Owen 1

Kalysta Owen

English 100

Morgan Andaluz

May 12 2015

The Big Pie in the Sky (and History)

Pizza is an authentic dish that has been tossed around the world. Its the greasy

cornerstone to Americanized Italian food, yet still an authentic delicacy from hundreds of years

ago. Either way pizza is the dish that many have spent their lives perfecting and innovating,

whether it be a small pizza shop in New York or a giant fast food corporation. Pizza has evolved

from its simple beginnings, influenced the world, and changed the food science world.

According to Turim, pizza was created in Naples in the sixteenth century by the working

poor. An inexpensive, quick to eat food was needed, and it was eaten for any meal sold by the

street vendors and restaurants. The first pizzeria opened in 1830 called Antica Pizzeria

PortAlba. According to Pizza Facts and History, it was mostly flatbreads that were sold all

throughout Naples. But it still held true to the deliciously garnished delight we know today. The

topped flatbreads were not completely original to the Neapolitans, in fact ancient Egyptians,

Romans and Greeks enjoyed the dressed breads long before, but the Napoletans were the first

to add tomato sauce. Soon pizza would be spread throughout Italy (Turim) .

In 1889 King Umberto and Queen Margherita, the king and queen of Italy, visited

Naples. Growing bored of their regular diets the two wanted to try pizza so they were served an

assortment from Pizzeria Brandi. The queen favored the pizza topped with mozzarella, basil,

and tomatoes and was therefore called Margherita pizza (Turim). After their visit pizza was a

whole new craze in Italy. At the turn of the century, mass immigration to America had started.

In the early twentieth century pizza immigrated to America with Italians and Napoletans.

These immigrants soon started to miss their traditional meals. Authentic Italian pizzerias opened

up and became popular with everyone. From Foodways: Immigration to America, these Italian
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restaurants did well by being able to purchase an abundance of fresh vegetables, meats, and

cheeses. Multiple Italian restaurants were grouped together and dubbed Little Italy. Pizzas

existence in Little Italy would be nothing without the very first established pizzeria (Foodways).

The first pizzeria in the U.S. was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi in New York,

called Lombardis (Lombardis Pizza). Lombardis is so traditional that you have to buy an entire

pie just to get a taste, no single slices. According to their website, theyve used a coal burning

oven since theyve opened. They provide a mouth watering description,

The reason to come here is obvious: beautiful, smoky-crusted pizza with fresh tomatoes and

mozzarella. The genius of this pizza starts with the crust, which is black and crispy on the

underside (with pleasant, slightly bitter overtones), but gives way to a wonderfully soft, yeasty

interior.

Lombardis is Americas classic pizzeria, but worldwide there are many different and funky

combinations.

Pizza is a hit worldwide, with international chains and with local restaurants, the rest of

the world loves pizza just as much as Americans. An article titled 10 International Pizza Pi(e)

Toppings lists off several worldwide toppings. Pickled ginger, minced mutton, and paneer

cheese are some of Indias favorite toppings. Mayonnaise, potatoes, bacon, eel and squid are

the favorites among Japan. Brazil favors green peas and in Russia, various fish combos like red

herring, salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines make their way on top pizza. Australia serves up

emu, crocodile and kangaroo topped pizza. Canned tuna is common in Germany and the

French are known to put fried egg on top their pizza (Panganiban). These combos may seem

odd to us, but just imagine what our combinations are to others around the world. These odd

flavors pale in comparison to the countless versions of American pizza.

In America there are a lot of variations of pizza. Chicago deep dish, New York style,

Californian, Detroit style, and New Haven style, any place pizza has gone a new style has

emerged. Brenda Hulin described many alterations of pizza throughout the states in her article
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Classic Pizza Styles. Chicago deep dish pizza is basically a pizza cake. The pie is cooked in a

cake pan, usually one to two inches deep. The bottom layer of crust is pretty thin yet thick

enough to withstand the monster amount of toppings. The toppings are backwards with Chicago

style, cheese and other toppings go straight onto the bottom layer and then the sauce is poured

on top. Sometimes Chicago pizza has multiple crust layers, making it more like pizza lasagna.

