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(Napoli), Italy .]] In its original form, a pizza (occasionally, ''pizza pie'') is an Oven -baked, flat, usually circular Bread covered with Tomato Sauce and Cheese with optional toppings. The cheese is usually Mozzarella (the traditional italian pizza uses Buffalo Mozzarella ) or sometimes a mixture of several specialty cheeses such as Parmesan , Romano , Ricotta and Feta . Various other toppings may be added, most typically:
The crust is traditionally plain, but may also be seasoned with Butter , Garlic , or Herb s, or stuffed with cheese. In some pizza recipes (so-called "white pizzas") the tomato sauce is omitted, or replaced with another sauce (usually garlic butter but can be sauces made with spinach or onions). Pizza is normally eaten hot (typically at Lunch or Dinner ), but leftovers are often eaten cold. The word "''pizza''" is from the ), retrieved April 6 , 2006 A restaurant that serves pizza is called a pizzeria (from Italian ); in the US, the phrase '''pizza parlor''' is also used. Pizza can also be purchased in grocery stores or supermarkets (usually, but not always, frozen); in many countries, pizza can also be ordered by Phone (or, increasingly, via the Web ) to be delivered, hot and ready to eat, to almost any address within range of the restaurant. HISTORY The history of food items which may have served as the roots of modern pizza can be traced to the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (southern Italy). Such products arguably have their first written mention in Book VII of Virgil 's '' Aeneid '': Their homely fare dispatch’d, the hungry band Invade their trenchers next, and soon devour, To mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour. Ascanius this observ’d, and smiling said: “See, we devour the plates on which we fed.” In the 3rd Century BC , the first history of Rome , written by Marcus Porcius Cato , mentions a "flat round of dough dressed with olive oil, herbs, and honey baked on stones". Further evidence is found in Pompeii , the city "frozen in time" since AD 79 , where archaeologists have excavated shops that closely resemble modern pizzerias. Though several kinds of flat bread made with flour, often cooked with oil and spices, were familiar to ancient Romans and popular in all the Mediterranean area, they were considerably different from pizza as it is known today. The Tomato was still unknown in Europe and the Indian Water Buffalo , whose milk is used to make the real mozzarella cheese, had not yet been imported to Campania, the area around Napoli (Naples). The crust of pizza is very similar to Focaccia bread common in Italian cuisine today. The Tomato was first believed to be poisonous (as some other fruits of the Nightshade family are), when it came to Europe in the 16th Century . However, by the late 18th Century even the poor of the area around Naples added it as an ingredient to their yeast-based flat bread, and the dish gained in popularity. Pizza became a tourist attraction, and visitors to Naples ventured into the poorer areas of the city to try the local specialty. The first dynasties of Neapolitan pizza makers (Italian: ''pizzaioli'') originate in these years: modern pizza is attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. In 1889 Esposito, working in the pizzeria "Pietro... e basta così" (literally "Peter... and that's enough", established in 1780 and still operating under the name "Pizzeria Brandi"), baked a special pizza for the visit of the King Umberto I and Queen Margherita Of Savoy . The pizza was very patriotic in its evocation of the Italian flag with its colors of green ( Basil leaves), white ( Mozzarella ), and red ( Tomatoes ), and was named Pizza Margherita in honor of the Queen. This set the standard by which today's pizza evolved and spread worldwide. Until about 1830, pizza was sold from open-air stands and street vendors out of pizza bakeries. The world's first true pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba, opened in Naples in that period. Pizza met the aristocratic taste (the King of Naples Ferdinando II of Borbone greatly enjoyed the pizza made by 'Ntuono Testa at Salita S. Teresa) and an even more decided popular favour, establishing itself as a daily course, dinner and supper of the Neapolitans. An Italian immigrant to the US in 1897 named Gennaro Lombardi opened a small grocery store in New York 's Little Italy . An employee of his, Antonio Totonno Pero (also an Italian immigrant) began making pizza for the store to sell. Their