To truly appreciate the slice on your plate, one must look back thousands of years. While modern pizza is undeniably Italian, the concept of flatbreads with toppings spans ancient civilizations across the Mediterranean.
Ancient Ancestors
Long before tomatoes reached Europe, ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians were eating baked flatbreads topped with olive oil, herbs, and local cheeses. In the 6th century BC, Persian soldiers serving under Darius the Great baked flatbreads with cheese and dates on top of their battle shields. Similarly, the ancient Greeks created a flatbread called plakous, flavored with herbs, onion, cheese, and garlic.
The Birthplace: 18th Century Naples
The pizza as we know it today was born in Naples, Italy, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Naples was a thriving waterfront city, densely populated with working-class poor known as lazzaroni. These workers needed inexpensive food that could be consumed quickly.
Enter the tomato. Brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, tomatoes were initially believed to be poisonous by many Europeans. However, the poor of Naples eventually began adding them to their yeast-based flatbreads. This innovation—bread, tomato, olive oil, and sometimes cheese—was sold by street vendors from large wooden boxes.
The Royal Seal of Approval
For a long time, pizza was scoffed at by culinary elites as peasant food. This changed dramatically in 1889. Following the unification of Italy, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy visited Naples. Legend has it they grew tired of complicated French cuisine and requested local specialties.
Pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito presented them with three pizzas. The Queen favored one topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil—ingredients representing the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. It was subsequently named "Pizza Margherita." This royal endorsement elevated pizza from street food to a celebrated national dish.
Global Domination
Pizza remained largely confined to Italy until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when millions of southern Italians immigrated to the United States. In cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston, Italian immigrants opened bakeries and pizzerias. Lombardi's, widely accepted as America's first pizzeria, opened in Manhattan in 1905.
Post-World War II, returning American soldiers who had developed a taste for Italian food caused demand to skyrocket, transforming pizza into the global phenomenon we revere today.