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Pizza, from its origins to today

The ancestors of pizza
Pizza, the most famous Made in Italy product in the world, has very ancient origins. Its first ancestor dates back to the time of the Ancient Egypt, when yeast was discovered, a fundamental ingredient for creating the dough for bread and focaccia which were then filled or topped with various ingredients.
In Italy, the Etruscans were the first to add this preparation to their diet, while the Greeks made the most fundamental contribution to the recipe we know today, starting to put toppings on the pizza before baking it.
Even the Romans used to bake a round leavened dough on stone, topped with olive oil and honey. This type of focaccia spread throughout the Roman Empire, and it was declined in different variations depending on the region: the Apulian pizza, the Tuscan schiacciata, or the Calabrian pitta inchiuta.
In Naples, the official homeland of pizza as we know it today, there was the picea, a disk of dough covered with various ingredients and cooked in the oven.
However, a fundamental ingredient was still missing, which arrived in Italian kitchens only after the discovery of America: tomatoes (pomodoro in Italian).
At the beginning, pomodoro, literally “golden apple”, was called like this because at the time this fruit was a yellow, not red as it is known today,  was used as an ornamental plant. In fact, it seems that the first varieties introduced in Europe contained an excessive quantity of solanine which made the fruit unedible, and only after a certain selection could the later variants be consumed.
Between 1700 and 1800, pizza was already widespread and appreciated in Naples, where it was sold by small street vendors that had wood-burning ovens and eaten on the street. The first proper pizzeria was born in 1830.

Pizza Margherita

Legend has it that in 1889, in honor of Queen Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito was invited to court to prepare this popular dish and for the occasion he created several variations, including one with tomato, basil and mozzarella, so as to recall the Italian tricolor. The queen liked this pizza so much that it was later called "Pizza Margherita".
However, it seems  this is just a legend after all, because pizza with tomato, basil and mozzarella had already been around for some time, as testified by a description in a book of 1830 and in one of 1866 together with the "Marinara" and the "Calzone".
It is true, though, that the pizza Margherita became a favorite among the Neapolitans and today it is recognized as the pizza par excellence. Nonetheless, it was only after the 2nd World War, with the migration of the Neapolitans to the north, that the Neapolitan pizza, including the Margherita, spread to the rest of Italy. It was then also exported abroad, especially to America, by Italian emigrants. Here the recipe underwent a substantial change, as a key ingredient was missing, mozzarella, which had to be replaced with cheese.

Today, pizza is one of the most loved and consumed foods in the world. There are all kinds of variants, some of which really horrify Italians, who take pizza very seriously. Some purists, especially the Neapolitans, will tell you that there are only two true pizzas: the Marinara and the Margherita. In fact, these original recipes are so good that sometimes one wonders if it’s really that necessary to add anything more to them!

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