A quick history of the Pizza
Where did the Pizza originate from? MoneyFoodTravel does a bit of research and traces its origins.
Pizza, we would think is an Italian creation but it is strictly not so. It is believed that Pizza had its origins in ancient Greece. The Greeks baked bread in ‘round flat shapes’ and then put toppings on it. The toppings would consist of meats, olive, fruits and potatoes. Cut to the 16th century. Bakers in Naples sold what we can call as the first ‘pizza’ to poor people for their meals. It became popular as it was low –cost, tasty and also could be eaten as one was moving from one place to another.
The modern Pizza as we know today, was born in 1889 when King Umberto 1 and Queen Margherita visited Naples. Legend has it that they were bored of regular French cuisine. Having come across the large flat pizza breads that she saw the peasants having, the queen even ventured to eat it every time she was out among them. The queen loved it so much that Chef Raffaele Esposito was summoned for this purpose from his pizzeria to the royal palace to bake a selection for the queen. The chef made three varieties of Pizza but the one the queen loved the most was inspired by the colours of the Italian flag. For toppings Esposito used basil for green, mozzarella cheese for white and tomatoes for red. The pizza was named as ‘Pizza Margherita’ in honour of the queen. Since the queen loved it, it soon became popular in Naples with the same name, but its popularity did not spread further.
It was only when Italians started migrating to the United States that the recipe found a way to the Americas. In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi, opened the first pizzeria in the United States in a thriving Italian- American neighbourhood in Manhattan. Located in the Little Italy of Manhattan, the pizzeria exists even today. Their official website is www.firstpizza.com
Pics from Pixabay, wikimapia