Italian Pizza History

I craved for a pizza every time I saw Michaelangelo gorging on one. The ninja turtle, guys, not the artist. Anyhow, he ate the

with animated delight and I waited until the day I could sink my teeth into that scrumptious looking

. It wasn't until years later when I had my first pizza. Gooey cheese melting into the dish, hot steam carrying with it the aroma of the sauted chicken, half fried onions and corn blended into one perfect mouthwatering delight. Mmmm. This article is not about pizza recipes. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. It has on the other hand, got to do with how the pizza came to be. Who made it happen? What are the events that lead to the Italian pizza history? Want to know about the history of Italian pizza? You should read right through.

Italian Pizza History - In Detail

So how did the pizza come about? There's a whole set of events that led to it. Read and learn more about some

Now the interesting thing about the pizza is that there has been a bone of contention regarding the Italian pizza history and its origin. There have been writings found that suggest that both the Greeks and the Italians used to bake large round breads which they spruced up with flavors and essences. These they got from herbs, oils and spices. But the pizza as we now know and love, they say, can be traced back to the Italians. While the Greek only used vegetables, the more sophisticated pizza with meats and other ingredients like olives was brought into being due to the Italians.

Here is a brief time line of the history:

• In about 1000 AD, the historical records began to make a mention of the word 'Picea'. This word was used to describe the flattened, rounded dough that was later filled with toppings and baked.
• Different forms of the pizza began to make way as time rolled on. There were instances of leavened dough, crescent shaped breads that were filled with toppings and baked, and other forms.
• In Naples, the pizza as we recognize today came to be.
• The pizza became a common phenomenon enjoyed by the peasants because it was readily available now.
• The first pizzeria was started in 1830 at a Neapolitan market.
• In 1889, Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni came across peasants eating this quaint looking rounded bread, when she went visiting Naples. Completely taken up and curious about the pizza, the queen wanted to know what the dish was all about. It was then that the kind Umberto I asked a chef named Don Raffaele Esposito to prepare a pizza for the queen. That is how a special pizza with toppings like mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and basil came to be.
• Tomatoes were never used in pizzas before this special pizza was made for the queen. Ironic, considering that tomatoes were thought to be a poisonous plant, only grown for decoration. It was the peasants who started using tomatoes in most of their foods before it even came to be accepted as a normal everyday ingredient that it is today.
• Once royalty got a taste of the dish that was pizza they could not get enough of it. That is how it came to be accepted in Italian society and its word spread far and wide. Making it legendary. True Italian pizza fact!
• The pizza made its way into America after the Italians began to migrate there. Once there, the Italians came up with their own bakeries and pizzerias and that is how the pizza became a popular dish. So much so, that today, the pizza is one of the most heavily eaten dishes in America.

And there you have it, the Pizza. The most popular one at that. So whenever you think of the Italian pizza history, thank the queen. For without her, it might have still been this quaint rounded bread that was a local delight that you got to eat only when you went visiting Italy.