Global Pizza

So you thought the hamburger was the world's most popular fast food? After all, McDonald's Golden Arches span the globe. But 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 50 years. It is, of course, the pizza.

A brief history of pizza

It's kind of silly to talk about the moment when pizza was 'invented'. It gradually evolved over the years, but one thing's for certain ─ it's been around for a very long time. The idea of using pieces of flat, round bread as plates came from the Greeks. They called them 'plakuntos' and ate them with various simple toppings such as oil, garlic, onions, and herbs. The Romans enjoyed eating something similar and called it 'picea'. By about 1000 A.D. in the city of Naples, 'picea' had become 'pizza' and people were experimenting with more toppings: cheese, ham, anchovies, and finally the tomato, brought to Italy from Mexico and Peru in the sixteenth century. Naples became the pizza capital of the world. In 1889, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita heard about pizza and asked to try it. They invited pizza maker, Raffaele Esposito, to make it for them. He decided to make the pizza like the Italian flag, so he used red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese, and green basil leaves. The Queen loved it and the new pizza was named 'Pizza Margherita' in her honour.

Pizza migrated to America with the Italians at the end of the nineteenth century. The first pizzeria in the United States was opened in 1905 at 53½ Spring Street, New York City, by Gennaro Lombardi. But the popularity of pizza really exploded when American soldiers returned from Italy after World War II and raved about 'that great Italian dish'. Americans are now the greatest producers and consumers of pizza in the world.

Pizza Trivia

1. Americans eat 350 slices of pizza per second.
2. There are 61,269 pizzerias in the United States.
3. Pizza is a $30 billion per year industry.
4. October is national pizza month in the United States.
5. The world's first pizzeria, the Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba, which opened in Naples in 1830, is still there.
6. Pizza Hut has over 12,000 restaurants and takeaway outlets in over 90 countries.
7. In America, pepperoni is the favourite topping. Anchovies is the least favourite.
8. In Japan, eel and squid are favourites. In Russia it's red herring, salmon, and onions.
9. In Brazil, they like green peas on their pizza. In Australia the favourites are shrimp and pineapple.
10. The French love bacon and crème fraîche on theirs. The English love tuna and sweetcorn.

Level: Intermediate

Book: New Headway (the NEW edition)

Year: 2003
Author: Connie Odone