Pizza Didn't Start in a Pizzeria

Long before pizza became the global icon it is today, ancient civilisations were baking flatbreads topped with oils, herbs, and cheese. The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans all made variations of seasoned flatbreads cooked on stone. But the pizza we know — with tomato sauce and cheese — is a much more recent invention, born in one specific city: Naples, Italy.

18th Century Naples: The Birthplace of Modern Pizza

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, Naples was one of the largest and most densely populated cities in Europe. Street food was essential for the city's poor working class, who needed cheap, fast, and filling meals. Pizza — a flatbread topped with tomatoes, lard, and salt — was the perfect answer. It was sold by street vendors called pizzaioli and eaten folded in the hand.

Tomatoes themselves were a relatively new ingredient in Europe at the time, having arrived from the Americas in the 16th century. For decades, many Europeans believed tomatoes were poisonous. The Neapolitans, however, embraced them wholeheartedly.

The Margherita Legend

One of the most famous stories in pizza history involves Queen Margherita of Savoy visiting Naples in 1889. According to popular legend, the pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi prepared three different pizzas for the queen. She reportedly preferred the one topped with tomato, mozzarella, and basil — the colours of the Italian flag. That pizza was named in her honour: the Pizza Margherita.

Food historians note this story may be partly embellished, but the Margherita pizza itself is certainly real and remains one of the most iconic pizzas in existence.

Pizza Arrives in America

Mass Italian immigration to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought pizza to American shores. The first documented pizzeria in the United States is often credited to Lombardi's, which opened in New York City in 1905. Early American pizza closely followed the Neapolitan tradition.

Over decades, American pizza evolved. The large, foldable New York slice emerged as a cultural institution. In Chicago, the deep-dish was invented in the 1940s. In Detroit, the square pan pizza developed its own unique identity. American pizza became something entirely new — distinct from its Italian roots but no less celebrated.

Post-War Globalisation

After World War II, American soldiers who had been stationed in Italy returned home with a taste for pizza. Combined with the rise of Italian-American culture and the growth of the pizza restaurant industry, pizza spread rapidly across the United States. By the latter half of the 20th century, pizza chains had carried it to virtually every corner of the globe.

Today, pizza is adapted and loved in Japan, Brazil, India, Australia, and everywhere in between — each culture adding its own local ingredients and preferences to the base formula.

The Modern Pizza Renaissance

In recent decades, there has been a significant revival of interest in authentic, traditional pizza-making. The AVPN (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana) was founded in 1984 to protect and promote the original Neapolitan style. Neapolitan pizza received UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status in 2017 — a recognition of its profound cultural significance.

At the same time, a new generation of pizza makers worldwide is pushing boundaries — experimenting with sourdough starters, ancient grains, hyper-local toppings, and fusion styles. Pizza has never been more creative or more celebrated.

Why Pizza Endures

Few foods cross cultural, economic, and generational boundaries the way pizza does. It's endlessly adaptable, universally satisfying, and — at its core — a remarkably simple combination of dough, sauce, and cheese. That simplicity, and the infinite ways it can be expressed, is exactly why pizza has conquered the world.