Pizza
Pizza, in some form, has been eaten by Mediterranean people since the earliest days of their civilizations. Roman soldiers disliked the flat matzo bread of the Jews in Israel and attempted to make the bread more like the focaccia bread of their home. They sprinkled herbs, oil, and crushed cheese on it, creating the first pizza pie. The Italian word, pizza, is roughly translated "flat pie."
The style of pizza popular today began in pre-Renaissance Naples, Italy. Because the ingredients needed for pizza were few and inexpensive, pizza was a peasant food that became popular in the Neapolitan slums. Women of Naples combined flour, olive oil, lard, herbs, and cheese in creative ways and perfected the pies until all of Italy praised the pizza pies of Naples. Neapolitans continued to experiment with the pies and began adding some of the mysterious yellow berries Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) brought back from the New World, creating the first pizza al pomidoro (pizza with tomatoes).
The stature of pizza received a boost from Queen Maria Carolina of Naples (1752-1814) in the early eighteenth century. She persuaded her husband, King Ferdinand IV (1751-1825), to allow their chef to prepare pizza in the royal oven. The popularity and variety of pizza pies grew rapidly throughout Italy, and the pizzaiolos (pizza chefs) were given the respect often accorded to sushi chefs today. In 1889, the famous pizzaiolo, Raffael Esposito, received a royal command from Queen Margherita (1851-1925) to make pizzas for a royal feast. Esposito created one pizza for the feast that resembled the Italian flag by using tomatoes for the red, basil for green, and mozzarella cheese for the white field of the flag. This pizza, named Pizza Margherita, is the most popular pizza in America today.
Variations on pizza include the calzone, which is a pizza folded in half. The calzone is called mezzaluna in Italy. A deep-fried calzone is called a panzerotti . Another dish called torta rustica, uncommon in the United States, is a deep pizza stuffed with a variety of vegetables and cheese and is served on special occasions in Italy.
Pizza's popularity in America has grown steadily since Gennaro Lombardi opened the first pizzeria at 53 1/2 Spring Street in New York City in 1905. Though much of the fast food pizza in America pales in comparison to the original pies, many restaurants offer delicious variations of the original dish. Types of pizza popular in America today vary dramatically from one region of the country to the next. Neapolitan pizza, also called New York pizza, has a very thin and crisp crust with just a light layer of toppings. Chicago-style, or deep dish pizza, is characterized by a thick, bready crust and a heavy sauce. California-style pizza reflects the area's interest in gourmet health food and has a light crust topped with a wide variety of exotic cheeses and mushrooms.
In addition to fresh pizza, frozen pizza is also common. By the late 1990s, according to the American Frozen Food Institute, over 1.8 billion slices of frozen pizza were sold each year. More than one-third of these pizzas were microwavable.
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