The History of Pizza
Like living things, pizza has evolved into its current form very gradually. It bears the mark of many ancient cultures centered around the Mediterranean sea. If you're looking for a simplified review of the history of pizza, try the outline below. If you want more detail, try the longer review that follows this outline.
Ancient Greeks ate a flat, baked bread with assorted toppings called plankuntos. This flatbread may have been a derivative of something Babylonians ate in earlier centuries.
While originally thought to be poisonous, Spaniards who had been to Mexico and Peru introduced the tomato to Italy in the 16th century.
The original mozzarella cheese was made from the milk of Indian water buffalo in the 7th century. It was introduced to Italy in the 18th century.
The world's first true pizzeria may have been "Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba" which opened in 1830 and is still in business today at Via Port'Alba 18 in Naples.
Italian and Greek peasants ate earlier forms of pizza for several centuries before it became a hit among aristocracy. In 1889, a Neapolitan named Rafaele Esposito prepared pizza for King Umberto I and Queen Margherita, who apparently loved it.
An Italian immigrant named Gennaro Lombardi opened the first U.S. pizzeria in 1895 in New York City.
Pizza is now consumed all over the world, though travelers are often amazed by how different cultures have adapted pizza to their own preferences.
The History of Pizza In Detail
It's kind of silly to talk about anyone "inventing" pizza. Pizza has undergone a very slow process of evolution over the centuries, but it is quite certainly the cultures of the Mediterranean that deserve credit for creating it. Historical records suggest that people in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome all ate things that are very similar to our modern pizza crust. Ancient Egyptians had a custom of celebrating the Pharaoh's birthday with a flat bread seasoned with herbs, and Herodotus, a Greek historian described Babylonian recipes that are very similar to contemporary pizza crust. The word pizza may be a derivative of the Latin word picea, a word which the Romans used to describe the blackening of bread in an oven.
PREDECESSORS OF PIZZA IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Pizza most clearly took the form that we are now familiar with in pre-Renaissance Naples, a large city in central Italy. Poor peasants used their limited ingredients (wheat flour, olive oil, lard, cheese and natural herbs) to make a seasoned, flat bread garnished with cheese. Mozzarella cheese was one benefit of an invasion from Asian peoples, who brought the water buffalo to Italy. Today, the best mozzarella cheese is still made from water buffalo milk.
The word pizza, as it is currently spelled, also emerged some time in the Middle Ages. It was used to describe both sweet and salty pies that were becoming increasingly popular among Italian aristocracy.
THE FEARED AMERICAN TOMATO
Europeans returning from Peru and Mexico brought with them what was originally thought to be a very poisonous fruit: the tomato. Precisely how they decided that the tomato was actually edible is unclear, but as Southern Europeans overcame their suspicions, the tomato became enormously popular. Today, of course, the tomato is a crucial component of Mediterranean cuisine, and is still used in most pizza recipes.
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