Every year on January 17, the world celebrates World Pizza Day - a dish that has long gone beyond national cuisine and become part of global culture. UNN will tell you more about this day, interesting facts about pizza, and the origin of this dish.
Details
World Pizza Day is dedicated to one of the most popular dishes in the world. The date does not have an official international status, but it is widely celebrated in many countries, and in Italy even at the state level. In addition, pizza gained special significance after Neapolitan pizza was included in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage in 2017.
How pizza appeared
The history of pizza begins long before modern Italy. Even in ancient Greece, Egypt, and Persia, flatbreads with fillings were baked, usually cheese, herbs, dates, or vegetables. While in ancient Greece such a dish was called plakus, the Romans also knew a similar bread called panis focacius, which means "the ancestor of focaccia."
Pizza acquired its modern appearance in Naples in the 18th-19th centuries, when tomatoes, brought from America, began to be added to the flatbread. By the way, at first the dish was considered food for the poor, and the first pizzeria - Pizzeria Port'Alba, opened in Naples in 1830, when people were able to appreciate this dish.
Margherita, marinara and strict rules
One of the most famous pizzas was "Margherita", which, according to legend, was created in 1889 by the Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito in honor of Queen Margherita of Savoy. Its filling: tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, which represent the colors of the Italian flag.
But pizza "Marinara", with tomatoes, garlic, oregano and olive oil - is considered one of the oldest varieties. It is also interesting that since 1984, the Association of True Neapolitan Pizza has established clear rules for preparing the dish: pizza must be baked in a wood-fired oven, the dough must be kneaded only by hand, and the diameter of the pizza must not exceed 35 centimeters.
Interesting facts about pizza
In 1807, 54 pizzerias were already operating in Naples, and by the end of the 19th century, more than 120.
Hawaiian pizza with pineapples was invented in Canada in 1962.
In 2012, the world's largest pizza, with an area of over 1260 m², was prepared in Rome.
In 2016, the first 3D pizza printers appeared.
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Pizza today
From Neapolitan street flatbreads to global gastronomic records. Pizza has come a long way over thousands of years. Today, it remains a simple dish with a rich history, honored not only by gourmets but also by international cultural organizations. That is why World Pizza Day is another reason to remember how an ordinary flatbread with filling became a global phenomenon.