Pizza!

As many Americans would agree, pizza is one of my favorite foods. Pizza allows individuals to create a meal based on personalized wants. Of course, the nutritional value varies depending on the types of toppings you put on it, but for a simple pizza, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. For me, I love a simple pizza made with thin crust bread, cheese, and a good sweet tomato sauce. I love every aspect about it from mending the dough, to smelling it bake, to engulfing all the flavors in my mouth. Growing up, my mother would make homemade pizza for my birthday every year. But I always wondered where it came from. It may come as a surprise, but pizza was not invented in Italy. It was actually believed to be invented by people in the Mediterranean, more specifically either Greeks or Egyptians. They first would blend only flour and water to create dough, which was then placed on a hot stone to bake. It was originally used for a plate to soak up broths and stews. This flat bread form then spread to Italy and was sold on the streets as peasant food. The Queen of Italy at the time, Queen Margharita, explored Italy one day and came across peasants eating this flat bread. She decided to try it and ended up loving it. She then ordered Chef Rafaelle to make her a pizza. Chef Rafaelle decided to make her one that represented the Italian flag made of mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, which is now referred to as the Margherita pizza. From then on, other countries started to make different variations by putting different toppings on the pizza. The invention of pizza didn’t make it over to America until after WWII. Within the United States today, there are two major variations of pizza: either thick crust Chicago style or thin crust NY style. The invention has created all different sorts of appetizing pizzas from dessert pizzas, to Mexican pizzas, to Hawaiian pizzas. Pizza is one of the only foods that is not secluded to a certain class, religion, community or so on. Therefore, I believe pizza is a symbol of variety, choice, and wholeness. It is a food that can be made by anyone or can be purchased by anyone. Of course, the higher the quality of ingredients the more expensive the pizza will be, therefore the upper class citizens are able to purchase the higher quality pizzas. Also higher class, eat pizza with fork and knives whereas lower and middle class eat pizza with their hands. Today, pizza can be made either in a regular oven or on a brick, wood-fired oven. Overall, pizza is one of the most versatile foods invented. It has never and will never go out of fashion and will always be a favorite among many countries.

Sources: http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/pizzahistory.html