The amazing history of pizza: from poor man's food to fine dining. Italian pizza - the history of appearance, types, composition, recipes

When you want something tasty and satisfying, something that will bring a large family around a large round table - all women start cooking pizza. Many people love it, but there are so many recipes for its preparation that there is not enough time to try everything.

A bit of history

There is a belief that pizza was "invented" by the Italians in the 17th century. But to be honest, this is not true, since its origin dates back to more ancient times. Flat cakes with a wide variety of fillings were used by the Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians and other Middle Eastern cultures. Initially, this bluelo was the food of commoners. Pizza comes from the ancient Greek word pita (meaning pie). Simple workers came up with an easy, tasty and quick recipe: a small piece of dough with different fillings was baked on top in the oven. So, in the period when pizza appeared, it really was the food of the poor.

Pizza in today's modern form appeared in Naples in the 19th century. Its creation is attributed to the famous baker Raffael Esposito. The story goes that the Italian monarch Umberto and his wife Margherita were touring their lands. And to show his patriotic spirit and impress, the baker came up with a tortilla whose ingredients reflected the colors of the Italian flag: green basil, white mozzarella cheese and red tomato. Soon, this new dish, pizza, began to be made all over the country.

Pizza dough - Webspoon recipe is the best!

The most delicious pizza is, of course, homemade pizza. Her recipe is very simple: the dough is rolled out in the shape of a circle, and tomatoes, sausage, bell peppers, onions, ham, mushrooms and olives are placed on top of it. Different recipes use shortbread, unleavened, puff or yeast dough. Each of them gives the dish a unique taste and make it unique in its own way.

The best cheese for making pizza is parmesan, mozzarella, suluguni, gouda and roquefort. Speaking of sauces, the best option is creamy, garlic, tomato or mushroom. Often, when preparing pizza at home, you can add minced meat, corn, sausages, beans, pumpkin, zucchini, cottage cheese, eggs, rice or fruit. This is a matter of taste for each person.

Mushroom Pizza - Webspoon Recipe

Mushroom pizza is incredibly tasty and extremely simple. For such a pizza, you can use any mushrooms (frozen, pickled or dried).

Dough Ingredients:

flour - 500 gr.;
warm water - 1 tbsp.;
eggs - 2 pcs.;
sugar - 1 tbsp. spoon;
salt - 0.5 tsp;
vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. spoons;
dry yeast - 1 sachet.

Filling Ingredients:

hard cheese - 300 gr.;
sausage - 300 gr.;
champignons - 300-400 gr.;
tomato - 2-3 pcs.;
bulb - 1 pc.;
ketchup, parsley, dill

Note: These ingredients will make 2 medium pizzas.

Cooking process:

Sift flour and mix it with yeast. Add sugar, vegetable oil and salt. Pour in water and mix well. Now add beaten eggs. Knead the dough until a homogeneous consistency. Cover bowl with dough and set aside for about an hour. Clean the washed mushrooms and then cut them into small slices. Cut the onion into rings. Cut the sausage into small pieces. Grate the cheese on a coarse grater. Wash the tomatoes and cut into slices. Fry the onion a little in a pan and add the mushroom plates. Pour the dough into the prepared pan. Spread ketchup on top, and add mushrooms with onions. Put the tomatoes and sausage on the mushrooms. Sprinkle everything with herbs and grated cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven (200°C) for about 25-30 minutes.

By learning how to cook hearty and delicious pizza, you will receive many praises from satisfied friends and relatives! And our site will provide recipes for a variety of pizza options. Bon appetit!

See also our other recipes - you just need to go here.

Fragrant, tasty, with a stretchy cheese filling and a crispy crust. This is how we know pizza today. It is baked by dozens of specialized establishments in each city. At the same time, branded products in each of them will differ in taste. Are you wondering who invented pizza? The history of this goes back centuries, so it is quite difficult to follow the course of all events. But we will try to study all the data that have come down to us.

indelible image

Even if you have never been to Italy, eating fragrant pizza, you will surely involuntarily imagine the lovely streets under the shade of olive and tangerine trees and the sound of the Mediterranean surf. It never occurs to anyone to doubt who invented pizza. They were definitely Italians. And it is still believed that the best pizza can only be tasted in her homeland. True, in every city there are excellent Italian restaurants where chefs will prepare a real masterpiece for you. But today we are interested in the history of the creation of a culinary masterpiece.

Erasing social inequality

Today, the stratification of society is becoming more and more noticeable. But that was the case many centuries ago. There was an unbridgeable gulf between the Roman patricians and the plebeians. But this did not prevent both of them from having juicy and fragrant pizza on the table. It could differ in shape or filling, but the essence remained the same. Speaking about who invented pizza, it's safe to say that it was not an aristocrat. Rather, these filled flatbreads were the food of common workers.

A simple tortilla with cheese is found quite often in the description of the events of that time. A variant close to the modern dish was included in the rations of Roman legionnaires. But they didn't come up with it first. They picked up this idea from the Babylonians and Egyptians. Some information suggests that the inhabitants of ancient Egypt prepared special cakes with herbs on special days. And the Babylonians came up with a thin base, which was smeared with olive oil and decorated with olives. Therefore, it is difficult to say who invented pizza.

food for the nobility

This dish has changed over time. The recipes became more complex and the ingredients more refined. Initially, a thin cake smeared with olive oil was a mandatory attribute. Olives, chicken meat and sheep's cheese, nuts were laid out on the prepared base. We should not forget about the climatic features of the region. The history of pizza began in Italy precisely because all these ingredients are quite common here. The spices were mint and basil.

