Italian Genius

When exactly was pizza invented and who can make this claim to eternal culinary fame?

There are as many different theories as to the creators of this loved dish as there are recipes. Some believe that the first pizza is based on the Middle-Eastern pita-bread and others believe that the dish is a distant cousin of the unleavened matzo bread brought back to Italy from Palestine. Pizza’s past may date back even to one-thousand years ago in the Mediterranean basin when Romans, Greeks and Egyptians served foccaccia as a snack with olive oil and spices as snack.

The most common theory states that pizza evolved in Naples with newly introduced tomato. Once considered highly poisonous,  this fruit was brought back from the New World and Neapolitans were very eager to adopt it into their cuisine. The first documented pizza napoletana honoured Princess Margherita of Savoia with a patriotic interpretation of the Tri-colore, Italy’s red, green and white flag. Using only tomatoes, basil and fresh buffalo mozzarella Raffaele Esposito created Italy’s most famous dish – Pizza alla Margherita.

During the waves of immigration that occurred between the 19^th and 20^th centuries, Italians took this delicious creation with them thus allowing its diffusion through-out the world. It soon became popular in North America with the arrival of Italian immigrants and the facility with which it was produced. Now the United States is one of the most pizza enthusiastic countries after Italy!