Who doesn’t love pizza? Whether you’re team pineapples-on-pizza or not, pizza is one of the most popular comfort foods. In fact, roughly 3 billion pizzas, or 46 slices per person, are sold in the country each year. Whether you make it from scratch, order takeout, or visit a fancy pizzeria for an authentic Italian dining experience, you can find a pizza that fits your budget. The roots of this dish, however, are rather humble.

Origin
Pizza is a flatbread topped with mainly savory ingredients of your choice. The word ‘pizza’ is believed to have first appeared in Italian and Greek literature.

The concept is not new, as Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians have been making flatbreads topped with herbs, mushrooms, and other ingredients using mud ovens for centuries. A more modern version of these flatbreads emerged in 18th-century Naples, which is now believed to be the birthplace of pizza. Roughly 200 years ago, pizza was the poor man’s dish. A cheap and filling meal, this item was purchased by slice, depending on the buyer’s budget and appetite. It was topped with inexpensive ingredients (or sometimes, with just garlic and herbs) based on what the buyer could afford. Looked down upon in elite society, the humble pizza was relegated to the casual laborers and porters on the streets of Naples. 

Rise in popularity
So what gave pizza the widespread acceptance it has today?

Pizza quite literally gained a royal stamp of approval in the 19th century. King Umberto I and Queen Margherita, on their visit to the newly unified Italy in 1889, were determined to break away from their regular French food and dine like the Italians. This is when Raffaele Esposito, the owner of a restaurant called Pizzeria de Pietro, was commissioned to serve the royalty this signature dish. Queen Margherita was served different types of pizza, of which she favored the one with the colors of the Italian flag—red, white, and green, marking the birth of the Margherita pizza named in her honor. With the royal approval, the humble pizza rose to a more respectable position in society and was accepted as truly Italian food, joining the ranks of the celebrated pasta. What is believed to be Naples’ first pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, was born in 1830. However, the popularity of the dish was restricted to Italy until the rise of tourism and tourists’ heightened interest in local cuisines.

In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi opened the first pizzeria in the country and gave us the first taste of pizza. Many pizzerias later emerged as the food became popular. People also witnessed the emergence of different varieties of pizza within the country. Ric Ricciardo Sr. created the deep-dish pizza. The emergence of the gas-fired pizza oven by Ira Nevin in 1945 transformed the pizzeria business.

Post-war fame
In regions with an Italian population in the country, pizzerias began to pop up. However, this fast and fun meal did not become familiar among non-Italians until the second World War. As veterans started returning from their visits overseas to Italy and other countries, they spread the word about pizza as a delicacy. As they hunted for Italian pizza back home, companies went into overdrive, with numerous pizza chains emerging and establishing their dominance in the home market in the 1950s.

Rise of pizzerias
With widespread acceptance and commercialization of this versatile dish, many pizza parlors and pizzerias emerged. The word “pizzeria” comes from the Italian words “pizza” and “eria,” literally translating to the “place of pizza.” It is another word for a pizza restaurant, indicating where pizzas are made, sold, and, more importantly, served to customers. These restaurants have become common local hangout joints, a place where youngsters and adults could meet up and chat over an inexpensive and soul-filling meal. The places are now a lucrative business opportunity in the country as they made $46 billion in revenue in 2020.

From the traditional Neapolitan pizza to the Hawaiian and dessert pizzas, the world of pizzas has been revolutionized since the 1950s. The country is now home to 11 different types of pizza emerging from different regions. The Americanization of pizza meant many local varieties were produced. Depending on your taste and nutritional preferences, you can now customize your pizzas to your liking. With plant-based and gluten-free options available to suit everyone’s needs, the pizza we consume today has come a long way. Whether you opt for a meat overload with extra cheese or choose to keep it vegan with plant-based ingredients, the right pizzeria is just around the corner.