Pizza A History

From Intechlabsinstruments.com

Who among us doesn’t like pizza(excusing the dieters!)!! It is certainly hard to think of a more complete food, fats, carbs and protein, all in a rich abundance. Which is your favorite type? There are so many to choose from, to pick one seems almost discriminatory! And, yet, despite the modern form that it takes, this food has been around a long time.
In it’s purest form, it is not so ancient, however, types similar to pizza have existed a long way into our past. The ancient Greeks, for instance, were recorded to have combined their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. And, even Persian king Darius 1st is reported to have his armies bake flatbreads with cheese and dates on top of their shields. So, if Darius was the first to come up with that concept, then pizza would have been around in the 6th century B.C.E.

Pizza A History – Modern Times

And, yet, even with those historical accounts and even records regarding the Trojans corroborating that information, in wasn’t until the 18th and 19th century in Naples that modern pizza began to assume an identity all of it’s own. Consisting of mostly flatbread dishes, they would be topped with a variety of herbs, and, maybe also tomato.
One of the more famous types is the Margherita. It is rumoured that in 1889, the Royal Palace of Capodimonte commissioned a Neapolitan pizzaiolo, Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honour of a visiting member of the royalty, strangely enough, called Queen Margherita! Whilst the pizza wasn’t the only one made, there were three made for the queen to choose from, it was her love of the Italian flag that led her to choose the pizza that become grandpapa to the Margherita that we know her today. The Queen’s reasoning was that this particular type of pizza contained red – tomato, green – basil and white – Mozzarella. Esposito’s shop the Pizzeria Brandi still displays an official letter of recognition from the Queen’s head of service.
So, in relatively modern times, the pizza emerged as a European delight. However, how did it become entrenched in North America?

Pizza A History – Conquering America

Lo and behold, when the Italian immigrants arrived in the U.S. in the late nineteenth century, guess what they brought with them? PIZZA! At first, this food appeared mainly in areas where these immigrants were concentrated, but that was about to change. Lombardi’s become the first pizzeria, opening in 1905. The pizza movement gained traction after World War 2 when vets returning from the Italian campaign, having been exposed to the Italian culture, had developed a love of the food and proved a captive audience for pizza. Now that it’s fan base was established, the love of pizza has literally exploded in recent times, leading to the introduction of franchises and restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s.
So, there we have it! Pizza is an ancient, modern delicacy. For all those who love it, take some time to think about how each mouthful fought hard to arrive on your dinner plate. Then eat and enjoy!