pizza became so popular, Lombardi opened the first US pizzeria in 1905 at 53 1/3 Spring Street, naming it simply Lombardi's. The price for an entire pizza was 5 cents, but since many people couldn't afford the cost of a whole pie, they could rather say how much they could pay and they were given a slice corresponding to the amount offered (not unlike how pizza is often sold today). It was closed in 1984 and then reopened in 1994 a block down, at 32 Spring Street. On November 10 , 2005 , Lombardi's celebrated its 100th anniversary by selling pizzas at the 1905 price, 5 cents, for the whole day. In 1924 , Totonno left Lombardi's to open his own pizzeria on Coney Island called Totonno's. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana opened in New Haven in 1925 . Boston was introduced to pizza in 1926 by Anthony Polcari when he opened Pizzeria Regina in Boston's North End. The D'Amore family brought pizza to Los Angeles in 1939 . At this point in time in the U.S., pizza consumption was still limited mostly to Italian immigrants. The international breakthrough came after World War II . Allied troops occupying Italy, weary of their rations, were constantly on the lookout for good food. They discovered the pizzerias, and local bakers were hard pressed to satisfy the demand from the soldiers. The American troops involved in the Italian campaign took their appreciation for the dish back home. With its rising popularity in the 1950s , especially in the US, pizza became a component of the growing Chain-restaurant Industry . Some leading early pizza chains were Shakey's Pizza (inventor of the term ''pizza parlor''; formerly, the term ''pizzeria'' was preferred) and Pizza Hut , both founded in 1954, in Sacramento and Wichita , respectively. Some later entrants to the dine-in pizza market were Happy Joe's , California Pizza Kitchen , and Round Table Pizza . Today, the American pizza business is dominated by companies that specialize in Home Delivery , including Domino's , Little Caesar's , and Papa John's . Even Pizza Hut has shifted its emphasis away from pizza parlors and toward home delivery. These national pizza chains often coexist with locally-owned pizza restaurants. Pizza is also found in Supermarket s as a Frozen Food . Considerable amounts of Food Technology ingenuity has gone into the creation of palatable frozen pizzas. The main challenges include preventing the sauce from combining with the dough and producing a crust that can be frozen and reheated without becoming rigid. Modified Corn Starch is commonly used as a moisture barrier between the sauce and crust. Traditionally the dough is somewhat pre-baked and other ingredients are also sometimes pre-cooked. Lately, frozen pizzas with completely raw ingredients have also begun to appear. Italian and European law In Italy there is a bill before Parliament to safeguard the ''traditional italian pizza''. In this case are indicated the methods of processing, the raw materials admitted[http://www.senato.it/leg/13/BGT/Schede/Ddliter/testi/13214_testi.htm and the exclusions of frozen method. All pizzas which follow this guidelines could be called "traditional italian pizza", at least in Italy. Italy has also requested that the European Union safeguard some traditional Italian pizzas, such as "margherita" and "marinara". {Link without Title} This is part of an ongoing trend within Europe, preventing the names of regional foods being commercially exploited. TYPES OF PIZZA In recent years, pizza has become an international food and the toppings can be extensively varied to meet local variations in taste. These pizzas consist of the same basic design but include an exceptionally diverse choice of ingredients, such as Anchovies , Egg , Pineapple , Coconut , Sauerkraut , Eggplant , Lamb , Couscous , Chicken , Fish , and Shellfish , meats done in ethnic styles such as Moroccan Lamb , Kebab or even Chicken Tikka Masala , and non-traditional spices such as Curry and Thai Sweet Chili . Pizzas can also be made without meat for Vegetarian s, and without cheese for Vegan s. Breakfast pizzas are topped with ingredients such as Scrambled Eggs . "Supreme" pizzas typically include a thick layer of many different toppings. Pizza styles
Regional specialties
