History of Pizza
As common belief would have it, Pizza did not originate in Italy. It started
with the Greeks; the Greeks are believed to have baked large, round flat
bread with olive oil, spices and potatoes on it. At this time tomatoes
were not used as an ingredient. In the 18th century Pizza moved to Italy
where it got the name, Pizza literally stands for to pinch or to pluck.
It was sold by street vendors to poor people since it was cheap to make.
Queen Margherita on a visit to Naples happened to taste the Pizza and
like it so much and asked Chef Raffaele Eposito to create some with his
own ingredients. He created a pizza representing the Italian flag with
tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese and was an instant hit with the queen.
Chef Raffaele decided to name it Pizza Margherita after the queen and as
we now know it. Naples can be considered as the Pizza capital of the world.
It came to be known in other countries like America, France, England and
Spain only after World War II when soldiers coming back from Italy introduced
it in the Unites States...
The first Pizzeria opened in the United States in New York City in 1905
and the Chicago style deep dish was created in 1943. Pizza became really
popular in the United States only after the 1950’s. Pizza has evolved
into different forms of like deep dish, pan pizza, stuffed crust, thin
crust and thick crust. Pizza has gained tremendous popularity in the United
States and it can be considered as the staple diet of Americans and is
available in prepackaged frozen form. Pizza parlors are also popular in
the United States and there is nothing easier than ordering a pizza which
will be delivered right to your doorstep.
