Pizza Invented Man
That did start in Italy. Specifically, baker
Raffaele Esposito from Naples is often given
credit for making the first such pizza pie.
History of Pizza
The history of pizza begins in antiquity, as various ancient cultures produced basic
flatbreads with several toppings.
A precursor of pizza was probably the focaccia, a flatbread known to the Romans as
panis focacius, to which toppings were then added. Modern pizza evolved from similar
flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy, in the 18th or early 19th century.
The word pizza was first documented in 997 AD in Gaeta and successively
in different parts of Central and Southern Italy. Pizza was mainly eaten in
Italy and by emigrants from there. This changed after World War II when
Allied troops stationed in Italy came to enjoy pizza along with other Italian foods.
Innovation Restaurant
Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba
First established in 1738 as a stand for peddlers, Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba
was opened in 1830 in the town center at Via Port'Alba. The restaurant replaced
street vendors who would make pizza in wood-fired ovens and bring it onto the street,
keeping it warm in small tin stoves they balanced on their head. It soon became a
prominent meeting place for men in the street. Most patrons were artists, students,
or others with very little money, so the pizzas made were generally simple, with
toppings such as oil and garlic. A payment system, called pizza a otto, was
developed that allowed customers to pay up to eight days after their meal.
A resulting local joke was that a meal from Port'Alba might be someone's last free meal,
if they died before they paid. Additionally, patrons created poetry to honor the pizzas.
Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba is still in business today, located between a number of bookstores.
It is widely believed to be the world's first pizzeria.