The history of pizza

Tomatoesmake pizzas for her guests (see making a
 wood-burning stove from your grill). In 1889, Umberto I
Italians owe a tip of their hats to the New World forand Margherita di Savoia, the King and Queen of Italy
their pizzas. It was not until 1522 that the tomato waswhile on holidays in Napoli, invited the most popular
brought back to Europe from Peru where it originated.pizza chef (called a pizzaioli) of the day, Raffaele
Many Europeans thought the tomato was poisonousEsposito, to their palace. He served them three pizzas
and refused to sample its nectar. But eventually thethat dazzled both. But the one that the Queen found
Italians came around and ended up developing someparticularly sumptuous for its taste and the fact that it
of the finest tomato sauces on earth (e.g., Ragù fintobore the colors of the Italian flag consisted of
tomato meat sauce, rich Italian tomato sauce, andmozzarella, basil, and tomatoes (in a later article I will
pizza sauce).discuss how to make your own mozzarella cheese).
 Raffaele was so appreciative of the accolades that
The poor of Italy and their flat breadhe named the pizza after her – margherita pizza
 (which is one of the world's most popular types). But
Prior to the introduction of the tomato, Italians alongwhen I make it, I have to have garlic) on it. By the way,
with other parts of the Mediterranean, ateyou can still visit the restaurant where Raffaele
yeast-based flat bread sometimes with white sauce,worked. It is called Pizzeria Brandi today but was
olives and fish on top (in a later article, I will discussknown as Pietro e Basta Così when he lived.
how to make a type of flat bread called focaccia). But 
it is believed that somewhere around Napoli (Naples, 
Italy) in the late 1500s, the poor began adding tomatoes
to their yeast-based flat bread. This makes sensePizzeria Brandi in Napoli
because the peasants subsisted primarily on only a
few basic ingredients including flour, cheese, olive oil,The marinara pizza
olives, various types of herbs, and tomatoes after they 
were introduced. By the 1600s, it was an exceptionallyNot only has margherita pizza become a staple of
popular Napoli dish among the poor.Napoli but also the marina pizza. In fact, some purists
 will only serve these in their restaurants. The marinara
Pizza and Napolipizza has an older origin than the margherita pizza and
 consists of oregano, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and
By the time the 1700s rolled around, word had reachedbasil. It was named marinara, not because it contains
the far parts of Europe about the delicious pizza beingseafood, but because it was a delight of fisherman
made particularly around Napoli. Visitors and touristswho returned from a catch to the Bay of Naples.
flocked to the poorer parts of Napoli to buy pizza 
from open-air street vendors, called pizzaio. Some time 
during this period pizzerias sprang up catering to the
outsiders. Although we will never know for sure, mostMargherita pizza
point to the Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba of Napoli as the
first pizzeria.The US discovers pizza
  
 Although pizza had come to the United States via
Italian immigrants in the 1800s, it mainly remained within
Antica Pizzeria Port'AlbaItalian-American neighborhoods until World War II. As
 the allied troops marched up the through the boot of
 Italy, taking Napoli from the Germans (and Italians), the
The wealthy discover the margherita pizzasoldiers sampled pizzas. When the soldiers returned,
 pizzerias came onto their own in the US thriving on the
It did not take long for the wealthy to catch on to thesupport from the GI enthusiasts and their families.
magical flavors of Napoli's pizzas. The wife of the King 
of Naples, Queen Maria Carolina d'Asburgo LorenaI still contend that you cannot get pizza in the US like
enjoyed pizza so much that she had a special oventhose in Napoli.
constructed in her summer palace at Capodimonte to