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Where did Pizza originate ?
If you put the same question about
the origin of the pizza to people around you the most probable
answer that you would get is that the pizza has its roots in
Italy. Even most Italians boast themselves to be the creators of
this wonderful delicacy. However surprising you might find the
fact is that the foundation of the original pizza was actually
laid by the early Greeks and not by the Italians as it is
presumed to be.
If you go by what history has to tell you the pizza originated
in the kitchens of ancient Greece. It was the Greeks who first
baked flat round breads with olive oils and potato toppings.
This was the primitive version of the modern pizza. However the
main basic difference between the Pizza of those days and the
ones, which we have today, is the absence of tomatoes in the
earlier versions of the pizza. The reason behind that was not
that the Greeks did not like tomatoes but was the fact that
there were no tomatoes around at that time. Tomatoes were simply
not discovered then.
It is true that pizza did not originate from Italy but the word
“pizza” did originate from there. During the mid eighteenth
century flat breads christened “the pizzas” was sold in the
streets of Naples. These pizzas were an instant hit among the
public as they were cheap to make and at the same time also
appealed to the taste buds. Soon with the discovery of tomatoes
and its acceptance by the Italian public tomato slicings became
the most favored topping on pizza bread and this is how the
modern tomato stuffed pizza came into existence.
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There is a very interesting story
related to the origin of using tomato fillings in a pizza.
During the early eighteenth century although the pizza had
become a common food item among the peasants the Italian
nobility did not take to it. But however things changed for good
once when queen margherita decided to take an inspection of her
kingdom.
During her travels through the
countryside she came across peasants eating long flat pieces of
bread. Being a person of Inquisitive mind she asked one of her
guards to bring her one such piece of bread. The guards
obediently brought one such large piece of bread for the queen.
The queen loved the bread so much that once she went back to her
palace she called for a local country chef called chef rafaello
Esposito and ordered him to make pizzas for her.
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Adhering to the queen’s wishes the
chef Rafaello Esposito brought all his culinary skills into fore
and prepared a special pizza, which had cheese and tomato
toppings. He decorated the pizza with basil in red white and
green to represent the three colors of the Italian flag. The
queen was so much mesmerized by the taste of this new delicacy
that it soon became her favorite food and so of the other
members of the Italian nobility.
With the discovery of the new world and the immigration of
Italian people to it America soon became the new home to this
famous Italian delicacy. Like many other things pizza also was
influenced by local traditions and soon pizzas with only tomato
and cheese toppings were complimented by other variants of
toppings like meat, spinach, herbs, vegetables and even spices.
However the popularity of the pizza was mostly limited to
Italian neighborhoods only. Things changed for the better during
World War 2 when American soldiers fighting in Italy came across
the pizza in the Italian countryside. These soldiers on
returning back to their country after the war made the pizza
popular among the masses and it soon became a mainstream
American delicacy.
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Article Contributed By: Pinakjit
Kakati
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