History Of Pizza

Pizza has a long, complex and uncertain history that often inspires heated debate. The origin of the word "pizza" is unclear, but it first appeared in 997 in Medieval Latin, and it was in Naples in the 16th century that a galette flatbread was referred to as a pizza.

At that time, the pizza was a baker's tool, a dough used to verify the temperature of the oven. A dish of the poor people, it was sold in the street and was not considered a kitchen recipe for a long time. Before the 17th century, the pizza was covered with white sauce. This was later replaced by oil, cheese, tomatoes or fish - in 1843, Alexandre Dumas, père described the diversity of pizza toppings. In June 1889, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the chef Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita", a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag. He was the first to add cheese. The exact sequence through which the many flavored flatbreads of the ancient and medieval Mediterranean became the dish popularized in the 20th century is not fully understood.