New York style pizza is comically large, with floppy crust it makes it perfect to fold it up and eat.

More traditional pizzerias hand toss their dough and home make their marinara sauce. They

typically have thin crusts and are covered in cheese that seals the sauce underneath.

Californian style pizza carries the tradition of odd toppings. You will most likely see experimental

toppings and combinations in California pizzerias. These range from various greens like broccoli

and avocado to grilled chicken and sauces. Detroit style pizza is deep dish with a thicker crust

and cooked in a square pan, originating from industrial parts bins from old factories. New Haven

pizza is a thinner pizza exclusively dressed with white sauce and garlic, red sauce is fairly

uncommon. There are a lot of different combos throughout the states stemming from local

tastes and availability. But for those who crave those certain tastes their only options are to

make them or to buy them at the grocery store.

If you are looking for a pizza without having it delivered, try frozen pizza. Wonderopolis:

Who Created Frozen Pizzas shares the fact that Americans eat more than three hundred and

fifty million tons of frozen pizzas a year, which is two billion slices of just frozen pizzas. Frozen

foods started in the 30s. And soon after pizzerias tried to sell frozen unbaked pizzas but they

turned out soggy and flavorless. In the 50s the first nationally marketed frozen pizza was from

the Celentano Brothers. Totinos was the biggest name in the business in the 60s and became

best sellers. Rising crust pizza became the new food science in the 90s, every frozen pizza

brand was trying to create a growing crust. This brought frozen pizza sales from one billion a

year to five billion dollars a year (Who Created Frozen Pizzas?). Frozen pizzas are a
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convenience to the pizza world, but there is another convenience to the pizza world, pizza

chains.

Authentic pizzerias paved the way for Italian food in America by capitalizing on the

authentic dish. Dominos, Pizza Hut, and Papa Johns are some of the few chain pizzerias that

have generalized this delicacy. With packaged shredded cheese or pre-sliced meat, these chain

restaurants have Americanized pizza. Today we see countless chain restaurants, but before

they were big names they were small businesses.

The first Pizza Hut opened in 1958 by two brothers, Frank and Dan Carney in Wichita,

Kansas. Its first franchise opened in 1960 in Topeka, Kansas. According to Entrepreneur

magazine, in 2014 there were 5,601 international locations in business. Most of the popular

pizza franchises started to franchise around the sixties, but Pizza Hut remains the first (Pizza

Hut Inc. Franchise Information).These pizzerias have dominated every field in the pizza game,

especially delivery.

Pizza delivery has become one of the main components of pizza today. Most pizzerias

today offer delivery to get their pizza to you without you having to lift a finger. Chain pizzerias

have an army of delivery people who are ready to hop in the car and run you your pizza. There

have been so many innovations to pizza like the heated box and little table stand in the pizza

box. The circular thing in the center of the pizza box was created to keep the top of the box from

crushing the pizza. It was created by Carmela Vitale and patented it on February 12, 1985

(Bellis). The heated pizza delivery container was patented by Robert Forrester and Homero

Ortegon on August 28, 2001 (US Patent 6281477). These inventions have changed the world of

pizza, offering hot delivered pizza in perfect condition. There have been innovations made

directly to pizza as well.

Interesting additions have been made to pizza. Stuffed crust, a crust stuffed with cheese,

flavored crust, or even dessert pizzas has driven American pizza farther and farther into

Americanized pizza. Such ridiculous pizza flavors and toppings include a BBQ Lovers pizza
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from Pizza Hut, loaded with bacon, ham, and pork, extra cheese and barbeque sauce drizzled

on top it branches quite far from the real thing (Would You Like Delivery or Carryout?). Or an

American Favorite Feast pizza from Dominos littered with most of the toppings they have

(Dominos Pizza Menu). Although these pizzerias have created a brand for themselves, they

have also had quite the impact on America.