But gradually the recipes began to become more complicated. Products began to be decorated with intricate curls, smoked meats and other delicacies were added. Pizza is called the "food of the gods". Various recipes are given in the Roman chronicles. One thing remains unchanged - a thin flatbread, olive oil and cheese. Cakes were baked in a well-heated stone oven.

The first Italian restaurants

The history of pizza goes back centuries. At all times, people loved to eat delicious food. The traditions of late Roman times, when it became a food for the rich, gradually became a thing of the past. But the dish was not forgotten. Enterprising Italians began to open small eateries in which everyone could refresh themselves with a piece of hot pizza. The composition has also changed, now this open pie has begun to acquire modern features. Homeland is Italy, but not all traditional components of the finished product were born in this sunny country.

Tomatoes. They are so merged with the image of pizza that they are almost inseparable from it. But in Italy they were previously considered poisonous, and only in the 16th century they began to be imported from Peru and Mexico. So they got into Italian pizzerias.
Mozzarella cheese. It is surprising that a product with such an Italian name is not of local origin. Cheese from buffalo milk was made by nomadic peoples long before that. But in the 17th century, Italian culinary specialists also got acquainted with this product, calling it mozzarella.

Now all the toppings with which pizza has come down to our times have begun to be actively used to make the most delicious dish.

Pizza dough

But if the filling turned out to be a team from all over the world, there is probably something that allows the Italians to call this dish national and traditional until now. It's definitely dough. The appearance of the original pasta is associated precisely with Italian culinary specialists. The pizza base had to be fairly thin and crispy. It was then possible to achieve such an effect only by kneading the dough with your feet. It is understandable why pizza has long been considered food for commoners.

Gradually, the manual method of kneading dough was mastered. But this happened only in the XVIII century. Now it becomes clear which Italian city is considered the birthplace of pizza. It is called Naples, it was in honor of this city that the most famous Neapolitan pizza in the world was named. The first pizzeria in the modern sense of the word was opened in this city. She is still waiting for her old and new clients.

american pizza

As trade ties grew stronger, more and more people began to get acquainted with this amazing pie or flatbread. You can call it in different ways, but enterprising Americans immediately realized that they could make good business on this. But since the Italians kept the dough recipes a secret, they had to improvise. The appearance of pizza in the United States led to the creation of a whole network of pizzerias throughout the country. They began to offer their customers a slightly modified version of the traditional one. And to this day, in various eateries they offer us pizza with a thin base, in the Italian style and with a thick one, in the American one.

Main differences:

As already mentioned, they began to use thicker cakes. Some people like it, others don't. But pizza has become more satisfying and nutritious.
Olive oil in the recipe began to be replaced by vegetable oil. The spread of pizza in the world has made this rule ubiquitous to reduce the cost of the finished product.
The volume of the filling has doubled. It turned out more like a pie.
Bacon, beef and chicken, gherkins, mushrooms and pineapples began to be used as a filler.

Today, there are a huge number of options. To verify this, just look at any pizzeria or go to the website of an online pizzeria. Each of them offers dozens of fillings and traditionally two types of dough. And the housewives cook it on dumplings, yeast, puff and custard dough. And of course, the taste is different every time. This dish is very convenient because semi-finished pizza can be frozen and baked at any convenient time.

Legendary pizza

Among the abundance of varieties, the first place is occupied by Margarita. The simplest and most affordable in terms of its ingredients, it is loved by thousands of people. Let's talk about where the name came from and why she got it. A beautiful legend is connected with this, which they like to tell in Italian restaurants.

By the 18th century, pizza was no longer a food for the poor. Now even the kings were not against tasting this amazing dish. Queen Margherita of Savoy, wanting to show her affection for the Italians, wanted to try the national dish. Until now, restaurant owners explain to their foreign guests why pizza is called "Margherita". For its preparation, a famous Italian chef was called to the palace, who showed his skill and pleased the crowned persons. He had to come up with a completely new recipe, which he dedicated to the queen. So far, no one has come up with a better name.

Exclusive composition

Pizza "Margherita" is simplicity and sophistication. It is so harmonious that there is nothing more to add to it. The queen's special pizza was baked with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. These products matched the colors on the Italian flag: red, green and white. Very concise and at the same time very tasty. The composition of Margherita pizza has not changed so far. Some cooks add garlic to it, but this cannot be considered an exact reproduction of the original recipe.

Secrets of the classic "Magarita"

You can cook it at home, but for this you need to know and follow a few secrets:

Do not buy a pizza base in the store. It is much better to make yeast dough at home from two types of flour, coarse and fine grinding. Add a little olive oil and mix in softer than dumplings.
The second secret is the tomato sauce. You will need fresh tomatoes and basil.
made without stuffing. Immediately after the layer of sauce comes the cheese.
It must be baked in a very hot oven on a hot sheet.

