Pizza origin... American-Italian??

Question

I've eared from some American that they believe pizza is an American invention... my question is: if first pizza in America was near 1940 and in Italy was already famous (in 1890 was cooked for Queen Margherita of Italy)...how it could be possible?
did Italians invented a "time machine" in 1890??
Give me your historically evidence...

PS: in 1890 when King and Queen (Margherita) visited Naples in their honour was made a pizza coverd by colours of Italian flag : green( by basil), white(by mozzarella) and red (by tomatoes)...

this is my evidence

of course FIRST discovery of America in Europe didn't exist tomatoes... but in Italy there are different kinds of pizza that you don't know... ex: Focaccia( hasn't tomatoes), pizza ripiena (filled)... but it exist too a soft pizza with just tomatoes (red pizza) that is sell in bakery ...

Answer 1

I would never have thought pizza was an American creation. However, maybe they are referring to a Type of pizza. For example, the Deep Dish pizza was created in the 1900's in Chicago.

This is the story I found which is amusing:
"Pizza migrated to America with the Italians in the latter half of the 19th century. Pizza was introduced to Chicago by a peddler who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on his head, crying his wares at two cents a chew. This was the traditional way pizza used to be sold in Naples, in copper cylindrical drums with false bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas hot.

For many people, especially among the Italian-American population, the first American pizzas were known as Tomato Pie. Even in the present 21st century, present-day tomato pie is most commonly found in the Northeastern United States, especially in Italian bakeries in central New York. Tomato pies are built the opposite of pizza pies - first the cheese, then the toppings, and then the sauce."

1943 - Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (a pizza with a flaky crust that rises an inch or more above the plate and surrounds deep piles of toppings) was created by Ike Sewell at his bar and grill called Pizzeria Uno.

1948 - The first commercial pizza-pie mix, "Roman Pizza Mix," was produced in Worcester, Massachusetts by Frank A. Fiorello.

Answer 2

Pizza Origin

Answer 3

And now for an ACCURATE answer, with citations to back it up:

Pizza was actually "invented" in the sixth century BC by Persians, but became a sort of "national dish" in Italy not much later than that. However, the Italians did not put tomato sauce on their pizzas until long after this, since after the tomato was not brought to Italy from the Americas until 1522.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Pizza/PizzaHistory.htm

Answer 4

American Pizza was created here, but we still call it pizza. If you go to Italy the pizza is nothing like the kind here. I am sure Pizza was created before America was a country in Italy and over time the Italian-Americans have altered it to the American pizza we have now.

My answer is Italian's invented "pizza" but the Pizza we eat today in America is a different version of pizza.

Notice how we have NY style and Chicago style (American Versions)

Answer 5

Where Was Modern Pizza Invented

Answer 6

Some Americans are insensitive, idiotic, and do not think outside of the (pizza) box hehe.

The history of food items which may have served as the roots of modern pizza can be traced to the ancient Greek colony of Naples in Magna Graecia (southern Italy)[1] [citation needed]. Such products arguably have their first written mention in Book VII of Virgil’s Aeneid:

Modern pizza is attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. In 1889 Esposito, working in the pizzeria "Pietro... e basta così" (literally "Peter... and that's enough", established in 1890 and still operating under the name "Pizzeria Brandi"), baked three different pizze”[3]. for the visit of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy. The Queen's favorite was a pizza evoking the colors of the Italian flag – green (basil leaves), white (mozzarella), and red (tomatoes). This combination, named Pizza Margherita in her honor, set the standard by which today's pizza evolved[3].

Answer 7

My pizza recipe came from my grandmother Louise, she used to make it with left over bread dough. She had 15 children and making bread was done a couple times a week. It was simple, dough, tomato sauce, some cheese and on occasion a little meat. It certainly was not like designer pizza's or the ones from Pizza Hut but each one was special. none the less. I've evolved that recipe over the years, using mozzarella cheese and my own special tomato sauce. A little Parmesan cheese over the top with a few drops of olive oil. It is a HOMEMADE pizza, baked on heavy metal baking sheets. I add a little corn meal to the sheet to give the crust a little bit of crunch. The one thing that eludes me is my grandmothers ability to put a little of herself in everything she made, but I keep trying. You should do the same.

Answer 8

Its orgins are in Italy. But what would a pizza be without the sauce? The tomato is native to the Americas. It was initially cultivated by Aztecs and Incas as early as 700 A.D. Europeans first saw the tomato when the Conquistadors reached Mexico and Central America in the 16th century. Tomato seeds were taken back to Europe where they quickly found favor in the Mediterranean countries of Spain, Portugal and Italy. Just a tidbit.

Answer 9

#1 Rock Chick is right,
Pizza it was the meal of the poor in Italy and made with what ever was available.
That's OK, the Americans think they had the first Thanksgiving too - but in fact, the first North Amercian Thanksgiving was celebrated in NewFoundland in 1578.
Then there is the story of pasta - Marco polo brougth that back from the Orient :0)

Answer 10

"History of Pizza

While certainly ancient, the earliest origins of pizza are not at all clear. One interesting legend recounts that the Roman soldiers returning from Palestina, where they had been compelled to eat matzoh among the Palestinian Jews, developed a dish called picea upon gratefully returning to the Italian peninsula.

Most sources, however, agree that an early form of pizza resembling what today is called focaccia was eaten by many peoples around the Mediterranean rim, e.g., by Greeks, Egyptians etc.

These dishes of round pita-like, cooked bread with oil and spices on top are the ancestors of pizza, but are not properly speaking pizza. The tomato was unknown and the Indian water buffalo had not yet been imported to Campania, the area around Naples.

With the discovery of the New World, the tomato made its way to Italy through Spain. It was considered a poisonous ornamental and so in the first centuries of its import was not eaten.

The Neapolitan people seem to be the first to wholeheartedly adopt the tomato into their cuisine, so that in our day the (plum) tomato is the most characteristic element of Neapolitan cuisine.

Over the centuries, a veritable tradition of pizza was developed among the Neapolitan poor. It is not surprising, then, that a modern pizza, that is, with mozzarella di bufala and tomato was made in 18711 in Naples for Princess Margherita of Savoia by Raffaele Esposito. This patriotic pizza, of basil, tomato and mozzarella, in honor of the new tricolor Italian flag's red, green and white, became the pizza alla Margherita. This form of pizza was then made known, popularized and adapted in all the world through waves of emigration from Naples in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The History of the American style pizza pie.

The United States is among the most pizza enthusiastic countries one can find today. How did this come about?

Italian immigrants to New York City began making a version of pizza when they arrived in their new American home at the turn of the 20th century. The first pizzeria in the U.S. was opened by an Italian immigrant in 1905.

In addition, American GI's returning from Italy gained a familiarity with the dish and it is in the post-WWII period that pizza really takes off in the United States.

1 Date per VPN Discipline and Specifications Manual.

See also http://www.averanapoli.it/ingstoria.htm"

"Margherita or Margaret of Savoy (born November 20, 1851 in Turin, died January 4, 1926 in Bordighera), was the Queen consort of Italy during the reign (1878-1900) of her husband, Humbert I.

She was the daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa and granddaughter of Carlo Alberto, King of Sardinia.

She married her first cousin Humbert (Umberto) in 1868. On November 11 , 1869, Margherita gave birth to Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, afterwards Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.

She encouraged artists and writers and founded cultural institutions, notably the Società del Quartetto, and the Casa di Dante. She was a benefactor of many charities, especially the Red Cross.

In 1889 the pizza Margherita was named after her. Her name means "daisy" in Italian. Margherita Peak, the highest point of Mount Stanley, the third highest mountain in Africa, is named after her."