In 2011, Congress declared pizza as a vegetable (Jalonick). Mary Jalonick explains in

her article, Pizza is a Vegetable? Congress Says Yes, that pizza as a whole was not declared

a vegetable, just the tomato sauce used in it. Since the tomato sauce was mostly used in the

pizza, it went along without saying. But with this blind generalization, it could have tricked

families into thinking pizza was the healthy choice.

Healthy foods became the craze in recent years, everyone trying to eat organic, gluten

free or just plain healthy. Pretty much every food has been re-envisioned to be healthy, including

pizza. Its pretty obvious that pizza is not the healthiest food around, with thick doughy bread,

greasy cheese and any kind of topping, pizza is enjoyed in moderation. You can see healthy

frozen pizzas with unsalted toppings, lighter sauce and thinner crusts (Healthy Frozen Pizzas).

There are also gluten free and organic pizzas. Most of the time these healthier pizzas just

replace regular toppings with more vegetables. Any type of pizza, healthy or not, has impacted

other parts of the world that we live in today.

The pop culture that surrounds pizza is huge. Pizza is a favorite among Americans and

their youth. According to 15 Odd Ways Pizza Has Influenced Pop Culture, by Perrie Samotin,

pizza has influenced music, celebrities, and fashion. Dean Martins Thats Amore rose

awareness for pizza in the 50s with the famous line, When the moon hits your eye like a big

pizza pie, thats amore. This brought attention to pizza in the U.S.. In the 70s food delivery was

important and pizza was carried along with it. Even in pornography the pizza delivery guy

became a staple character. In the 80s pizza and pizza delivery guys made frequent cameos in

movies (Samotin). The 90s birthed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where pizza was featured
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in almost every episode. Celebrities like Katy Perry and Cara Delevingne have worn pizza

patterned clothing like swimsuits and onesies (Samotin). There are also many pizza products,

necklaces, phone cases, shoes, bed sheets, sleeping bags, backpacks and many more items

that rock the pizza pattern.

Throughout time pizza has influenced a culture, cuisine, and the world. Not only has the

world changed it, it changed the world. In different countries pizza is a delicacy with unique

toppings and tastes, in America it is a fast food staple and we are never too far from one chain

location. There are tons of variations throughout the states, reflecting the local favorites of the

area and whats available. Pizza has made its way on news headlines, being declared a

vegetable and causing controversy amongst the U.S. Pizza was a concept loved by its country

of origin and any other culture that happened to pick it up. Pizza has been innovated and

experimented with, whether its with funky new combinations or the science of how to get frozen

pizza crust to rise. Pizza has been fought over and argued with of who has the best pizza or

whats the best style, but theres one thing we can all agree on, its that pizza is delicious, and if

you like cold, hot, fresh, frozen, New York style or deep dish, pizza has changed the world and

the lives of many.

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Works Cited

Bellis, Mary. "History of Pizza." About.com Inventors. About.com, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"Domino's Pizza Menu." Domino's Pizza, Order Pizza Online for Delivery. Domino's, n.d.

Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"Foodways." Immigration in America. N.p., 30 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"Healthy Frozen Pizzas." Cooking Light. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

Hulin, Brenda. "Classic Pizza Styles." Classic Types. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015

Jalonick, Mary C. "Pizza Is a Vegetable? Congress Says Yes." Msnbc.com. N.p., 15 Nov.

2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"Lombardi's Pizza." Lombardi's Pizza. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

Panganiban, Roma. "10 International Pizza Pi(e) Toppings." Mental Floss. N.p., 14 Mar. 2013.

Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"Pizza Facts and History." Pizza Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"Pizza Hut Inc. Franchise Information." Entrepreneur. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

Samotin, Perrie. "15 Odd Ways Pizza Has Influenced Pop Culture." Style Caster. N.p., 15

Aug. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

Turim, Gayle. "A Slice of History: Pizza Through the Ages." History.com. A&E Television

Networks, 27 July 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"US Patent 6281477." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"Who Created Frozen Pizza?" Wonderopolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"Would You like Delivery or Carryout?" Pizza Hut. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.