Other notable varieties

There are many of them, but today we will pay attention only to those that can be considered classics. Of course, in each diner, the chef can make a special dough, add favorite ingredients to the filling and get a whole new variety:

Aglio e olio. Very simple, flavorful and delicious pizza. It contains garlic and oregano. These ingredients are first fried in olive oil.
"Alle vongole". Great option for seafood lovers. The composition includes parsley and olive oil, garlic and seafood. The highlight of the composition are mussels. But there are no traditional tomatoes and cheese here.
"Neapolitan". Real pizza of this variety can only be tasted in Naples. She is very interesting for her taste. In addition to cheese and tomatoes, the composition includes oregano, anchovies, parmesan, olive oil and basil.
"Caprichosa". Very savory pizza thanks to artichokes, black olives and mushrooms. Tomatoes and cheese complete the picture. Despite the fact that there is no meat in it, the pizza is very satisfying and nutritious.
"Diablo". This is the best option for spicy food lovers. It includes mushrooms and hot peppers, salami and several types of cheese. It turns out tasty, but quite spicy.

These are only the most famous types of pizza.

Instead of a conclusion

Today, this surprisingly simple and at the same time delicious dish is known all over the world. This is a great option to prepare a delicious snack for your family members, quick and tasty. Pizza is perfect for a party or a business lunch. We can say that - pizza - today has become international. But still, it is almost impossible to cook it the way the chefs of Italian restaurants do it. Therefore, if you want to taste original pastries, then go to a good restaurant. Not everyone can repeat this masterpiece at home.

Pizza (Italian pizza)- Italian national dish in the form of a round open tortilla, covered in the classic version with tomatoes and melted cheese (usually mozzarella). The professional name for such fillings is topping. One of the most popular dishes in the world.

How did pizza come about?

If someone ever had the question “how did pizza come about”, then, most likely, like most people, this someone decided that it was pure italian dish and it was invented in Italy. However, it is not. Pizza, like many dishes, was not first invented in the country to whose national cuisine it now belongs, that is, Italy.

The prerequisites for the appearance of pizza can be seen in the Ancient Greeks, who first began to bake large, round and flat bread, which they generously oiled, seasoned with spices, herbs and all kinds of dishes. In those distant times, tomatoes were not yet discovered, or more likely, they were simply not used in cooking.

In the 18th century, the idea of flat bread came to Italy. On the streets and markets of the city, cakes called "Pizzas" began to be sold. These cakes were flat bread, without any seasonings and toppings. Since they were very cheap, tasty and satisfying, they were mainly popular among the poor of Naples. The appearance of tomatoes among the Neapolitans and the visit of the queen to the streets of the city contributed to the emergence of the very pizza that everyone knows and loves today!

In 1889, Queen Margherita, accompanied by her husband King Umberto I, toured her kingdom of Italy. During her travels in Italy, she saw many people, especially peasants, who ate these large and flat cakes with pleasure. The queen ordered one of these cakes to be brought to her. It is said that Queen Margherita was a great lover of bread. However, she ate it alone, as it was indecent for the queen to consume "peasant food". Therefore, in front of the people, she did not dare to try the cake.

However, the queen was very fond of bread, and her desire to try the cake surpassed her so much that she decided to invite the chef Rafael Esposito to the palace. Queen Margherita ordered him to bake. The chef tried so hard to please the queen that he prepared a special pizza for her. Tomatoes, Mozzarella cheese and fresh basil were used in this pizza, which completely repeated the colors of the Italian flag: white, red and green.

According to legend, this special pizza surpassed all expectations of the queen and became her favorite. She even allowed to call it by her own name - Pizza Margherita, thereby laying the foundation for a whole culinary tradition that has spread and become popular all over the world to this day. There is a legend that in this way Queen Margarita tried to get closer to the people.

History does not know whether the chef Raphael began to sell his creation to the masses, but it is known that pizza in the form that is now known, spread among the Italian people. Different types of pizza began to appear in different parts of Italy. In Bologna, for example, they began to add meat to pizza. Neapolitan pizza with garlic, crumbly Neapolitan cheese, herbs, fresh vegetables and spices has gained particular popularity. By this time, the idea of baking pizza in special brick ovens appeared. And pizza dough, like today, consisted of flour, vegetable oil, salt and yeast.

Pizza began to spread throughout America, France, England and Spain, but it really became popular in these countries only after the Second World War. While occupying Italian territories, many American and European soldiers tasted pizza for the first time. It was love at first bite!

Today you can find many variations of pizza, both in shape and filling. For example, in addition to round pizza, there is also square pizza – Sicilian pizza with anchovies. Exists pizza "envelope" - calzone. One of the traditional ingredients for calzone is the traditional Italian dairy product ricotto.

Some interesting facts about pizza

- exists today International Pizza Day which is celebrated on February 9th.
On this day, all pizzerias try to surprise their guests with something special. And this is a real holiday, because. Plus, it’s not necessary to go for your favorite pie on your own when free pizza delivery works everywhere. Very comfortably!

- In the Guinness Book of Records, several of the largest pizzas in the world have been repeatedly recorded:

The largest round pizza was baked on December 8, 1990 in a Norwood hypermarket (South Africa). Its diameter was 37.4 meters, and its preparation took: 4500 kg of flour, 90 kg of salt, 900 kg of tomato puree and 1800 kg of cheese! The African pizza was only 3.5 meters in diameter larger than its predecessor, a pizza baked by Pizza Hut in Singapore in 1990.

longest pizza was taken in Israel on November 3, 2003. Its length was 100 meters. Pizza was prepared by 25 chefs during the day, and they ate it in seconds in Tel Aviv's central park.

- American and Canadian citizens consume an average of 23 pounds of pizza per person per year. Their favorite pizza is pepperoni (a spicy type of salami) and cheese, second only to hamburgers in popularity.

