Arguably one of the most popular foods in the world, the pizza had humble beginnings in a small Italian town. While it is difficult to say with complete certainty who invented it, it is believed that modern pizza was first made by Raffaele Esposito, a baker in Naples.
Interestingly though, the word pizza originates from the Greek word 'pēktos' meaning solid or clotted. The ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. The first major innovation that led to flatbread pizza as we know it today was the use of tomato as a topping. Poorer people living in Naples began to add tomato, which was a cheap ingredient, to their yeast-based flatbread to give it flavour, and so the pizza began.
In 2019 an international YouGov study asked more than 25,000 people across 24 countries to identify their preferences among 34 national cuisines. The figures revealed that pizza was one of the most popular dishes in the world, with Italian cuisine receiving an average popularity score of 84 per cent across the countries surveyed.
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Chicago Town deep dish pepperoni pizzas 320g
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Chicago Town stuffed crust pepperoni pizza 645g
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Whether you’re a fan of thin crust, deep dish, or a cheese-filled crust, here are seven fascinating facts about pizza.
1 The word pizza dates back over a thousand years — it was first mentioned in a Latin text written in southern Italy in 997 CE.
2 In 1835, Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, travelled to Naples, where he observed that the Neapolitan poor ate nothing but watermelon during the summer and pizza during the winter.
3 During the first few decades of the 20th century, pizza was predominantly eaten and sold by working-class Italian immigrants. But after World War II, American GIs came home from Italy with a craving for pizza, bringing the food to the USA.
4 Domino’s was founded in 1960. The restaurant chain’s founder, Tom Monaghan, is one of three people in the world who hold an advanced degree in 'Pizza-olog' from the 'Domino’s College of Pizza-ology' — a business management program he founded in the 1980s.
5 Pizza may have originated in Italy, but countries around the world have developed their own regional spins on the classic food. In Brazil, chefs top pizzas with green peas, the French love fried eggs on their slices, while in China a crust made of mini-hot dogs is surprisingly popular.
6 The first pizza ordered by computer happened in 1974: The Artificial Language Laboratory at Michigan State needed to test out its new 'speaking computer,' so they used it to order a pepperoni, mushroom, ham and sausage pizza from a local pizza joint.
7 In the 1980s, the Pizza Connection trial became the longest-running criminal jury trial in American history, running from 1985 to 1987. It prosecuted a group of mafia members who were using pizza restaurants as a front for illegal business activities.
Feeling inspired? Pull up your sleeves and make yourself a delicious pizza from scratch – it’s quick, easy and requires little effort! Be creative with topping choices and, if you’re feeling brave, have a go at making your own dough. You can make the dough up to 12 hours before you want to bake it and let it rise slowly in the fridge.
Nothing beats a fresh, homemade pizza
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