Crusts and baking methods Pizza may be baked with a thin Bread bottom (Italian or "hand-tossed" style) or with thicker bread (pan pizza). The crust can be very thick as in Chicago-style pizza or almost non-existent as in the Roman pizza. Some pizzas are now made with a cheese-filled crust. In restaurants, pizza can be baked in a gas deck (stone bricks above the heat source) oven, an electric deck oven, a conveyor belt oven or, in the case of more expensive restaurants, a wood- or coal-fired Brick Oven . On deck ovens, the pizza can be slid into the oven on a long paddle called a Peel and baked directly on the hot bricks or baked on a screen (a round metal pan that has holes in it like a screen). When making pizza at home, it can be baked on a "pizza stone" in a regular oven to imitate the effect of a brick oven. Another option is Grilled pizza, in which the crust is baked directly on a Barbecue grill. Greek Pizza , like Chicago-style Pizza , is baked in a pan rather than directly on the bricks of the pizza oven. In home-made pizza, there are many variations on the bread used for crust. In some countries, creations such as Pita pizza, Bagel pizza, and Tortilla pizza are popular, especially with children. In Japan, where full-size ovens are a rarity in the home, pizza Toast is a popular version. In Australia, Domino's has introduced the "Puffection" pizza, featuring Puff Pastry as base. Frozen pizzas are generally considered inferior in quality to pizzeria-made pizzas, though there are some exemplary frozen pizzas. Recently, frozen pizzas with a rising-crust have appeared on the market. Tomato Sauce On those pizzas that use tomatoes, there are several ways of adding them. The most common is commercial pizza sauce, a smooth, thick tomato sauce similar to Marinara Sauce that is ladled and spread onto the crust in pizza shops. It is also not uncommon to use a raw tomato sauce (usually made from Canned Tomato es and fresh herbs such as basil) that cooks along with the pizza in the oven, or even a simple topping of ground or diced tomatoes and herbs on a deep-dish pizza. RAW MATERIALS IN NEAPOLITAN PIZZA It's important to note that despite the apparent simplicity of the ingredients used in the Neapolitan Pizza, they must be very specific: the tomatoes used are specifically San Marzano tomatoes, which grow on the volcanic plains in the south of Vesuvio, and the Mozzarella , called Mozzarella Di Bufala Campana , is made with Water Buffalo Milk , which is very different from other kinds of milks. The water buffalo is bred in the marshlands of Campania and Latium in a semi-wild state. As a result, this kind of mozarella is protected by the European DOP {Link without Title} . PIZZA & HEALTH Pizza, whether prepared fresh or bought from a grocery store, has a noticeably high number of calories. A typical slice of pizza will consist of about 10 grams of Fat , 20-30 grams of Carbohydrates , and about half the amount of Sodium that one requires per day. The crust is often prepared with Hydrogenated Cooking Oils . While this certainly doesn't define pizza as "health food", pizza does in fact contain a decent amount of vitamins and minerals due to the wide range of ingredients (often dairy, bread, vegetables, and meat). PIZZA IN CULTURE In the film '' Splendor In The Grass '', set in 1929 , the character Bud Stamper visits a New Haven pizzeria (see also Apizza ) as a freshman at Yale University , and has to ask the waitress, "What is pizza?" In the 1920s, pizza would have been virtually unknown to a non-Italian Midwesterner. Pizza plays a prominent role in other films, such as ''Loverboy'', '' Mystic Pizza '' and Spike Lee 's '' Do The Right Thing ''. The song " That's Amore " featured the lyric, "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie". As sung by Dean Martin , it reached US number 2 in 1953 . '' Pizza '' is an Australia n Comedy Television Series on the Australian Television network, SBS . It has also Spun Off a Feature Length Movie ('' Fat Pizza '') in 2003 , and in 2004 released a highlights Video / DVD which also included previously unshown footage and a Schoolies exposé theatre show entitled ''Fat Pizza'' starring several characters from the show also tours the eastern coast of Australia. Pizza was the food of choice of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and features heavily in the opening montage of New York City in the second live-action movie. Pizza has also been used in teaching fractions and in Computer Games , such as '' Pizza Tycoon ''. Until the early 1990s, pizza delivery was relatively unavailable in Britain. This deficiency was the focus of an extended passage in the Douglas Adams novel '' The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul ''. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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