As can be seen from all of the above, pizza has come a long way from antiquity to the present day. And it became popular thanks to Queen Margarita. So the next time, biting off a juicy piece of pizza, we remember Queen Margherita, who did not dare to try pizza in front of the people.

A little more history

pizza prototypes existed among the ancient Greeks and Romans, as serving some dishes on the table on slices of bread. In connection with the importation of tomatoes into Europe in 1522, the prototype of Italian pizza appeared in Naples. In the 17th century, special people (“pizzaiolo”, pizzaiolo) appeared who prepared pizza for Italian peasants.

Pizza was loved by the wife of the Neapolitan king Ferdinand IV, Maria-Caroline of Habsburg-Lorraine (1752-1814), and later by the Italian king Umberto I and his wife Margherita of Savoy, after whom one of the recipes was named. Pizza came to the USA at the end of the second half of the 19th century and first appeared, apparently, in Chicago. In 1957, semi-finished pizzas appeared.

pizza cooking

Classic pizza dough made from special flour (a mixture of flour and durum flour), yeast, olive oil, salt and water. The dough is kneaded by hand and after proofing it is rolled out in a thin layer (usually up to half a centimeter thick). The dough is covered with tomato sauce. After that, it is possible to add almost any fillings. The classic pizza is baked in a special wood-fired oven, called Pompeii, which has the shape of a dome in the form of a hemisphere. Pizza is also prepared in hearth and conveyor pizza ovens. In wood-burning stoves, fire is kindled from one side, rising up, the heat from it enters the focus of the sphere and is reflected in the center of the stove in the middle of the hearth, heating it. Therefore, it takes about 90 seconds to cook in such an oven, and at home - in an oven preheated to 250-275 ° C in about 8-10 minutes.

eating pizza

Traditional classic pizza before use, cut with a special knife into 4, 6, 8, etc. pieces and eat with your hands.

Famous types of pizza

Pizza aglio e olio- with hot olive oil, garlic and oregano lightly fried in it.
Pizza aglio, olio e pomodoro- olive oil, garlic, oregano and tomatoes.
Pizza alla marinara (Marinara)- with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and oregano (optional anchovies, capers and black olives).
Pizza con le cozze- with mussels, garlic, olive oil and parsley.
Pizza alle vongole- with venerki (bivalves), tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, parsley and oregano.
Pizza Margherita (Margarita)- with tomatoes, mozzarella (sometimes additionally sprinkled with parmesan), olive oil and basil. A variety of Margherita Margherita bianca without tomatoes.
Pizza Napolitana/Napoli ("in Neapolitan")- with tomatoes, mozzarella, parmesan, anchovies, olive oil, oregano and basil (real napolitana pizza must be cooked exclusively on wood).
Pizza Regina- with tomatoes, mozzarella, champignons, ham, oregano (sometimes also with black olives).
Pizza capricciosa (Capricciosa)- with tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, green and black olives.
Pizza ai quattro formaggi (Four cheeses)- with four different types of cheese.
Pizza quattro stagioni (Four seasons)- Tomatoes are a common ingredient. Pizza is divided into four parts, each of which means one of the seasons: Spring: olives and artichokes;
Summer: salami and black pepper; Autumn: tomatoes and mozzarella (like margarita); Winter: mushrooms and boiled eggs.
Pizza ai funghi e salsicce (or boscaiola) (Fungi)- with mozzarella, mushrooms, sausages, with or without tomatoes.
Pizza Diabola- spicy pizza with pepperoni and other ingredients.
Pizza al tonno- with tuna.
Pizza ai frutti di mare- with seafood.
Pizza Hawaii (Hawaiian)- with ham and pineapple, presumably of American origin.
Sicilian pizza (Sicilian pizza)- square, with anchovies.

The filling varies depending on the recipe. Neapolitan pizza is very thin and baked at high temperatures (about 500 °C) in two minutes. It can be eaten without the use of cutlery, having previously rolled it a libro (“like a book”).

One type of pizza is calzone (calzone, “stuffed envelope”), which is folded in half and baked in this form. Traditional toppings are ricotta, ham, mushrooms, mozzarella, parmesan and oregano. Initially, calzones were baked in fat not in the oven / oven, but on the stove in a frying pan.

Distribution of pizza in the world

Pizza has spread mainly in the US and Europe, where developed chains of pizzerias have appeared, most of which offer free pizza delivery to the customer's address.

Japanese version of pizza ("okonomiyaki") is a fried flatbread with seafood and vegetables, well greased with a special sauce and sprinkled on top with dried tuna chips. When serving, such a pizza is divided with a flat spatula "kote".

Pizza in the USA

Due to the wide influence of Italian and Greek immigrants on American culture, it has become very widespread in the United States. There are a fairly large number of regional types of pizza that have only a distant resemblance to the Italian original. The thickness of the crust depends on the preferences of the consumer, pizza on thick and thin dough is equally popular. Often, when creating new types of pizza, such purely American products as barbecue chicken or bacon are used.

Ingredients

american pizza as part of its test it often has vegetable oil, not always olive oil, which cannot be found in traditional Italian recipes. The amount and composition of the topping, as well as the size of the pizza itself, can vary over a very wide range. In addition, American pizza (at least thin-crust pizza) uses flour with a high gluten content (often 13-14%). Such a dough can be stretched without tearing.

