History of Pizza - Made for a Queen
It is impossible to determine the exact time that the first history of pizza arrived on the scene but it appears to have evolved over thousands of years. Most researchers agree that in its early form it was pita-like bread and was eaten by many of the people around the Mediterranean rim, from Rome to Egypt to Babylon.
One theory is that it began first with the early Greeks who baked large, round, flat breads which they topped with olive oils, spices, and potatoes. It was something like an edible plate which they also used when eating stews. The dough was cooked by placing it on a hot stone. Tomatoes were not yet discovered. Some claim that pizza came from the Mid-East with pita bread as the foundation. Another interesting theory can be found in the legend of Roman soldiers returning from Palestine where they had eaten matzoh with the Palestinian Jews. Upon returning home they developed a dish called picea. These were the ancestors of history of pizza but not the true pizza as we know it.
Eventually, sometime in the 18th century, the idea of flat bread found its way to Italy and was called “Pizzas”. Since they were relatively cheap to make and were tasty and filling, they were sold all over Naples in the streets and in the markets to the poor. They were enjoyed plain and not topped with anything.
During this time the tomato was unknown and the Indian water buffalo had not been imported. The introduction of the Indian water buffalo started the production of mozzarella cheese which added an altogether new dimension to the history of pizza. The discovery of the tomato added another.
Around 1889, as the story goes, Queen Margherita and her husband, Umberto I, took an inspection tour of her Italian Kingdom. The queen saw many people eating large flat bread. She ordered her guards to bring her one of those pizza breads. She loved it. She ate it whenever she was out amongst the people. This, of course, caused some concern to the Royal Court. It was not considered seemly for the Queen to dine on peasant food. The Queen, however, summoned Chef Rafaelle Esposito from his pizzeria and requested that he bake a selection of pizzas for her. To honor the Queen, Rafaelle made a very special history of pizza, one that resembled the colors of the Italian flag. He baked his pizza with tomatoes for red, Mozzarella cheese for white and fresh Basil for green. This history of pizza he named the Margherita in honor of the Queen. This pizza is the history of pizza that set the standard for our pizza of today. It was also around this time that the use of special brick ovens became popular for cooking this bread made of flour, oil, salt and yeast.
The very first pizza place was Port’ Alba in Naples, started in 1830. The first American history of pizza place was in New York, opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi. Lombardi’s is still in business today and the pizza is made with the same recipe used in Naples in 1897. Pizza was not to become well known throughout America, France, England and Spain until after World War II. Many Americans and Europeans had their first taste of pizza while in Italian territories during the war and they loved it. Italian immigrants had, of course, been selling pizza in their American stores for many, many years but it wasn’t until the soldiers returned with a taste for history of pizza did its popularity spread. In 1958, Pizza Hut opened its first store in Kansas City.