familiar that it’s easy to forget it has a surprisingly long and interesting backstory. Long before cheese pulls and delivery boxes, ancient civilizations were already enjoying versions of flatbread topped with simple ingredients.
In ancient
Greece, people baked bread and topped it with herbs, oils, and cheese. The Romans enjoyed something similar, too. These early versions weren’t called pizza, but they laid the groundwork.
Modern pizza really found its home in Naples, Italy, in the 1700s and 1800s. At the time, Naples was a busy port city filled with
working-class families who needed food that was inexpensive, filling, and fast. Street vendors sold flatbread topped with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, anchovies, and cheese. These early pizzas were eaten with hands, folded in half, and enjoyed on the go.
One of the most famous pizza stories involves Queen Margherita of
Italy in 1889. Legend says that a local pizza maker created a special pizza in her honor using tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, representing the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. She loved it, and “Pizza Margherita” became an instant classic that’s still popular today.
Pizza didn’t become popular in the United
States until Italian immigrants brought it with them in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first documented pizzeria in America opened in New York City in 1905.
At first, pizza was mostly eaten in Italian neighborhoods. It wasn’t until after
World War II, when soldiers returned home craving the food they had enjoyed overseas, that pizza exploded in popularity nationwide.
Here are a few fun pizza facts to chew on:
Americans eat about 3 billion pizzas every year.
Pepperoni is the most popular topping in the U.S.
The world’s largest
pizza was over 13,000 square feet.
There is a Pizza Museum in Philadelphia.
From ancient flatbread to late-night takeout and family pizza nights,
this humble dish has traveled the world and stood the test of time. However you like it, thin crust, deep dish, loaded with toppings, or beautifully simple, pizza truly is one of the world’s most loved comfort foods.
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