The history of pizza
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Pizza has a long, complex and uncertain history. The first written attestations of the word "pizza" date back to Vulgar Latin from Gaeta In the 997 and in a lease contract dated January 31, 1201 on the back in Sulmona and later in that of other Italian cities such as Rome , L'Aquila , Pesaro , Penne, etc. Later, in the XVI century to Naples a crushed bread was given the name of pizza which derives from the distortion of the word "Pitta".
At the time, pizza was a baker's utensil, a dough used to check the temperature of the oven. A poor man's plate, it was sold on the street and was not considered a cooking recipe for a long time. 17th century the pizza was covered with white sauce. It was later replaced with olive oil , cheese , tomatoes or fish: in 1843 , Alexandre Dumas father described the diversity of pizza toppings.
According to tradition in June 1889 , to honor the Queen of Italy Margherita di Savoia , the cook Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita", a pizza topped with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese And basil , to represent colors of the flag
Italian The exact sequence in which medieval focaccia became popular dishes in the twentieth century is not fully known. The pizza, which is one flat bread and then a bread , evidently derives from similar products widespread since ancient times in their various variations, more or less flattened, to which various types of condiments were added but not the tomato, which only towards the end of XVI century it began to spread in Europe and in Italy, imported from South America .
Pizza margherita
However, it should be noted that already in 1830 , a certain "Riccio" in the book Napoli, contours and surroundings, had written about a pizza with tomato, mozzarella and basil. Slowly the focaccia of popular origin enriched with tomato spread in all social classes and in all Italian regions, and with it also the places specialized in the preparation of pizza: first probably ovens where the pizza was consumed standing on the street, then later trattorias And pizzerias .
Until the beginning of the Twentieth century pizza and pizzerias remain a purely Neapolitan phenomenon, and gradually Italian (in northern Italy it began to spread only after World War II), then, on the wave of emigration , they began to spread abroad but only after the World War II , adapting to the tastes of various countries, they become a world phenomenon.
Italian emigrants have made pizza known, appreciated and even modified around the world. Today many chefs of different nationalities have become expert pizza chefs for whom there is also a world championship in which to compete. Today the turnover linked to pizza (pizzerias, home deliveries, frozen foods, chains of fast food ) is very relevant in the world, to the point that some skilled entrepreneurs (such as the American Tom Monaghan founder of the Domino's Pizza ) have built great fortunes around pizza.