Various toppings may be added, usually these are:
Tomato sauce is a common substitute for tomato paste used in Italian pizzas, a fairly heavily spiced, low water, smooth sauce. For example, barbecue sauce is sometimes used.
Cheese, usually mozzarella, but also provolone, cheddar, parmesan, feta, and other cheeses.
Fruits and vegetables: garlic, artichoke hearts, eggplant, olives, capers, onions, spinach, tomatoes, red peppers, green chili peppers, pineapple and others.
Mushrooms, usually champignons, rarely truffles.
Meat products: salami, pepperoni, Italian, ham, bacon, beef, and chicken meat.
Seafood: anchovies, tuna, salmon, shrimp, octopus, squid, mussels.
Herbs and spices: basil, oregano, black pepper, chili pepper.
Nuts: cashews, pistachios and pine nuts.
Oil: olive, walnut or truffle.

In some recipes, tomato sauce is either omitted (white pizza) or replaced with another sauce (most commonly garlic butter, but also spinach and onion sauces). In Philadelphia there are tomato pizza, containing only sauce, or sauce with ripe Roman tomatoes and spices without cheese, as well as pizza "upside down", having cheese on the bottom and covered with sauce on top. Pizza is eaten hot (usually for lunch or dinner), the remaining pieces that have cooled down are used for breakfast.

Types of American pizza

New York-style pizza- a kind of pizza, born in New York, brought by immigrants from Naples - the birthplace of pizza. Often has an impressive size, the slices are thin and flexible. The dough is kneaded by hand and uses a moderate amount of sauce and cheese. New York pizza can be considered an enlarged version of the Neapolitan pizza. Pizza slices are always eaten folded in half, or even stacked on top of each other, due to the size and flexibility of the crust. This type of pizza dominates the northeastern states. If a resident of the United States says "pizza" - then most likely he means exactly the New York version of its execution. Many pizzerias in New York offer two main types of pizza: "Neapolitan" or "plain" pizza, which has a thinner, round-shaped crust, and "Sicilian" or "rectangular" pizza, with a thicker dough, cut into rectangular pieces. Another type of pizza, more popular in Long Island (less often in the Queens and Manhattan areas) is grandma's pizza (Grandma pizza). This one has a rectangular shape, and a thin, crispy crust. Has less than usual amount of cheese. Sometimes spices and butter are mixed into the dough.

Pizza New Heaven (New Heaven-style pizza), also known as apizza, is popular among Southern Connecticut residents. Pizza has a thin cake, which can be both soft and hard enough, depending on the specific manufacturer. By default, a variant of "white" pizza is used, seasoned only with garlic and hard cheese; customers who want to add tomato sauce or mozzarella must ask for it separately. Pizza has a very dark, “scorched” crispy crust that is bitter in taste, offset by the sweetness of tomatoes or other fillings.

Greek pizza (Greece-style pizza)- a variant popular in New England; popularized in pizzerias owned by Greek immigrants. The pizza has a thicker crust and is baked in a pan in an oven rather than directly on the stone. Regular olive oil is part of the topping and is also used to grease the pan and get a crisp on the crust. pizza recipes used in other parts of the country include feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and Greek spices such as oregano.

Chicago pizza (Chicago-style pizza or Chicago-style deep-dish pizza) has a thick crust formed in a deep baking dish. The order of the ingredients has been changed: cake, cheese, topping, sauce on top. Some types (called stuffed - pizza staff) have two layers and sauce on top. This type of pizza was invented by Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo and was first introduced in 1943 at Pizzeria Uno, which is still in operation today. It is worth adding that Pizzeria Uno has a twin - Pizzeria Due. This pizza has become famous in Europe largely thanks to the Pizza Hut pizza chain.

Chicago-style thin-crust pizza has a thinner crust than the Chicago-style deep dish and is baked flat rather than shaped. The crust, although thin, has sufficient firmness, unlike New York pizza. The crust is smeared with a southern Italian tomato sauce that uses herbs and wine, and usually contains no visible tomato pieces. Then a layer of filling is added and a layer of mozzarella cheese, which often separates from the crust due to the tomato sauce. The pizza is cut into three to four squares (8-10 cm) rather than into wedges, as is usually done. Due to the small size of the pieces, there is no need to stack the pizza. Thin-crust Chicago is common throughout the US Midwest. The most famous pizza chains are Aurelio's Pizza, Home Run Inn and Rosati's Pizza.

St. Louis-style pizza A variant of the Chicago thin-crust pizza popular in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as Southern Illinois. The most striking difference is the use of spent cheese (Provel) instead of mozzarella. A mixture of these cheeses is less commonly used. The filling usually consists of fresh ingredients cut into cubes. Common to this type of pizza is the presence of large pieces of onion on top, sliced \u200b\u200bpaprika rings and a whole strip of bacon. In the case of ordering pizza with sausage or other meat products, the meat is choked with hands. The thin dough becomes crispy after cooking and is sometimes compared to a cracker. Despite the round crust, the pizza is cut into square pieces.

California-style pizza prepared from non-traditional ingredients. Preference is given to fresh products. A popular variation, Thai Chicken Pizza is made with peanut sauce, bean sprouts, carrots and BBQ sauce on top. This recipe originated at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California and was popularized by California Pizza Kitchen, Wolfgang Puck's, and others.

Hawaiian pizza made with Canadian bacon (or sliced ham), pineapple and mozzarella cheese. This type of pizza is especially popular in the western United States, as well as in Australia, Canada and Sweden, but not in the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian pizza is also popular in Europe.

