Worlds most favourite food

So you thought the hamburger was the world's most popular fast food? No,
there is another truly universal fast food, the ultimate fast food. It's easy to make,
easy to serve, much more varied than the hamburger, can be eaten with the
hands, and it's delivered to your front door or served in fancy restaurants.
It's been one of America's favourite foods for over ! years. It is, of course, the
pi""a.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PIZZA
It's kind of silly to talk about the moment when pi""a was invented. It gradually
evolved over the years, but one thing's for certain. It#s been around for a very long
time. $he idea of using pieces of flat, round bread as plates came from the
%reeks.$hey called them 'plakuntos' and ate them with various simple toppingd
such as oil, garlic, onions, and herbs. $he &omans en'oyed eating something
similar and called it 'picea'. Around three thousands years ago in the city of
Naples, 'picea' had become 'pi""a' and people were e(perimenting it with more
toppings) cheese, ham, anchovies, and finally the tomato, brought to Italy from
*e(ico and +eru in the si(teenth century. Naples became the pi""a capital of the
world. In ,--., /ing 0mberto I and 1ueen *argherita heard about pi""a and
asked to try it. $hey invited a pi""a maker, &affaele 2sposito, to make it for them.
3e decided to make the pi""a like the Italian flag, so he used red tomatoes, white
mo""arella cheese, and green basil leaves. $he 1ueen loved it and the new pi""a
was named '+i""a *Argherita' in her honour.
+i""a migrated to America with the Italians at the end of the nineteenth century.
$he first pi""eria i n the 0nited States was opened in ,.! in New 4ork 5ity, by
%ennaro 6ombardi. 7ut the popularity of pi""a really e(ploded when American
soldiers returned from Italy after 8orld 8ar II and raved about 'that great Italian
dish'. Americans are now the greatest producers and consumers of pi""a in the
world.
Pizza Facts
. Americans eat 9! slices of pi""a per second.
!" $here are :,,;:. pi""erias in the 0nited States.
#" <ctober is national pi""a month in the 0nited States.
$" $he world#s first pi""eria, the Antica +i""eria +ort# Alba, which opened in Naples
in ,-9!, is still there.
%. +i""a 3ut has over ,;,!!! restaurants and takeaway outlets in over .!
countries.
&" In America, pepperoni is the favourite topping. Anchovies is the least favourite.
'" In 7ra"il, they like green peas on their pi""a. In Australia the favourites are
shrimp and pineapple.
(" $he =rench love bacon and cr>me fraiche on theirs. $he 2nglish love tuna and
sweetcorn.