When you were biting into a slice of your favourite pizza, did you ever wonder ever why this favourite food item is spelt and named so oddly? With its two Zs, you have to learn to pronounce it properly before you can order it. Say pit-zz-a to get it right!
The word pizza was first seen in English writing in the early 1800s, but lexicographer John Florio had described pizza as “a small cake or wafer” in his 1598 Italian-English dictionary. Pizza, as you can guess, is an Italian word. Some think the Greek pitta (pita, which means “bran bread”) is the source. Some think it is from the Langobardic (an ancient German language in northern Italy) bizzo, meaning “bite.”
Who made the first pizza?
The Italian version of the pizza (specially the one from Naples) is what we are most familiar with, and so most people think Italians invented the modern pizza. But baked bread with different toppings was being eaten long ago in different parts of the world. The pissaladiere from Provence, coca from Catalonia, and lahmacun from the Middle East look and taste the same as the modern pizza.
What is a pizza? It is a flat, open pie with a generous coating of tomato sauce and a heavy sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. It was first made by baker Raffaele Esposito in Naples. In 1889, he made a patriotic pie that was topped with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes to reflect the colours of the Italian flag, in honour of King Umberto and Queen Margherita’s visit. The story goes that the Queen loved the pie and it came to be called Margherita.
In the U.S., Italian immigrants began to sell pizza in their stores. The first pizzeria (Lombardi’s) was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi on Spring Street in New York City. But the wholesome dish became popular only after World War II. Why? American and European soldiers who had done duty in Italy had tasted the pizza and asked for pizzas to be served in restaurants when they returned home.
Is it a pie, a pizza, or a pizza pie?
On the East Coast of the U.S., you can call a pizza a “pie” or a “pizza pie.” The use of “pie” for “pizza” dates back to the 1800s. But outside the U.S., these terms are not used for pizza at all. In some places in the U.S., you can order a “Za”, which will be understood as the shortened form of the word pizza. (In grammar, such a shortening of a word is called a “clipping.”) How do we know a pizza is well-made? A pizzaiolo (a pizza maker) will judge a pizza by its leopard spots (the black spots on the crust) or its hole structure (the holes in the bread’s interior).
Picture Credit : Google