Canadian pizza (Canadian-style pizza). Pizza with marinara sauce, a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, pepperoni, bacon (usually not Canadian), mushrooms, chopped white onions, is very popular in Ontario. A mixture of oregano, parsley, and garlic is reminiscent of the Montreal way of preparing spices. The cake is thick, often decorated with garlic.

Taco pizza. For the filling, she uses ingredients typical of taco making, such as lettuce, minced beef, ham, chopped tomatoes, avocado, corn chips, cheddar cheese, sour cream and taco sauce.

Grilled pizza, invented in Providence, Rhode Island, has a rather thin grilled crust that flips over after cooking so the toppings are on the grilled side.

English muffin, French bread pizza and pizza bagels are common pizza analogues that can be cooked at home using an ordinary oven or toaster. Require the addition of sauce, grated cheese and pepperoni. French bread is also available as a semi-finished product.

-), and later - the Italian king Umberto I and his wife Margherita Savoyskaya, in whose honor one of the recipes and the type of pizza itself was named - margarita. Although there is an opinion that this is just a legend. Pizza came to the USA at the end of the second half of the 19th century and first appeared, apparently, in Chicago. In 1957, semi-finished pizzas appeared.

Cooking

The classic pizza dough is made from special flour (a mixture of flour durum), natural yeast (sourdough), olive oil, salt and water. The dough is kneaded by hand and after proofing it is rolled out in a thin layer (usually up to half a centimeter thick). The dough is covered with tomato sauce. After that, it is possible to add almost any fillings. The classic pizza is baked in a special wood-fired oven called Pompeii and has the shape of a dome in the form of a hemisphere. Pizza is also prepared in hearth and conveyor pizza ovens. In wood-burning stoves, fire is kindled from one side, rising up, the heat from it enters the focus of the sphere and is reflected in the center of the stove in the middle of the hearth, heating it. Therefore, pizza in such an oven is cooked for about 90 seconds, and at home - in an oven preheated to 250-275 ° C in about 8-10 minutes.

eating pizza

Before eating, traditional classic pizza is cut with a special knife into 4, 6, 8, etc. pieces and eaten with hands.

Famous types of pizza

Pizza aglio e olio- with hot olive oil, garlic and oregano lightly fried in it.
Pizza aglio, olio e pomodoro- olive oil, garlic, oregano and tomatoes.
Pizza alla marinara(Marinara) - with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and oregano (optional anchovies, capers and black olives).
Pizza con le cozze- with mussels, garlic, olive oil and parsley.
Pizza alle vongole- with venerki (bivalves), tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, parsley and oregano.
Pizza Margherita(Margherita) - with tomatoes, mozzarella (sometimes additionally sprinkled with parmesan), olive oil and basil. Variety of margherita margherita bianca no tomatoes.
Pizza Napolitana/Napoli(" in Neapolitan ") - with tomatoes, mozzarella, parmesan, anchovies, olive oil, oregano and basil (real napolitana pizza should be cooked exclusively on wood [ ]).
Pizza Regina- with tomatoes, mozzarella, champignons, ham, oregano (sometimes also with black olives).
Pizza Capricciosa(Capricciosa) - with tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, green and black olives.
Pizza ai quattro formaggi(Four cheeses) - with four different types of cheese.
Pizza quattro stagioni(Four Seasons) - Tomatoes are a common ingredient. Pizza is divided into four parts, each of which means one of the seasons:
- Spring: olives and artichokes;
- Summer: salami and black pepper;
- Autumn: tomatoes and mozzarella (like Margherita);
- Winter: mushrooms and boiled eggs.
Pizza ai funghi e salsicce (or boscaiola)(Fungi) - with mozzarella, mushrooms, sausages, with or without tomatoes.
Pizza Diabola(Diabola) - pizza with salami and hot Calabrian peppers.
Pizza al tonno- with tuna.
Pizza ai frutti di mare- with seafood.
Pizza Hawaii(Hawaiian) - with ham and pineapple, believed to be of American origin.
Sicilian pizza(Sicilian pizza) - square, with anchovies.

Recently, vegetarian pizzas have become popular, which can be either without meat, dairy products, and even without the use of wheat flour, which is used to make dough. The dough itself is made from crushed flax seeds, carrots, celery and zucchini. All components are mixed, a cake is formed and dried in a device that evaporates moisture.

Distribution of pizza in the world

Pizza has spread mainly in the US and Europe, where developed chains of pizzerias have appeared, most of which offer free pizza delivery to the customer's address.

Ingredients

American pizza often has vegetable oil in its dough, not always olive oil, which is not found in traditional Italian recipes. The quantity and composition of the filling, as well as the size of the pizza itself, can vary over a very wide range. Sometimes the pizza topping is called a topping, which is a bit of a misnomer. In addition, American pizza (at least thin-crust pizza) uses flour with a high gluten content (often 13-14%). Such a dough can be stretched without tearing.

Various toppings may be added, usually these are:

Tomato sauce is a common substitute for tomato paste used in Italian pizzas, a fairly heavily spiced, low water, smooth sauce. For example, barbecue sauce is sometimes used.
Cheese, usually mozzarella, but also provolone, cheddar, parmesan, feta, and other cheeses.
Fruits and vegetables: garlic, artichoke hearts, eggplant, olives, capers, onions, spinach, tomatoes, red peppers, green chili peppers, pineapple and others.
Mushrooms, usually champignons, rarely truffles.
Meat products: salami sausages, pepperoni, Italian ham, bacon, beef, as well as chicken meat.
Seafood: anchovies, tuna, salmon, shrimp, octopus, squid, mussels.
Herbs and spices: basil, oregano, black pepper, chili pepper.
Nuts: cashews, pistachios and pine nuts.
Oil: olive, walnut or truffle.

