A History of Pizza

Pizza is a favorite food around the world today. You might expect that the origin of it began in Italy, and you would be correct about the origin of what we think of as pizzas today. Originally though, pizzas were a more functional food than a fun food as it is today. It is not a necessity to know where your food originates, but it can be a lot of fun.

The origin of pizzas actually began in ancient times, and as mentioned before, was more for function than fun. Dishes and utensils were likely at a minimum in ancient times, and so was the ability to wash and sanitize. Because of this, the idea to use bread dough as your plate to eat with gravy and stews was a great ideas. At that point, it would not have appeared to be what we think of as pizzas, but that was just the beginning.

As time went by, pizzas began to take more of the form that we see today. This was especially the case in Italy. In the 19th century, a queen in Italy was served bread with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil in honor of the Italian flag. After this it became very popular and took on more the form of the pizzas we eat today.

Pizza came to America quite a bit later and the first pizzeria was started in New York by an Italian man. It also was popularized in Chicago with a little different style. These 2 styles are a fairly good representation of the 2 main types of pizzas that you can get today. Of course there are some variations, but the New York style has the signature of being a thin crust with toppings, and the Chicago style has a think crust with the toppings.

The popularity of pizza in America was expedited by American soldiers after World War II. So you have them to thank for giving their lives to that awful war, but you also have them to thank for encouraging pizza eating in America. Being in Italy during the war helped encourage their enjoyment of this food.

Pizzas today have flourished a great deal in America as the arts and creativity have encouraged self-expression even in your food. Because of this, you can really put anything you want on a pizza. It could have everything from the more original toppings to things like spicy buffalo chicken with a blue cheese sauce.

Hopefully all of this talk of pizzas has made you hungry and will get you to find a pizzeria in your area to give you a taste of a food that has been around for many years. Do not be afraid to be adventurous in your eating. Now that you know about some of the history of pizzas, maybe you can try to find a pizzeria that will serve you something like the original. If you have not splurged and bought pizzas for dinner recently, maybe tonight would be the perfect time for a family night with this delicious food as your main course.