 The History of Pizza and Focaccia
Author: James Murray
The word Focaccia is derived from the Latin word "focus", or
hearth, and is the precursor of Pizza as known today. Pizza is a
derivation from flat bread that has been prepared since
antiquity in different forms and garnished with various herbs,
olives, raisins and more ingredients. The word pizza in Italian
identifies any type of flat bread or pie—fried or baked.
Pizza has an uncertain history which is a long, complex that
often inspires a food debate that gets very heated. The Campania
region of Italy, Naples is the location where the modern pizza
originated. Although, the exact sequence through the many
flavoured flatbreads of the ancient and medieval Mediterranean
to the dish known as pizza is not fully understood. Since the
late nineteenth century pizza has spread throughout the world.
Although there are many types of pitas or pizzas around the
Mediterranean, Naples is the location that has many records of
pizza since around the year 1000; the first mentions call these
flat breads laganae, and later they are referred to as picea. In
those times, pizzas were dressed with olive oil and garlic, or
cheese and anchovies, or small local fish. They were baked on
the open fire and sometimes were closed in two, as a book, to
form a calzone.
Covered with lava stones from the Mount Vesuvius the first
pizzerias opened in Naples with brick wood-burning ovens. The
pizza was ignored in those times by the chefs because the food
was considered a poor people’s food, but the new combination
with the tomato, when it entered the kitchen around the 1770s,
must have raised some curiosity, even in the royal palace.
Ferdinand I Bourbon, King of Naples, loved the simple food of
the people and went to taste the pizzas made in the shop of
Antonio Testa. He liked it so much that he wanted pizza to be
included in the menu at the court. He failed after the
opposition of his wife, Queen Maria Carolina. His son Ferdinand
II also liked all kind of popular food. Ferdinand II loved pizza
so much that Ferdinand hired Domenico Testa, son of the now
famous Antonio, to build a pizza oven in the royal palace of
Capodimonte.
Simple and economical, pizza turned into the food for all
people, even sold on the streets, as shown in many illustrations
of the time. Pizza became very popular, earning its place in
Neapolitan folklore.
In 1889 a famous episode extended the popularity of pizza beyond
the limits of the city of Naples, Margherita, queen of Italy was
visiting the city heard about the food and wanted to taste it.
Don Raffaele a famous chef, helped by his wife Donna Rosa, was
invited to cook pizza at the royal palace. They prepared three
pizzas, typical of that time: one with garlic, oil, and tomato;
one with cheese and basil; and one with mozzarella, basil, and
tomato. The queen, impressed by the colors of the last pizza,
which resembled the national flag, preferred that one. Since
then this pizza is known as Pizza Margherita, and Don Raffaele
is credited with its invention, even if we know that it already
existed for a long time.
Italian immigrants in the last century brought the first
pizzerias to North America, and the pizza became a new world
food craze. Today, Naples still makes the best pizza that can be
produced, because it is rigorously made with buffalo mozzarella.
Superior pizzas are considered those obtained by moderate
variations of the simplest and most popular: Pizza Margherita;
Pizza Marinara with tomato, anchovies, capers, and olives; Pizza
Napoletana with tomato, garlic, oil, and oregano; Pizza Four
Seasons, divided in four quadrants, each dressed in a different
way. Pizza with hot salami, the American pepperoni pizza, is
instead found in the Calabria region south of Naples, where this
type of hot sausage is produced.
About the author:
James Murray is a successful writer and online Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) expert
providing valuable tips and advice for those interested in seo
and sem strategies. His numerous articles found on the Internet,
provide useful and factual seo and sem information and insight.
Some of his websites are : http://www.seo-worldwide.net ,
http://www.atclickbank.com ,
http://www.website-submissions-worldwide.com
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