A Brief History of Pizza: The Dish that Conquered the World
North Shore Dish– A Brief History of Pizza: The Dish that Conquered the World The pizza that we know today is a derivation from focaccia, which is a flat bread that has been produced since ancient times in a variety of forms and decorated with herbs, olives, grease, raisins, honey, and nuts. The word focaccia comes from the Latin word for fire.
Birth of the Neapolitan Pizzerias
If you speak Italian, the word “pizza” means any flat bread or pie, whether it’s fried or baked. There are a lot of different kinds of pitas and pizzas in the Mediterranean. But the pizza we know today first appeared in Naples in the 1700s, when tomatoes were added to the menu. Naples has records of pizza going back to around the year 1000. The first records call these flat breads laganae, and later they are called picea. Bread back then came with garlic and olive oil, cheese and anchovies, or small fish from the area. They were cooked over an open fire, and sometimes they were folded in half like a book to make a calzone.
Some of the first pizzerias started in Naples. They had brick ovens that burned wood and were covered with lava stones from Mount Vesuvius. At that time, chefs didn’t bother with pizza because it was seen as a poor person’s food. But when the tomato was added around the 1770s, it must have caused some interest, even in the royal house. He went to Antonio Testa’s shop to try the pizzas because he liked the simple food that the people ate. His name was Ferdinand I Bourbon. There was pizza on the menu at the court because he liked it so much. He failed because his wife, Queen Maria Carolina, was against him. Ferdinand II’s son also liked all kinds of popular foods. He loved pizza so much that he had Antonio Testa’s son Domenico build a pizza oven in the royal house of Capodimonte.
Pizza in Neapolitan Folklore
Due to its widespread popularity, pizza has earned a place in the folklore of Neapolitan culture. Due to its ease of preparation and low cost, it became the food of choice for everyone, and it was even sold on the streets, as depicted in a number of drawings from the time period.
One of the most well-known incidents contributed to the expansion of pizza’s popularity outside the confines of Naples. It was the year 1889, and Margherita, the queen of Italy, was in town for a visit. Pizza was mentioned to her, and she expressed a desire to try it. An invitation was extended to a well-known chef by the name of Don Raffaele. Who, with the assistance of his wife Donna Rosa, would prepare pizza in the royal castle. They produced three pizzas that were typical of that era: one pizza with cheese and basil, one pizza with garlic, oil, and tomato, and one pizza with mozzarella, basil, and tomato. Because the colors of the most recent pizza were so strikingly similar to those of the national flag. The queen decided to go with that particular pizza. Since that time, this pizza has been referred to as Pizza Margherita, and Don Raffaele is attributed with being the one who invented it. Despite the fact that we are aware that it has been around for quite some time.
Conclusion
The first pizza restaurants opened their doors in the United States at the turn of the century, bringing with them Italian immigrants. Since then, pizza has become a widespread phenomenon in the United States. The pizza in Naples, which is made with buffalo mozzarella and is meticulously prepared. Is still considered to be the best pizza in the world. Pizzas that are considered to be superior are those that are achieved by making minimal modifications to the most basic and widely consumed pizza: Pizza Napoletana, which is constructed with tomato, garlic, oil, and oregano; Pizza Margherita; Pizza Marinara, which is composed of tomato, anchovies, capers, and olives; and Pizza Four Seasons, which is separated into four quadrants, each of which is dressed in a different manner. In contrast, pizza with hot salami, often known as pepperoni pizza in the United States, can be found in the Calabria region south of Naples, which is the place that produces this particular variety of hot sausage.