History of pizza

Origins

Foods resembling pizza have been prepared since ancient times. In the 6th century BCE, Persian soldiers under Darius the Great baked flatbreads with cheese and dates on their shields. The 2nd-century grammarian Athenaeus of Naucratis noted these were topped with fruit puree and used as offerings. Roman flatbreads called adorea or libum adoreum were covered with cheese spreads and fruits, made with wheat, honey, and oil; a painting of such bread was found at Pompeii.

Other ancient flatbreads that survive include focaccia (possibly dating to the Etruscans), manakish, coca, Greek pita, lepinja, and piadina. By the late Medieval and early modern eras, flatbreads with toppings were common across the Mediterranean. In 16th-century Naples, some galettes were called pizza and were street food for the poor. The modern tomato, brought from the Americas by the Spanish, reached the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily either through Pedro Álvarez de Toledo in the 16th century or viceroy Manuel de Amat in 1770.

Modern era

In 1843, Alexandre Dumas described the diversity of pizza toppings. An often recounted story holds that on June 11, 1889, Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito created the pizza Margherita with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil to honor Queen Margherita of Savoy, representing the Italian flag. However, the pizza Margherita already existed, dating from 1796–1810, and was presented to the queen in 1889 because of its colors. Later research casts doubt on this legend, noting no media reported the visit and the story was first promoted in the 1930s–1940s.

In 1830, a writer named Riccio described a pizza with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil in the book Napoli, contorni e dintorni. Emmanuele Rocco in 1849 described the main types of pizza: marinara, Margherita, and calzone. The first pizzeria with tables, Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba, opened in 1830, followed by Le stanze di Piazza Carità in 1833. The scholar Francesco de Sanctis recalled eating pizza there at age 16.

Innovation

By the late 18th century, the poor near Naples added tomato to their yeast-based flatbread, beginning the pizza. Documents discovered by historian Antonio Mattozzi in the State Archive of Naples show that in 1807 there were 54 pizzerias; by the second half of the 19th century, the number grew to 120. Two other trade figures existed: the pizza hawker, who sold but did not make pizza, and the seller of pizza a ogge a otto, who made pizzas and sold them for payment over seven days. The pizza marinara is topped with tomato, oregano, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil; it is named after the seaman's wife who prepared it for her husband returning from fishing.

Pizza Margherita has tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil. It is widely attributed to Raffaele Esposito at the restaurant "Pietro... e basta così" (later Pizzeria Brandi), though recent research casts doubt on the legend. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, founded in 1984, sets rules for authentic Neapolitan pizza: baked in a wood-fired domed oven, hand-kneaded base not rolled with a pin, diameter not exceeding 35 cm, and center thickness no more than one-third of a centimeter.

Pizza outside Italy

Pizza appeared in the United States with Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. Early printed references include a pizzeria in 1894, Filippo Milone ads in New York City in 1903, a 1903 description of "pomidore pizza", and a 1904 article in The Boston Journal. Giovanni and Gennaro Bruno arrived from Naples in 1903 and introduced Boston to Neapolitan pizza; Giovanni's son Vincent later established Chicago's first pizzeria.

In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi worked in a New York City pizzeria. Lombardi's, which opened in 1897 as a grocery store at 53½ Spring Street, sold tomato pies wrapped in paper to factory workers; it later had clientele including Enrico Caruso. The original baker, Anthony "Totonno" Pero, started Totonno's in Coney Island in 1924. Joe's Tomato Pies opened in Trenton, New Jersey in 1910, followed by Papa's Tomato Pies in 1912 and De Lorenzo's in 1936.

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, Connecticut opened in 1925; his nephew Sal Consiglio opened Sally's Apizza in 1938. The D'Amore family introduced pizza to Los Angeles in 1939. In Chicago, Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo invented deep-dish pizza in 1943 and opened Pizzeria Uno.