Pizza

For other uses, see Pizza (disambiguation).

Pizza (Template:Pron-en or /ˈpiːdzə/; Italian: [ˈpit.tsa]) is an oven-baked, flat, disc shaped bread usually topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella and then a selection of meats, salamis, seafood, cheeses, vegetables and herbs depending on taste and culture.

Originating in Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many different parts of the world. A shop or restaurant that primarily makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria". The phrases "pizza parlor", "pizza place" and "pizza shop" are used in the United States. The term pizza pie is dialectal, and pie is used for simplicity in some contexts, such as among pizzeria staff.

History

Main article: History of pizza

The Ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs, and cheese. The Romans developed placenta, a sheet of flour topped with cheese and honey and flavored with bay leaves. Modern pizza originated in Italy as the Neapolitan pie with tomato. In 1889 cheese was added.

King Ferdinand I (1751–1825) is said to have disguised himself as a commoner and, in clandestine fashion, visited a poor neighborhood in Naples. One story has it that he wanted to sink his teeth into a food that the queen had banned from the royal court—pizza.

Base and baking methods

Pizzas in a traditional wood-fired brick oven

The bottom base of the pizza, called the "crust", may vary widely according to style—thin as in hand-tossed pizza or Roman pizza, or thick as in pan pizza or Chicago-style pizza. It is traditionally plain, but may also be seasoned with butter, garlic, or herbs, or stuffed with cheese.

In restaurants, pizza can be baked in an oven with stone bricks above the heat source, an electric deck oven, a conveyor belt oven or, in the case of more expensive restaurants, a wood- or coal-fired brick oven. On deck ovens, the pizza can be slid into the oven on a long paddle called a peel and baked directly on the hot bricks or baked on a screen (a round metal grate, typically aluminum). When making pizza at home, it can be baked on a pizza stone in a regular oven to reproduce the effect of a brick oven. Another option is grilled pizza, in which the crust is baked directly on a barbecue grill. Greek pizza, like Chicago-style pizza, is baked in a pan rather than directly on the bricks of the pizza oven.

Pizza types

Authentic Neapolitan pizza margherita, the base for most kinds of pizza

Pizza al taglio in Rome

Neapolitan pizza (pizza napoletana): Authentic Neapolitan pizzas are made with local ingredients like San Marzano tomatoes, which grow on the volcanic plains to the south of Mount Vesuvius, and Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, made with the milk from water buffalo raised in the marshlands of Campania and Lazio in a semi-wild state (this mozzarella is protected with its own European protected designation of origin). According to the rules proposed by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the genuine Neapolitan pizza dough consists of Italian wheat flour (type 0 or 00, or a mixture of both), natural Neapolitan yeast or brewer's yeast, salt and water. For proper results, strong flour with high protein content (as used for bread-making rather than cakes) must be used. The dough must be kneaded by hand or with a low-speed mixer. After the rising process, the dough must be formed by hand without the help of a rolling pin or other machine, and may be no more than 3 mm (⅛ in) thick. The pizza must be baked for 60–90 seconds in a 485 °C (905 °F) stone oven with an oak-wood fire. When cooked, it should be crispy, tender and fragrant. There are three official variants: pizza marinara, which is made with tomato, garlic, oregano and extra virgin olive oil (although most Neapolitan pizzerias also add basil to the marinara), pizza Margherita, made with tomato, sliced mozzarella, basil and extra-virgin olive oil, and pizza Margherita extra made with tomato, mozzarella from Campania in fillets, basil and extra virgin olive oil.
The pizza napoletana is a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (Specialità Tradizionale Garantita, STG) product in Italy.

Lazio style: Pizza in Lazio (Rome), as well as in many other parts of Italy, is available in two different styles: (1) Take-away shops sell pizza rustica or pizza al taglio. This pizza is cooked in long, rectangular baking pans and relatively thick (1–2 cm). The crust is similar to that of an English muffin, and the pizza is often cooked in an electric oven. It is usually cut with scissors or a knife and sold by weight. (2) In pizza restaurants (pizzerias), pizza is served in a dish in its traditional round shape. It has a thin, crisp base quite different from the thicker and softer Neapolitan style base. It is usually cooked in a wood-fired oven, giving the pizza its unique flavor and texture. In Rome, a pizza napoletana is topped with tomato, mozzarella, anchovies and oil (thus, what in Naples is called pizza romana, in Rome is called pizza napoletana).

