Italy is famous for its great cuisine. Italians have a way of sublimating ingredients as simple as pasta or tomato. They make a poems out of a pizza bianca with a little rosemary and olive oil (the real white pizza).
What is the origin of pizza?
The word pizza first appeared in 997 AD. In medieval Latin, it means “flat bread”. But it is in Naples in the sixteenth century that pizza got its modern meaning. This word derives from pide (or pita), Turkish word meaning “bread”.
Originally a poor man’s dish, pizza, which is born in Naples in the sixteenth century, is often sold by street vendors by the slice. Indeed, this flat bread coated with lard and cooked in a wood oven was served as a snack to bakery employees.
Pizza bianca (white pizza), the most simple pizza is in fact the original pizza. Rossa pizza (red pizza) only appeared two centuries later, also in Naples, with the discovery and arrival of tomatoes from America. These were exported first to Spain and then to Naples.
In the sixteenth century, tomato was not considered edible but rather toxic. It was not until the eighteenth century that they made it to the kitchen!
Today, the most popular pizza and the most consumed is the Margherita pizza. Margherita pizza has a story and its name is a nod to Queen Margherita.
In June 1889, Queen Margherita, accompanied by her husband Umberto I, decided to go on a tour of her Italian Kingdom. During her travels around Italy, she saw many people, especially peasants, eating this bread, large and flat. Curious, the Queen ordered one of her guards to bring her one of those flat breads. She loved it so much that she ate these flat breads everywhere, even in front of her people, causing consternation around her as it was not acceptable for a queen to eat the food of the peasants.
One day, the Queen asked Italian Chef Raffaele Esposito to come to the Royal Palace and requested for her own pleasure, to cook pizzas in the oven of the royal kitchen. To honor the Queen, Raffaele decided to create a pizza just for her. He cooked his dough in the oven, garnished it with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil (the 3 colors of the Italian flag: red, white, and green). This recipe was the Queen’s favorite pizza and it became very popular in Italy.
If pizza is originally Neapolitan, there is also a Roman version that differs by a thinner and crispier crust. But pizza did not remain an Italian phenomenon. It has since traveled and earned an international career.
Pizza around the world
In the early twentieth century, pizza crossed the Atlantic with the Neapolitan emigrants. We are in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan, the stronghold of the first American pizzeria. But then… no mozzarella! It had to be replaced by local cheese. The thick, greasy, and loaded American pizza was born!
What about France? The French fell in love with pizza. They are now the largest consumer in the world after the U.S. They discovered it in 1930 in Marseille, the most Italian of French cities. This is also in Marseille that the famous pizza truck craze started, a phenomenon that spread out throughout France but has not caught on in Italy!
The pizza dough
There is obviously no good pizza without a good pizza dough. “True” Neapolitan pizza dough is unique! It is made with a special unrefined flour, which is hard to find outside of Italy.
It is also said that what makes the taste of Neapolitan pizza is a typical water that you can only find in Naples.
Who had the crazy idea to associate pizza with junk food? As odd as it may seem, pizza is excellent for your health! Nutritionists from the University of Maryland have used pizza as a model to suggest simple ways to eat healthy. According to an epidemiological study, published in 2003 in the International Journal of Cancer, eating pizza significantly reduces the risk of certain cancers. They found that people who eat pizza once or several times a week are less affected by cancer than those who never eat any.
This recipe is validated by our Italian culinary expert, Benny the Chef. Chef Benny is an Italian chef, culinary teacher, awards winner, entertainer, and the author of “The Art of Cooking According to Me”.
Pizza Napoletana (Neapolitan Pizza)
Ingredients
Dough
- 8 cups bread flour
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 5 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups warm water (about)
Toppings
- 3 tomatoes , peeled, seeded and pureed
- 2 cloves garlic , crushed and mixed with the tomatoes
- 12 oz. mozzarella
- 8 oz. parmesan , freshly grated
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- Oregano
- Anchovies
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
Pizza dough
- In the bowl of a food processor or a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in ½ cup (100 ml) of warm water (from the 3 cups / 700 ml of warm water).
- Let stand 15 minutes.
- Add the olive oil and flour and knead, gradually incorporating the warm water until you obtain a smooth and elastic dough.
- Finally incorporate the salt and knead for 3 minutes.
- Cover the dough and let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour (ideally 2 hours), until double in volume.
- Degas the dough on a floured surface and divide it into 3 or 4 pieces of dough.
- Roll each piece of dough by hand (avoid rolling pin) and place on a baking sheet.
- Cover and let stand ½ hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 F / 230 C.
- Once the dough has risen, top the pizza with the fresh tomato puree and add the toppings of your choice.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.
Video
Vera is the “expert” of the 196 flavors’ duo. With over 30 years of experience in the kitchen, she is now sharing her skills as a private chef and cooking instructor.
Masi says
I love Pizza Thank you for sharing this incredible post with us.
Peter says
Thanks for sharing a helpful information.I appreciate everything you have added to my knowledge base
Hindi Songs Lyrics says
Thanks for sharing great information with us.
Agostinochef says
Dear Vera
allow me to add something. You write: “This word derives from pide (or pita), Turkish word meaning “bread”. Disagree 100%. This is a false statement, you can find it on many sites and wikipedia too! In reality. pizza doesn’t come from pide/pita, as you write. The word was already known in 997 in Gaeta, but it comes from a more ancient term, that’s the Latin “pinsa” (meaning crushed, pounded or stretched). The pinsa was a salted food well known even during the Caesar’ times. Emperors, Roman legions, gladiators and common people ate it. It can be consideredthe ancestor of the pizza, and it has over 2000 years. Today it is an oval shape flat bread with salt, olive oil, and other ingredients (it depends on the cook/seller), that can be bought in many Roman restaurants/taverns. About modern pizza, I let you know that in Italy there are over 1000 different recipes, so even if they don’t have tomatoes, they are always called pizza. During the XV-XVI century tomatoes were considered ornamental (or poison) plants in most of Europe, above all in Spain and France, while in Italy they were known as edible. In fact, the first person to write about them (he mentioned a fried tomato recipe) was Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1501-1578) from Siena, Tuscany. Hope it helps.
Kelvin says
If it doesn’t have anchovies it not Napoletana
Mike Benayoun says
Agreed Kelvin. That’s why ours has anchovies 😉
Gene says
I just bought myself an outdoor pizza oven. Can’t wait to try your recipe as I am always looking for authentic recipes.