A Brief History of PIZZA: The Dish that Conquered the World

A supreme pizza with tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni,
peppers, olives, and mushrooms
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pizza, the way we know it today, is a derivation from focaccia (from the Latin word for fire), a flatbread that has been prepared since antiquity in different forms and garnished with herbs, olives, fat, raisin, honey, and nuts. 

The word pizza in Italian identifies any type of flatbread or pie—fried or baked. Although you’d find many types of pitas or pizzas around the Mediterranean, it is in Naples that pizza in the form we know it today first emerged, after the tomato appeared on the table in the 1700s. Naples has many records of pizza since around the year 1000; the first mentions call these flatbreads Lagana, and later they are referred to as picea. In those times, pizzas were dressed with garlic and olive oil, or cheese and anchovies, or small local fish. They were baked on the open fire and sometimes were closed in two, as a book, to form a calzone. 

 In Naples is also where the first pizzerias opened up, with brick wood-burning oven, covered with lava stones from Mount Vesuvius. The chefs of those times ignored pizza because it was considered a poor people’s food, but the new combination with the tomato, when it entered the kitchen around the 1770s, must have raised some curiosity, even in the royal palace. Ferdinand I Bourbon, King of Naples, loved the simple food of the people and went to taste the pizzas made in the shop of Antonio Testa. He liked it so much that he wanted pizza to be included in the menu at the court. He failed after the opposition of his wife, Queen Maria Carolina. His son Ferdinand II also liked all kinds of popular food and he loved pizza to the point that he hired Domenico Testa, son of the now famous Antonio, to build a pizza oven in the royal palace of Capodimonte. 

Pizza became very popular, earning its place in Neapolitan folklore. Simple and economical, it turned into the food for all people, even sold on the streets, as shown in many illustrations of the time. 

A famous episode extended the popularity of pizza beyond the limits of the city of Naples. It was 1889, and Margherita, queen of Italy, was visiting the city. She was told about pizza and wanted to taste it. A famous cook by the name of Don Raffaele, helped by his wife Donna Rosa, was invited to cook pizza at the royal palace. They prepared three pizzas, typical of that time: one with cheese and basil; one with garlic, oil, and tomato; and one with mozzarella, basil, and tomato. The queen, impressed by the colors of the last pizza, which resembled the national flag, preferred that one. Since then this pizza is known as Pizza Margherita, and Don Raffaele is credited with its invention, even if we know that it already existed for a long time. 

At the beginning of the last century, with Italian immigrants, the first pizzerias appeared also in the United States, where pizza has become a mass phenomenon. Yet, even today the best pizza is found in Naples, where it is rigorously made with buffalo mozzarella. Superior pizzas are considered those obtained by moderate variations of the simplest and most popular: Pizza Napoletana with tomato, garlic, oil, and oregano; Pizza Margherita; Pizza Marinara with tomato, anchovies, capers, and olives; and Pizza Four Seasons, divided into four quadrants, each dressed in a different way. Pizza with hot salami, the American pepperoni pizza, is instead found in the Calabria region south of Naples, where this type of hot sausage is produced.

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All About Italy's Spicy Marinara Sauce

Marinara Sauce - Photo: Pixabay

Marinara sauce is a popular Italian red sauce. This meatless sauce can be easily and quickly made from tomatoes, onions and herbs. You might find this sauce a little spicier than other red tomato sauces. This is because it has large amounts of garlic, oregano, basil, and even chilli pepper. Its simplicity and easy-to-make feature allow it to be used in many great Italian dishes.

Besides its traditional use of highlighting the mild taste of pasta such as linguini or ziti, marinara is also a popular dipping sauce for finger foods like fried mozzarella cheese sticks and calzones. This sauce can be used by you to add a little zest to meat dishes such as chicken, veal Parmigiano, pork steaks, and grilled seafood. You can also use it to replace mustard or mayonnaise in a burger or a chicken filet sandwich and perhaps relish the food more.

Despite being easy to make, there are currently hundreds of types of marinara in the market. The popularity of the sauce may be due to recent research, which revealed that cooked tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that may help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer.

Origins of Marinara Sauce

Marinara is derived from the Italian word Marinaro meaning “of the sea” and marinara sauce loosely translates into “the sauce of the sailors”. It originated with sailors in Naples in the 16th century, after the introduction of tomato by the Spaniards. In those days of no refrigeration, it was in great demand among the cooks on the ships for two reasons. Firstly, because the absence of meat and high acid content of the tomatoes would not spoil the sauce, and secondly because it was easy to prepare.

Preparation of marinara sauce

Ingredients

6 pounds ripe Italian-type tomatoes

1 cup very finely minced onion

1/2 cup very finely minced celery

1 cup very finely minced carrots

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

Seasonings - Added according to taste

Ground white pepper

Ground coriander

Dried marjoram

Dried basil

Dried oregano

Salt

Drop tomatoes into boiling water, a few at a time. Let the water return to a boil, then remove the tomatoes and drain. Peel and chop.

Cook the onion, celery, and carrots in the olive oil, in a large covered saucepan, over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Uncover and stir, over the heat, for 5 to 10 minutes more, or until the vegetables are very soft and light gold.

Add the tomatoes, sugar and pepper and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes.

Puree the sauce through the medium disc of a food mill. Add the optional seasoning and cook at a bare simmer until the desired consistency is reached, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Add salt to taste. You can add a little hot sauce to give it a kick as well.