Types of Lazio-style pizza include:

• Pizza romana (in Naples): tomato, mozzarella, anchovies, oregano, oil;
• Pizza viennese: tomato, mozzarella, German sausage, oregano, oil;
• Pizza capricciosa ("capricious pizza"): mozzarella, tomato, mushrooms, artichokes, cooked ham, olives, oil (in Rome, prosciutto raw ham is used and half a hard-boiled egg is added);
• Pizza quattro stagioni ("four seasons pizza"): same ingredients for the capricciosa, but ingredients not mixed;
• Pizza quattro formaggi ("four cheese pizza"): tomatoes, mozzarella, stracchino, fontina, gorgonzola (sometimes ricotta can be swapped for one of the last three);
• Sicilian-style pizza has its toppings baked directly into the crust. An authentic recipe uses neither cheese nor anchovies. ("Sicilian" pizza in the United States is typically a different variety of product, made with a thick crust characterized by a rectangular shape and topped with tomato sauce, cheese and optional toppings. Pizza Hut's "Sicilian Pizza", introduced in 1994, is not an authentic example of the style as only garlic, basil, and oregano are mixed into the crust);
• White pizza (pizza bianca) omits the tomato sauce, often substituting pesto or dairy products such as sour cream. Most commonly, especially on the East coast of the United States, the toppings consist only of mozzarella and ricotta cheese drizzled with olive oil and spices like fresh basil and garlic. In Rome, the term pizza bianca refers to a type of bread topped with olive oil, salt and, occasionally, rosemary sprigs. It is also a Roman style to bottom the white pizza with figs, the result being known as pizza e fichi (pizza with figs);
• Ripieno or calzone is a turnover-style pizza filled with several ingredients, such as ricotta, salami and mozzarella, and folded over to form a half circle before being baked. In Italian calzone literally means "large sock", while the word ripieno actually means just "filling" and does not by itself imply a form of pizza.

Non-Italian types of pizza

In the 20th century pizza has become an international food with widely varying toppings. These pizzas consist of the same basic design but include an exceptionally diverse choice of ingredients.

Pizza in Australia

The usual Italian varieties are available, but there is also the Australian, or australiana, which has the usual tomato sauce base and mozzarella cheese with bacon and egg (seen as quintessentially Australian breakfast fare). Prawns are also sometimes used on this style of pizza.

In the 1980s Australian pizza shops and restaurants began selling gourmet pizzas, pizzas with upmarket ingredients such as salmon, dill, bocconcini, tiger prawns, and such unconventional toppings as kangaroo, emu and crocodile. Wood-fired pizzas, cooked in a ceramic oven heated by wood fuel, are also popular.

Pizza in Brazil

Pizza was brought by Italian immigrants to that country. São Paulo, calling itself "The Pizza Capital of the World", has 6000 pizza establishments and 1.4 million pizzas are consumed daily. It is said that the first Brazilian pizzas were baked in the Brás district of São Paulo in the early part of the 20th century. Until the 1950s, they were only found in the Italian communities. Since then, pizza became increasingly popular among the rest of the population. The most traditional pizzerias are still found in the Italian neighborhoods, such as Bexiga and Bela Vista. Both Napolitan (thick crust) and Roman (thin crust) varieties are currently being appreciated in Brazil, salted versions with tomato juice and mozzarela as a base and the other ingredients defining the flavor, or the sweet ones, like banana, chocolate or pineapple toppings being offered at the end of meal like a dessert. There is a "Pizza Day" (July 10) in São Paulo, that marks the final day of an annual competition among "pizzaiolos". Such event helps lever up even more the pizza market in São Paulo and the rest of Brazil.

Pizza in India

Pizza is an emerging fast food in Indian urban areas. With the arrival of branded pizza such as Domino's and Pizza Hut in early to mid 1990s, it has reached almost all major cities in India by 2010 [1].

Pizza outlets serve pizzas with several India based toppings like Tandoori Chicken and Paneer. Indian pizzas are generally made more spicy, compared to their western counterparts, to suit Indian taste. Along with Indian variations, more conventional pizzas are also eaten. Pizzas available in India range from localized basic variants available in neighborhood bakeries to gourmet pizzas with exotic and imported ingredients available at specialty Italian restaurants.

Pizza in Korea

Pizza is a popular snack food in South Korea, especially among younger people and women. Major American brands such as Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's Pizza compete against domestic brands such as Mr. Pizza and Pizza Etang, offering traditional as well as local varieties which may include toppings such as bulgogi and dak galbi. Korean-style pizza tends to be complicated and often has non-traditional toppings such as corn, potato wedges, sweet potato, shrimp, or crab. The super-deluxe "Grand Prix" at Mr. Pizza has cajun shrimp, bell peppers, olives, and mushrooms on one side and potato wedges, bacon, crushed tortilla chips, and sour cream on the other side. Its potato mousse-filled cookie dough crust is sprinkled with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and raisins and can be dipped in a blueberry sauce that is provided.

Traditional Italian-style thin-crust pizza is served in the many Italian restaurants in Seoul and other major cities.

North Korea's first pizzeria opened in its capital Pyongyang in 2009.

Pizza in Pakistan

The first pizzerias opened up in Karachi and Islamabad in the late 1980's, with Pappasallis serving pizza in Islamabad since 1990. Pizza Hut was launched in Pakistan in 1993. Manzar Riaz from Lahore was the first franchisee. Unlike in India where the pizza has become widely popular, the pizza in Pakistan is only popular and well known only in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Kashmir. Pizza is still virtually unknown in the provinces of North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan. Spicy chicken and sausage based pizzas are very popular as they cater to the local palate.

United States styles and specialties

Main article: Pizza in the United States

Due to the wide influence of Italian and Greek immigrants in American culture, the US has developed regional forms of pizza, some bearing only a casual resemblance to the Italian original. Both thick and thin crust are popular.

