How a humble baker conquered the world
If anyone ever did a survey about our favourite food, the pizza would come somewhere near the top of the list. It has taken over restaurants from Europe to the Far East. The average American consumes a staggering 10.4kg of pizza every year.
No one knows who first came up with the idea of baking a round piece of bread dough, flattening it out and adding things on top. But if you are hungry and want to eat something delicious, it is an obvious thing to do. It's just like having your favourite food on a plate and eating the plate at the same time.
The pizza is not a 20th century invention. Hundreds of years ago, the ancient Greeks used to eat flat pieces of bread spread with olive oil and spices.
But the story of the pizza as we know it begins in the Italian city of Naples. In the 19th century, street traders used to sell slices of baked dough topped with mushrooms and herbs. This was cheap but delicious ordinary food for peasants and the poor people of the city. Rich Neapolitans in their grand mansions had much better dishes to eat.
However, a baker called Raffeale Esposito had big ideas for the humble pizza. He wanted to perk up his business and he believed that improving the simple pizza was the way to get more people flocking to his bakery. Esposito added cheese and sauce to his baked dough, with meat and vegetable toppings. He shaped each of his new-look pizzas into a circle and waited for business to improve.
Esposito's new culinary creations were a sensation with the people of Naples and soon his bakery was doing a roaring trade. Queen Margherita of Italy heard about this new popular dish from her servants and decided to investigate. Esposito was invited to visit the palace to show off his speciality.
This was Esposito's moment to go down in history. He created a special pizza for his queen, using the three colours of the Italian flag. He spread red tomato sauce on the dough, then white cheese and finally green basil leaves. It was a great hit with Italy's royal family and Esposito named his creation Pizza Margherita.
In 1830, Esposito opened a big pizzeria in the centre of Naples so that more and more people could eat his now-famous pizzas. Other cities in Italy copied his ideas and came up with recipes using their own local produce.
Pizzas travelled to the United States with Italian immigrants in the second half of the 19th century but didn't begin to conquer the world until after the first world war. American soldiers, stationed in Italy during the time of fighting, returned home with stories of this delicious dish they had eaten during the war. Soon Italian immigrants were opening pizzerias all over American towns with great success.
Today food corporations have hijacked the simple bread dough and turned it into a multi-million-dollar industry, but the best pizzas are still produced by small Italian restaurants tucked away behind the fast-
food giants. Pizza Margherita with extra cheese, please.
Are these statements TRUE or FALSE?
1. The pizza is a 20th century invention.
2. Pizzas are popular only in the US.
3. The ancient Greeks used to eat a simple form of pizza.
4. The people who live in the Italian city of Naples are called Neapolitans.
5. Raffeale Esposito was the baker who first developed the pizza.
6. He baked a special pizza for the Queen of France.
7. His special pizza had three toppings the same colours as the Italian flag.
8. Pizza Margherita is named after an Italian queen.
9. Pizza became popular in the US after the first world war.
10. The best pizzas can be found in small Spanish restaurants.
Answers
1F/2F/3T/4T/5T/6F/7T/8T/9T/10F