In some recipes, tomato sauce is either absent (white pizza) or replaced with another sauce (most often garlic oil, but also sauces with spinach and onions). In Philadelphia, there are tomato pizzas that contain only sauce, or sauce with ripe Roman tomatoes and spices without cheese, as well as upside down pizzas that have cheese on the bottom and are covered with sauce on top. Pizza is eaten hot (usually for lunch or dinner), the remaining pieces that have cooled down are used for breakfast.

Types of American pizza

New York pizza(New York-style pizza) - a type of pizza, born in New York, brought by immigrants from Naples - the birthplace of pizza. Often has an impressive size, the slices are thin and flexible. The dough is kneaded by hand and uses a moderate amount of sauce and cheese. New York pizza can be considered an enlarged version of the Neapolitan pizza. Pizza slices are always eaten folded in half or even stacked on top of each other, due to the size and flexibility of the crust. This type of pizza dominates the northeastern states. If a resident of the United States says "pizza" - then most likely he means exactly the New York version of its execution. Many pizzerias in New York offer two main types of pizza: "Neapolitan" or "plain" pizza, which has a thinner round crust, and "Sicilian" or "rectangular", with a thicker dough, cut into rectangular pieces. Another type of pizza, more popular in Long Island (less often in the Queens and Manhattan areas) is grandma's pizza(Grandma pizza). This pizza has a rectangular shape and a thin, crispy crust. Has less than usual amount of cheese. Sometimes spices and butter are mixed into the dough.

Pizza New Haven(New Heaven-style pizza), also known as pizza, popular among Southern Connecticut residents. Pizza has a thin crust, which can be either soft or quite hard, depending on the specific manufacturer. By default, a variant of "white" pizza is used, seasoned only with garlic and hard cheese; customers who want to add tomato sauce or mozzarella must ask for it separately. The pizza has a very dark, "scorched" crispy crust that is bitter in taste, offset by the sweetness of the tomato or other toppings.

Greek pizza(Greece-style pizza) - a variant popular in New England; popularized in pizzerias owned by Greek immigrants. The pizza has a thicker crust and is baked in a pan in an oven rather than directly on the stone. Regular olive oil is part of the topping and is also used to grease the pan and get a crisp on the crust. Pizza recipes used in other parts of the country include feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and Greek spices such as oregano.

Chicago thin crust pizza(Chicago-style thin-crust pizza) has a thinner crust than the Chicago-style deep dish and is baked flat rather than shaped. The crust, although thin, has sufficient firmness, unlike New York pizza. The crust is smeared with a southern Italian tomato sauce that uses herbs and wine, and usually contains no visible tomato pieces. Then a layer of filling is added and a layer of mozzarella cheese, which often separates from the crust due to the tomato sauce. The pizza is cut into three to four squares (8-10 cm) rather than into wedges, as is usually done. Due to the small size of the pieces, there is no need to stack the pizza. Chicago thin-crust pizza is common throughout the US Midwest. The most famous pizza chains are Aurelio's Pizza, Home Run Inn and Rosati's Pizza.

St. Louis pizza(St. Louis-style pizza) is a thin-crust variant of Chicago pizza popular in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as Southern Illinois. The most striking difference is the use of spent cheese (Provel) instead of mozzarella. A mixture of these cheeses is less commonly used. The filling usually consists of fresh ingredients cut into cubes. Common to this type of pizza is the presence of large pieces of onion on top, sliced \u200b\u200bpaprika rings and a whole strip of bacon. In the case of ordering pizza with sausage or other meat products, the meat is choked with hands. The thin dough becomes crispy after cooking and is sometimes compared to a cracker. Despite the round crust, the pizza is cut into square pieces.

california pizza(California-style pizza) is made from non-traditional ingredients. Preference is given to fresh products. A popular variant, Thai Chicken Pizza, is made with peanut sauce, bean sprouts, carrots, and barbecue sauce on top. This recipe originated at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California and was popularized by California Pizza Kitchen, Wolfgang Puck's and others. Montreal English pancakes(English muffin) french bread(French bread pizza) and pizza bagel(pizza bagels) - common pizza analogues that can be cooked at home using an ordinary oven or toaster. Require the addition of sauce, grated cheese and pepperoni. French bread is also available as a semi-finished product.

Pizza Nick-O-Pain(Nic-o-boli) is a baked product produced by the Nicola Pizza company, made with ingredients typical of stromboli and shaped like a calzone.

Pizza in Australia

Pizza is popular in Australia, where there is a significant proportion of residents of Italian ancestry. Both traditional Italian pizzas are used, as well as Australian pizza (australiana), which is based on an ordinary crust, sauce, mozzarella and seasoned with bacon and egg (traditional Australian breakfast). Shrimp can also be used in this pizza. In the 1980s, Australian pizzerias began offering gourmet pizzas, with premium toppings such as salmon, bocconcini, tiger prawns, and non-traditional ingredients such as kangaroo, emu and crocodile. Also popular is pizza on an open fire, which is cooked on an impressive-looking wood-heated ceramic oven.

