A melt-in-mouth dough for a base laden with vibrant tomato puree and topped with mesmerising yellow cheese. While these individual ingredients may feel like a bit of a grocery list to you, this is the key to an ambrosial staple food we come across daily. Pizza: a word made of five letters yet holding a world of meaning! It’s food for when you’re happy. It’s food for when you’re sad. It’s food for when you want a party. It’s food that makes you go mad. But there’s more to its story than what meets the eye, so let’s deep dive into the pizza pan!
Historians debate incessantly about who won the race to the pizza oven, well, fireplace back then. Was it Greece or Italy? Ancient life and civilisation were not easy to document. Still, the late 19th century revealed evidence stating that modern-day pizza was first prepared in the Heart of Naples, Italy, for the Heart of the Country! King Umberto and Queen Margherita, while on their trip to the city, tried their first-ever pizza, topped with quality basil, mozzarella cheese and some tomato slices. These fine ingredients were chosen to represent the colours on the Italian flag, and it resulted in a tradition kicking off from Italy, scoring the world cup!
The combinations and a chef’s creativity are infinite, from a peri-peri puree to the latest fusion food sushi pizza! First, people put meat on pizza, slowly to different veggies, exotic and basic, towards pineapple and now kiwi! The most bizarre, unimaginable combinations of fruits and flatbread are paired together now! Pizza, as a dish, is single, but ohhhh! The flavours, choices, and all options are abundant. This singular heaven is now being adopted worldwide, from South Africa to Norway, Venezuela to Egypt! More than 5 billion pizzas are sold around the world annually, and indeed that says something about the public impression of its quality and taste!
It truly is a food fit for anyone at any time. It’s the pizza!
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