HISTORY OF PIZZA

The pizza of today is the product of the long history of bread.
When our ancestors discovered the use of grain and the method of grinding it, they attempted to boil it and the result was a kind of porridge. This porridge was then spread on hot stones and the first tortilla was born. The Babylonians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Egyptians used this method. While all the Middle East was using it unleavened, the Egyptians, according to leged, discovered yeast and made the first leavened bread. The Greeks learned from the Egyptians and the Romans from the Greeks.

The Romans then rolled the dough, cooked it on hot stones, cut it and used it in soups and stews. They called this bread "lagano".

When the first clay ovens appeared, this leavened bread was cooked and became the main staple food of the medieval era.

Around the year 1000 A.D., flat bread mixed with pieces of pork appeared and was called "schiacciata" which means flattened or pressed in Italian. To make this "schiacciata" taste better, other ingredients were added to the dough: garlic, onion, oil and other herbs. This new way of cooking bread expanded and this product appeared for sale in the streets of Naples, Italy and was called "piza", with only one z
The Neapolitans added mozzarella to the bread and when the Americas were discovered and the first tomato seeds arrived in Italy, the tomato was added to the "piza". The tomato flourished in the volcanic ash soil of Mount Vesuvio and the Italian people to this day appreciate this fruit greatly and use it widely in their cooking.
Around the year, 1860, the first pizzeria with two z’s was opened under the name "Port’alba". When King Umberto I, the first, came to visit Naples with Queen Margherita, he heard about this new bread and summoned to his palace, Don Raffaele Esposito and his wife Dona Rosa, owners of "Port’alba". In honor of the Queen, Margherita, they made a pizza with the colors of the Italian flag, red white and green (tomato, mozzarella and basil) and called it "Pizza Margherita", now found on every Italian restaurant menu.
When the first Italians immigrated to the United States they tended to settle in the Northeast and with them they brought their culture, mannerisms and eating habits. Soon the word "pizza napoletana" and "pizza margherita" became familiar and spread to other neighborhoods and all bakers became aware of the popularity of this product. Soon a new kind of restaurant was born, the pizzeria.
According to my grandfather, the first pizzeria on Union St. in Brooklyn (New York City) in the year 1896. Today, due to the multi-nutritional values of pizza, it has become part of the American culture and with the modern technological advances; it has become one of the most popular foods for adults and children alike. By Angelo Falato