It’s difficult to credit one person or a single point in history with inventing pizza. While the pizza we know today is closely linked to Italy, especially the city of Naples, the idea of placing ingredients on top of flatbread is ancient and has been around in different cultures for thousands of years.
What Is the Earliest Form of Pizza?
Pizza’s origins go back to ancient times, when many civilizations ate flatbreads with various toppings. This type of food was common among the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Egyptians. For example, around the 6th century BCE, Persian soldiers used their shields to bake flatbreads with cheese and dates. This was a simple and clever meal for soldiers on the move.
The Greeks ate a flatbread called plakous, topped with herbs, onion, cheese, and garlic. They also had placentae, which were sweet or savory pastries. The Romans had breads like adorea or libum adoreum-baked with cheese, honey, and fruit. Old paintings from Pompeii even show these early Roman foods.
Today, flatbreads similar to ancient ones can still be found, such as focaccia from Italy, manakish from the Middle East, coca from Spain, pita from Greece, lepinja in the Balkans, and piadina from northern Italy. These examples show that the basic idea behind pizza is shared by many cultures.
| Culture/Country | Ancient Flatbread | Common Toppings |
|---|---|---|
| Greece | Plakous | Herbs, cheese, garlic, onions |
| Rome | Libum, Adorea | Cheese, honey, fruit |
| Persia | Unnamed | Cheese, dates |
| Italy (modern) | Focaccia, Piadina | Olive oil, herbs, cheese, meats |
Was Pizza the Idea of One Person or Culture?
Since topped flatbreads appeared in so many places, it’s clear pizza did not come from just one person or group. However, the style of pizza we know now-baked with specific dough, tomato sauce, and cheese-developed in Italy, especially Naples. The word “pizza” first showed up in records from Gaeta, Italy, in 997 CE, and spread to other Italian areas. Some language experts think “pizza” came from “pinza” (meaning to clamp or press), linked to the Latin “pinsere,” which means to pound or press dough.
Who Gets Credit for Modern Pizza?
When people ask about modern pizza’s inventor, Raffaele Esposito from Naples is often named. The famous story says Esposito made the “pizza Margherita” in 1889 for Queen Margherita of Savoy, using tomato, mozzarella, and basil to match the Italian flag’s colors. This pizza is thought of as the classic style behind most pizzas today.
However, research suggests pizzas like the Margherita existed before 1889. The ‘Marinara’ pizza was made in 1734, and the Margherita goes back at least to 1796-1810. Even though Queen Margherita did try a pizza during her visit in 1889, Esposito likely didn’t invent the combination but helped make it famous. The story tying Esposito to the pizza mainly became popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
Where Was Pizza First Made?
The modern pizza originated in Naples, Italy. Here, pizza became much more than a simple street food and eventually gained worldwide fame.
Why is Naples Known as Pizza’s Birthplace?
Naples was founded by the Greeks around 600 BCE and developed into a busy city. By the 1700s and 1800s, it had a large population of poor workers who needed quick, affordable food. Street vendors sold flatbreads with basic toppings like tomato, cheese, oil, anchovies, and garlic. As tomatoes, brought to Europe from the Americas, became more common in the late 1700s, they were added to Neapolitan flatbreads, leading to the modern pizza. Naples also opened its first pizzeria with tables in 1830-Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba-moving pizza from street food to a meal people could sit and enjoy together.
How Did Pizza Change Over Time?
Pizza’s story is one of slow change, new ingredients, and cultural mixing. It grew from simple flatbreads to the dish the world loves today.
What Were Some Foods Like Pizza in the Past?
The early forms of pizza include foods like the Greeks’ plakous and the Romans’ panis focacius. Persians baked bread with cheese and dates. Many Mediterranean cultures still eat similar flatbreads (like focaccia, manakish, and piadina). By the late Middle Ages, flatbreads with various toppings were everywhere in the region, and some in 16th-century Naples started calling these “pizza.” At this time, pizza was still mainly eaten by the poor.
How Did Pizza Change in Naples?
The biggest shift for pizza happened in Naples from the 16th to mid-18th centuries, when tomatoes were added. Tomatoes were at first thought to be harmful, but in Naples, poor people started putting them on flatbreads, creating the pizza we recognize today. In the early 1800s, pizzerias with tables opened, making it a meal for groups, not just a quick bite. By the mid-1800s, there were several main types of pizza in Naples, including what we now call Margherita and Marinara.
| Pizza Type | Main Toppings | Date First Made |
|---|---|---|
| Marinara | Tomato, garlic, oregano, olive oil | 1734 |
| Margherita | Tomato, mozzarella, basil | 1796-1810 (popularized 1889) |
Frequently Asked Questions About Pizza’s Invention
The pizza’s long history brings up lots of interesting questions. Here are some common ones.
Did Queen Margherita Really Inspire the Margherita Pizza?
The story goes that Raffaele Esposito created pizza Margherita in 1889 for Queen Margherita, using toppings to represent the Italian flag. While it’s true the queen ate and enjoyed a pizza like this, the combination existed earlier. The name and fame grew thanks to the royal visit, but Esposito probably did not come up with the idea from scratch. The story became widely known only decades later.
Is Pizza Italian or Does It Have Older Roots?
It depends how you define pizza. If you mean flatbreads with toppings, then pizza has ancient roots in many cultures-like the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian flatbreads. If you mean a leavened dough topped with tomato and cheese, then pizza is Italian, from Naples, created after tomatoes were brought to Europe. So, pizza is both old and new: the style we know today came from Italy and evolved from older ideas.
How Did Pizza Dough and Sauces Develop?
Pizza dough grew out of traditional bread making, using flour, water, yeast, and salt. Neapolitan pizza uses soft, hand-tossed dough. The traditional Neapolitan pizza must be baked in a wood-fired oven and follow exact standards, set by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana since 1984.
Before tomatoes, pizzas were topped with oils, herbs, and cheese. When tomatoes became popular, simple sauces of squashed tomatoes and salt were used, letting the tomato flavor shine. As pizza spread, new kinds of sauces appeared-like the New York style, which often includes garlic, olive oil, and various herbs.
- Traditional Neapolitan Pizza Dough: Flour, water, yeast, salt (hand-kneaded).
- Traditional Sauces: Early: olive oil, herbs; Later: uncooked crushed tomatoes and salt.
- Modern Variations: Region-specific sauces and toppings developed as pizza spread around the world.