Where Did The Pizza Come From

To most Americans when you ask them where pizza originated most folks would say it is an Italian dish and came to America via the influx of Italian immigrants in the late 19th and twentieth centuries. This of course would seem to be the obvious answer but on closer inspection this question is not as obvious as one would think. The word itself has been used in ancient Italy and a reference was found in an Italian manuscript dated 987 A.D. but other references to this food type have been found in other cultures as well and specifically French, German, and Greek. This is not as confusing as it might sound because what we are really talking about is a basic foodstuff, a round flat baked piece of bread with a few toppings. This kind of product has been found in many cultures and is not that unusual. In Naples in the 16th century a Galette flatbread was particularly referred to as pizza. It was generally known as the dish of choice of the poor people that lived in the region and was mainly sold on the street by local vendors. It did eventually end up in local shops as this ancient bread recipe went through it evolution form simple street food to common local fare. 

Local vegetables and fish began to show up on this baked flatbread and in the late 19th century to honor the Queen's consort of Italy the Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan pie maker Raffaele Esposito created his famous Pizza Margherita. This was a stunning new creation, which was garnished with tomatoes from the new world, fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil all in an effort to visually represent the colors of the Italian flag. This pie was now a type of bread and tomato dish often served with cheese and fish. It was usually a sweet and savory simple meal and would have to wait for its introduction to America before its evolution really took off.

Up until the 1830s the pizza was mostly sold in open-air stands and from vendor carts or out of street bakeries. These same shops in America still keep this tradition alive today. In many large metropolitan cities you can still enjoy a fresh made slice wrapped in a piece of paper along with a cold drink at any number of stands. But the pizza did not stop developing there. When it was introduced to America by the influx of Italian Immigrants it went from simple street food to gourmet food is a very short period of time and now holds the position of beloved American comfort food.

Because of the common nature of this food and the many cultures it has been closely associated with the exact history of is extremely hard to trace and nail down. This however must also be tempered with the fact that of the all the cultures that have been associated with this baked flatbread food the Italians have the preponderance of history and evidence that makes it a foregone conclusion that we should thank this culture, the Italians, for this great American food.