Pizza: Everything you need to know.

0. When you think of pizza, you probably envision a circular pie with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni. However, this wasn’t always the form it took. There are references to a bread served with toppings such as cheese and mushrooms dating back to ancient Greece and Rome. A mention of this meal is even mentioned in Virgil’s literary classic, The Aeneid, where the men feast on vegetable-topped bread.

1. Although people have been enjoying a version of pizza since ancient times, modern pizza has its beginnings in Naples, Italy, dating back to the 18th century. Many people lived in poverty and needed food that was inexpensive to prepare and quick to consume. Tomatoes were a new commodity to Europe, and they were a cheap topping to add on to oven-baked flatbread. Other ingredients included lard, garlic and horse cheese. Due to the population’s on-the-go lifestyle, this food was often sold in the streets and eaten standing up.

2. Despite this dish being associated with the lower class, a shift in opinion occurred with King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited the city in 1889. The pair were given an assortment of pizzas to try, but the one that won the Queen over included basil, mozzarella and tomato sauce. She loved it so much that they named the pizza after her- the Margherita. Asides from the delicious combination of flavours, the colours on the pizza represent the green, white and red of the Italian flag. Shortly after the royal couple tried this regional specialty, it became a national dish.

3. Furthermore, Italian immigrants took this recipe with them to the United States of America in the 20th century. The first pizzeria was said to have opened up in New York in 1905, fewer than 20 years after its fame in Italy. Similar restaurants in Italian-American communities began to pop up shortly after. However, the craving for pizza did not stop there. When American soldiers returned home from World War II, they desired the taste of the European delicacy they had become accustomed to while abroad. Soon, restaurants all over the nation were offering pizza on their menus.

4. As the world became more globalized, a variety of changes to suit local tastes were introduced, much to the disapproval of the original Neapolitan founders. Moving away from the traditional shape is Chicago’s deep-dish style pizza. This dish resembles a pie, where ingredients are layered in a cake pan and baked for over 30 minutes. Some of these modifications have become internationally recognized. The infamous Hawaiian style pizza, topped with pineapple and ham, was actually invented by a Greek-immigrant in Canada in the 1960s as a unique measure to attract more customers.

5. In addition to its ingredients, pizza also adapted to modern society. Chain restaurants, such as Pizza Hut and Dominos, began in the early 1960s and have spread around the world. The latter is even associated with the popularization of pizza delivery. It’s no surprise that today, Dominos operates in over 90 countries around the world. Concurrently, the invention of frozen pizza made its debut around this time. Consumers were now able to purchase a box of ready-made pizza from their local supermarket and heat it up at home at their leisure and convenience.

6. The admiration for pizza did not stop in people’s stomachs. Like its mention in classical literature, it even made it onto the big screen. Who could forget Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love when she tastes pizza in Naples and professes her love for it? Even fictional characters, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were also quite fond of this meal.

7. Today, its popularity is undisputed and you can find pizza all over the world. While ordering pineapple on a pizza will be met with disgust in Italy, Naples is making an effort to maintain the original form’s authenticity. In an effort to preserve the sanctity of its beloved dish, Italy has passed some laws claiming what truly qualifies as a Neapolitan pizza. This legislation specifically outlines the type of ingredients, oven and temperatures used to make the dish. Despite this, regional pizzas such as the thin-crust version in the Apulian region, or the square-cut Roman style are still allowed to exist without protest.