Know More About Pizza

History of Pizza

Pizza is a kind of dish which has been in existence for a long time in Mediterranean & Middle Eastern cuisine. It was known as baker’s tool which was used for verification of oven’s temperature. Pizza was also called as poor people’s dish that got sold on streets.

Earlier pizza was normally covered with white sauce but in 17th century white sauce was replaces by tomatoes, cheese & oil. According to historians in 1889, Raffaele Esposito, a reputed Neapolitan chef made Pizza Margherita to honor Queen of Italy, Margherita. This pizza was garnished with mozzarella cheese, basil and tomatoes that represented the Italian flags colors. This was the first time that cheese was added to pizza.

Up to 1830 pizza was traditionally sold out from open air bakeries & stands and this tradition has continued into the present era also. At many places you still get to enjoy pizza from open air stands outside pizzeria.

Pizza in United States

In U.S., pizza made appearance with arrival of immigrants from Italy in 19th century. In cities such as New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia & Chicago, pizza became quite popular because of the higher population of Italian community at these places and was sold on streets just like what it was in the Italian neighborhoods. According to general belief, first of the pizzerias in U.S. was founded in Manhattan by Gennaro Lombardi.

Some interesting facts about pizzas

Let us now look at some fun facts about pizzas in United States:

1. More the 3 billion of pizzas are purchased every year in the U.S.
2. In U.S. there are 63,000 or more pizza restaurants.
3. Out of total American population, around 93% like pizzas.
4. The most liked topping is Pepperoni in United States.
5. Most pizzas are sold on Super Bowl Sunday, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Eve.
6. In the country on an average a person eats around 46 slices of pizza each year.
7. National pizza month falls in October in U.S.
8. Thin crust is nationwide favorite with 60% of total population liking it.
9. Favored pizza size is diameter of 14 inches in United States.
10. About eighty percent of Italian cheese produced in the country is mozzarella cheese.
11. Alone in New York, there are around 9,000 pizzerias.

Pizza Base

Pizza’a bottom also known as crust widely varies depending on the style. The crust could be thin like in Roman pizza or which are also known as hand tossed pizzas. It can be thick as found in pan pizza. The base is normally plain but could be seasoned using herbs, cheese stuffed or seasoned using garlic.

Pizza Baking Methods

Different baking methods are used depending upon where pizza is made. In a restaurant the baking is done in oven with bricks over heat source, in oven of conveyor belt type or electric deck type ovens. In expensive restaurants brick ovens which are fired using coal or wood are also used.

At home, pizza could be baked in a normal oven by using pizza stones to give the pizzas brick oven look & effect. In another method barbecue grill is used to bake pizza crust. In Chicago pizza making style the pizza is not baked on bricks in oven but in pan.

Different Pizza Types

There are different pizza types some of which include:

1. Neapolitan pizza
2. Lazio style pizza
3. Gourmet pizza
4. Wood fired pizza
5. Deep dish pizza
6. Frozen pizza
7. Ready to bake pizza

With time pizza has become quite popular all over the world and different styles as well as types of pizzas make sure that there is one which will be as per your liking.