Pizza in Brazil

In Brazil, pizza that came with Italian immigrants is very popular. There are over 6,000 pizza establishments in São Paulo alone, with an estimated consumption of 1.4 million pizzas a day. Here, at the beginning of the 20th century, the first Brazilian pizza was prepared. Until the 1950s, pizza was only popular in the Italian community. Later, pizza became more and more popular among the rest of the population. Traditional pizzerias are still found in Italian neighborhoods such as Bexiga/Bela Vista. As a rule, recipes specific to Neapolitan pizza are used.

Pizza in India

Pizzerias are a booming fast food segment in Indian cities. With the advent of fast food chains such as Pizza Hut, Domino's, Smoking Joe's, and others, pizza has come to the major cities of India and has become extremely popular, especially among young people.

Pizza makers also use traditional Indian ingredients such as Tandoori Chicken and the addition of local curd (known in India as Paneer). Indian pizza is spicier than its European counterparts, according to local traditions. There are also traditional pizza recipes on the market.

Pizza in Malta

Influenced by Italian culture, pizza gained a lot of popularity in Malta. The Maltese have slightly improved the recipe and make pizza using local cheese -

Pizza is a unique dish suitable for any taste preferences and wallets. Birthdays and significant events are celebrated with it, troubles are stuck with it. Everyone loves her. Pizza - and imagination immediately draws a thin cake of special dough, covered with soft cheese and your favorite toppings, you feel its aroma and long to taste it. Pizza is tempting, seductive, loved.

It is mistakenly considered that the birthplace of pizza is Italy. Not at all, even in ancient Egypt, the “great-grandmother” of the current pizza was invented - a bread cake made with the addition of spices, used as a plate for meat or any other dishes, repeating with its shape and color, the sun so revered by the Egyptians. According to the same recipe, it was made in Greece, adding garlic, olive oil, and various spices to the dough. It was in Greece that the tradition of adding cheese to this dish appeared. Later, pizza ended up in the Roman Empire, where it was included in the menu not only of the patricians, but also of the legionnaires, and was greatly revered by the latter in military campaigns.

And now pizza ends up in Italy, where it becomes a national dish, acquiring a name and even its own history of origin, they say it was invented in the family of a poor fisherman, where the mother had nothing to feed the children, then she took the remnants of dinner, put them on a bread cake and covered it all a mixture of tomatoes and cheese, history dates back to the middle of the 16th century. Since then, pizza has become the food of the peasants, as it was cheap to prepare and very satisfying, and the composition could be changed depending on the products available at home - fish, vegetables, cheese, only the composition of the dough did not change, it was traditionally made with an admixture of olive oil, cheese and spices, as well as never rolled out, pizza dough is specially “unrolled” by weight by hand.

She got to the table of aristocrats thanks to the love for this dish of Queen Margherita of Savoy, already in the 18th century, and it is this queen who is credited with the recipe for Margherita pizza, which was so adored by the heroine Julia Roberts in the movie Eat, Pray, Love. Margarita is also credited with a decree on the creation of a special cutlery for eating pizza - a four-pronged fork (traditional for our table), before the release of pizza, the forks were three-pronged.

The Italians have mastered the art of pizza preparation from the simplest - which contains only cheese and garlic, to the closed Calzone pizza, or the pinnacle of the culinary skill of pizza called "Four Seasons", when the flatbread is divided into four slices, each of which has different ingredients and different flavor symbolizing the season. There is a law published in the Italian government newspaper that there are only three types of real pizza: Margherita, Margherita-Extra and Marinara, the recipes for these pizzas took up three newspaper pages. In Italy, there is also the position of "pizza inspector", checking pizzerias for the authenticity of the "Neapolitan" pizza prepared there. If someone breaks a cooking recipe, the inspector has the right to sue violators of traditional recipes.

Pizza came to America with Italian emigrants and won national and later worldwide love. Here the recipe for making dough has changed, olive oil has been replaced with vegetable oil, pizza has been divided into thick or thin dough, chicken, bacon, sausage and pineapple have been added to the filling (“topping” in Italian). The first pizzeria was opened in America in 1905, and the popularity of this dish was promoted not only by immigrants, but also by world stars such as Frank Sinatra, Jerry Colonna and Dean Martin, after the latter, all of America hummed the words of his song "When the moon shines on you, like a big pizza." Greek pizza, Hawaiian pizza, Chicago pizza, New York style pizza, it was all born here, and it was the Americans who came up with the frozen home-cooked pizza.

Pizza also conquered Australia, where they began to add cottage cheese and eggs (components of the traditional Australian breakfast), Japan, where it is sprinkled with dried tuna chips along with cheese, India, where Curry chicken is added to pizza, Brazil - where traditional "cheese" dishes are popular. pizzas without meat ingredients and options for toppings with fruit, Mexico - thanks to which pizza with a sharp taste of chili peppers appeared.

Pizza came to Russia in the 90s, with the flow of American films and the emergence of fast foods. Now pizza is popular with all ages: it is loved by both old and young, it is served in cafes, restaurants, ordered to the office, cooked at home. Thanks to the huge number of species, everyone can choose what they like and enjoy this international pie with friends or gobble it up alone.

By the way, contrary to popular belief, pizza, although it belongs to the “genre” of fast food, is by no means a harmful product. Dietitians claim that Mediterranean cuisine is one of the healthiest in the world. Despite the presence of carbohydrates in the form of donuts, pizza contains olive oil - and these are very useful and easily digestible polyunsaturated fatty acids. The vegetables included in the composition are an excellent source of fiber, and cheese is a source of calcium. The main thing, as with any food, is to know the measure.