Cooked from frozen pizza topped with cheese and tomato sauce

Frozen and ready-to-bake pizzas

Pizza is available frozen. Food technologists have developed ways to overcome challenges such as preventing the sauce from combining with the dough and producing a crust that can be frozen and reheated without becoming rigid. Modified corn starch is commonly used as a moisture barrier between the sauce and crust. Traditionally the dough is pre-baked and other ingredients are also sometimes precooked. There are frozen pizzas with raw ingredients and self-rising crusts. A form of uncooked pizza is available from take and bake pizzerias. This pizza is created fresh using raw ingredients, then sold to customers to bake in their own ovens and microwaves.

Similar dishes

• "Farinata" or "cecina". A Ligurian (farinata) and Tuscan (cecina) regional dish made from chickpea flour, water, salt and olive oil. Also called Socca in the Provence region of France. Often baked in a brick oven, and typically weighed and sold by the slice.
• The Alsatian Tarte flambée (German: Flammkuchen) is a thin disc of dough covered in crème fraîche, onions, and bacon.
• The Anatolian Lahmacun (Arabic: laḥm bi'ajīn; Armenian: lahmajoun; also Armenian pizza or Turkish pizza) is a meat-topped dough round. The bread is very thin; the layer of meat often includes chopped vegetables.
• The Levantine Manakish (Arabic: ma'ujnāt) and Sfiha (Arabic: laḥm bi'ajīn; also Arab pizza) are dishes similar to pizza.
• The Provençal Pissaladière is similar to an Italian pizza, with a slightly thicker crust and a topping of cooked onions, anchovies, and olives.
• Calzone and stromboli are similar dishes (calzone is traditionally half-moon-shaped, while a stromboli is tube-shaped) that are often made of pizza dough rolled or folded around a filling.
• Garlic fingers is an Atlantic Canadian dish, similar to a pizza in shape and size, and made with similar dough. It is garnished with melted butter, garlic, cheese, and sometimes bacon.
• Pizza is used as a general word for a baked savory; the Campanian pizza rustica and the Italian American pizzagiena (Easter pie) are examples of this more general sense.

Italian and European law

In Italy there is a bill before Parliament to safeguard the traditional Italian pizza, specifying permissible ingredients and methods of processing (e.g., excluding frozen pizzas). Only pizzas which followed these guidelines could be called "traditional Italian pizzas", at least in Italy.

On 9 December 2009 the European Union, upon Italian request, granted Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) safeguard to traditional Neapolitan pizza, in particular to "Margherita" and "marinara". The European Union enacted a protected designation of origin system in the 1990s.

Health issues

Pizza can be high in salt, fat and calories. There are concerns about negative health effects. Pizza Hut has come under criticism for the high salt content of some of their meals which were found to contain more than twice the daily recommended amount of salt for an adult.

European nutrition research on the eating habits of people with cancer of the mouth, oesophagus, throat or colon showed those who ate pizza at least once a week had less chance of developing cancer, they found. Dr Silvano Gallus, of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmaceutical Research in Milan, who led the research said: "We knew that tomato sauce could offer protection against certain tumors, but we did not expect pizza as a complete meal also to offer such protective powers." Nicola O'Connor, of Cancer Research UK, told BBC News Online: "This study is interesting and the results should probably be looked at in the context of what we already know about the Mediterranean diet and its association with a lower risk of certain types of cancer.

"The secret is probably lycopene, an antioxidant chemical in tomatoes, which is thought to offer some protection against cancer, and which gives the fruit its red color.

"But before people start dialing the local pizza takeaway, they should consider that some pizzas can be high in saturated fat, salt and calories". In contrast to the classic Italian pizza used in the research, most UK pizza takeaway varieties are often loaded with high fat cheeses and fatty meats, a high intake of which can contribute to obesity, itself a risk factor for cancer. "Our advice is to enjoy selected Italian pizza (i.e., healthy pizza) in moderation as part of a balanced diet that includes plenty of vegetables and fruit."

Italian Carlo La Vecchia, a Milan-based epidemiologist said Italian pizza lovers should not see the research as a license to indulge their fondness for pizza food. "There is nothing to indicate that pizza is the only thing responsible for these results." He continued: "Pizza could simply be indicative of a lifestyle and food habits, in other words the Italian version of a Mediterranean diet." A Mediterranean diet is rich in olive oil, fiber, vegetables, fruit, flour and freshly cooked food - including traditional Italian healthy pizza.

Records

• The largest pizza was at the Norwood Pick 'n Pay hypermarket in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the Guinness Book of Records the pizza was 37.4 meters (122 feet 8 inches) in diameter and was made using 500 kg of flour, 800 kg of cheese and 900 kg of tomato puree. This was accomplished on December 8, 1990.
• The most expensive pizza was made by the restaurateur Domenico Crolla, which included toppings such as sunblush-tomato sauce, Scottish smoked salmon, medallions of venison, edible gold, lobster marinated in the finest cognac and champagne-soaked caviar. The pizza was sold at auction for charity for £2,150.

See also

• Category:Pizzerias
• List of pizzerias
• Pizza farm
• Pizza saver