If you prefer a smooth sauce, work the sauce through the fine disc of a food mill.

Cool the marinara and refrigerate it. It will keep, refrigerated, for about a week, or for several months if frozen.

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Make Homemade Pizza

Homemade Pizza - Photo: Wikimedia

Making pizza from scratch, at home, isn't really as hard as you might think---and once you learn just a few secrets about how to make a great pizza crust, you might never want to "order in" again!

First, there is the matter of a recipe for pizza dough. Most of them call for very similar ingredients, basically water, yeast, oil, and flour. Some have a little more oil, some use less oil and add an egg. Whichever recipe you use, making the pizza dough goes fairly quickly and doesn't need to rise for hours like bread dough.

Here's a tip: If you aren't familiar with working with recipes that call for yeast, you might not know that yeast has to "proof"---that is, activate. You do this by combining it with water (about 110*), and usually a little bit of sugar (1 teaspoon or less). After you combine the yeast, warm water, and sugar, you need to let this mixture "rest" for about 5 minutes. This allows the yeast to activate or "proof."

Don't just assume that you can run hot water from your tap and it will be "warm" enough, without being "too hot." A small cooking thermometer is handy to have. It might be easier to heat up water to 110* rather than run hot water and then try to cool it down (especially if your water heater is set at 120* or above). I put room temperature water in a Pyrex measuring cup and heat the water in the microwave. After a while, you'll know exactly what setting and how long it takes to heat up the water.

After the yeast has proofed, stir in the other ingredients, following the recipe. You'll probably have to knead the dough a bit to mix all of the flour in so that you have a smooth and dry mound of pizza dough. Be very careful about kneading the pizza dough---it is easy to knead in too much flour. As long as the dough isn't actually sticking to your fingers, it is OK.

Once the dough is ready, let it "rest" for about 5 minutes. That's right, just let it lay there. This gets the rising process started.

Hand form, or use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to the desired size.

After experimenting with the different types of pizza pans and stones that are available, I have concluded that the one-ply pans with holes in them are the best. This helps to bake a crust that is nicely done on the bottom without being burnt, and yet leaves the dough nice a "chewy" in the middle. Depending on your preference for pizza dough, you can experiment by first baking pizza on regular cookie sheets. After that, you can get inexpensive pizza pans at dollar stores or discount stores like Wal-Mart to continue to experiment until you find the pan you prefer.

Now you are ready to bake the pizza. Here's a tip: pre-bake just the pizza crust for about 6 minutes before you load on the sauce and toppings. This helps to cook the crust enough so that the sauce won't sink in too much, leaving a gooey crust.

After you've pre-baked the crust, remove it from the oven and load it with sauce and meat toppings (be sure that anything other than pepperoni is pre-cooked, such as sausage or ground beef). If you like onions and peppers, then here's another tip: pre-cook them so that the onions are almost transparent and the pepper is limp. Load on the onions and peppers. Sprinkle with oregano or any other spices that you desire.

Return to the oven and bake for about 13-15 minutes. This is long enough to heat the sauce and other toppings. 

Remove from the oven and add the cheese. (If you are like me and like Hawaiian pizza, add the pineapple now, too.) Return to the oven for about 3 minutes, or just long enough to melt the cheese without burning it.

Once the pizza is baked, I like to slide it onto a pizza stone that I've sprinkled with cornmeal. Then, I let the pizza cool for about 5 minutes. The cornmeal keeps the bottom of the crust from getting soggy, and sure adds a nice "zest" to the taste of it! Cut with a pizza cutter (or kitchen shears---which work great!).

Enjoy your favorite beverage!

Author: Jan Kovarik

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What Is So Special About GOURMET PIZZA?

Pizza has been around for thousands of years. When did out of the ordinary and delicious gourmet pizza make its debut? What would the forefathers of pizza think of this culinary masterpiece?

A pepperoni pizza.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Everyone knows that a standard pizza comes with pepperoni, cheese, ground beef, peppers, onions, anchovies and sausage. Today gourmet pizza is created with any kind of topping. They are topped with anything from broccoli to chocolate. There are gourmet pizzas for breakfast that can be topped with scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese. And, there are vegetarian gourmet pizzas that are topped with a medley of vegetables.

The gourmet pizza is relatively new and was created for the privileged. It has grown in popularity in nearly every household in the United States. Pizza parlors are popping up all across the country. A Sunday afternoon of football will be a definite hit with the gang if a gourmet pizza with all the toppings is served.  A sure pleaser for chocolate lovers is a dessert pizza topped with marshmallows and chocolate.

Gourmet pizza was conceived with the belief that less is better. Only by using the finest quality ingredients and one or two toppings, can a pizza acquire the status of a gourmet pizza. Only the freshest and highest quality meats and freshest mozzarella can be used. The difference in a standard pizza and a gourmet pizza will be proven with each bite.

An ordinary consumer, with a little imagination, can create a gourmet pizza at home. A variety of pre-baked pizza shells are available in all types of food stores. With some imagination and experimentation, a home chef can make a mouth-watering work of art. Most food stores carry a line of pizza shells, cheeses and gourmet sauces. Cheeses other than Mozzarella can be used.

Gourmet pizza shops continue to grow, offering a variety of pizzas from different cultures. Every culture brings an innovative way to make the gourmet pizza. These tasty delights will bring dining pleasure for years to come.

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