| Right up there with baseball and apple pie, pizza has | | | | immigrants begun to settle in Chicago and New York |
| become an American icon, no longer just reserved for | | | | and opened up small cafes and restaurants that |
| college students on a budget - but a family favorite | | | | served pizza in the early part of the twentieth century. |
| across the country. Whether it's piled high with | | | | Soldiers returning from WWII who had served in Italy |
| pepperoni and mozzarella or loaded with pineapples | | | | and developed a taste for the beloved pie helped to |
| and ham, pizza is one of the most popular foods in the | | | | spur on the popularity of pizza in the U.S. That |
| United States. Americans gobble up around | | | | popularity begun to grow throughout the 20th century, |
| three-hundred-fifty slices of pizza per second, which | | | | and now 94% of all Americans eat pizza regularly. |
| amounts to around acres of pizza per day. In fact, the | | | | Toppings. The toppings of the pizza are arguably its |
| typical person in our country each eats an astounding | | | | biggest selling point. In the United States, pepperoni is |
| 23 pounds of the round pie annually. | | | | considered to be the most popular topping, accounting |
| History. Although most folks credit the Italians with the | | | | for around 1/3rd of all pizza orders at restaurants that |
| creation of pizza, seasoned flat bread topped with | | | | serve pizza; in fact, over 1/4 of a million pounds of |
| olive oil and spices was served centuries before in | | | | pepperoni is used on pizza in our country each year. |
| Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. The familiar pizza | | | | Canadian bacon, Italian sausage, mushrooms and ham |
| that is served up at your local pizzeria or out of your | | | | are also popular toppings. And while the majority of |
| own freezer is akin to the pies that were first baked | | | | folks prefer meat on their pizzas, around 1/3rd of all |
| up in Naples, Italy in the latter part of the 19th century | | | | pizzas are ordered with vegetarian only toppings. For |
| by baker Raffaele Esposito who concocted the dish | | | | those with a taste for the more exotic, everything |
| for royal guests. The ingredients for Esposito's original | | | | from oysters to Cajun shrimp has also been offered |
| pizza pie were inspired by the red, white and green | | | | up for pizza toppings in gourmet pizzerias around the |
| colors of the Italian flag and are represented through | | | | country. The toppings for pizza vary widely around the |
| the colors of the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The | | | | world; for example, squid and eel are beloved in Japan |
| honored guests, Italian monarch King Umberto and his | | | | while Brazilians top their pizza with green peas. |
| wife Queen Margherita, were so impressed with the | | | | Sardines and onions are popular pizza toppings in |
| pizza served to them that they begun to applaud | | | | Russia while in Costa Rica, coconut is commonly used |
| about it to others and a phenomenon was born. It did | | | | as a topping. |
| not take long for pizza to arrive in the U.S. as Italian | | | | |