Pizza is one of the most beloved food across the world. There are countless varieties and different styles synonymous with food cultures from every corner of the globe. You can find it in cheap takeaways and fine dining restaurants alike, and it can be as simple or as extravagant as you like.
But how much do you actually know about pizza? Do you know where it came from? About how its made or about the largest pizza in the world? Brush up on your pizza knowledge with these 20 interesting pizza facts!
1 – The word “pizza” can be traced back more than 1000 years. The first instance it can be found in writing is from a Latin text discovered in southern Italy that dates back to around 997 AD.
2 – Popular legend has it that the classic margherita pizza was invented in 1889 by a pizzaiolo named Raffaele Esposito for Queen Margherita. Esposito was commissioned by the Royal Palace of Capodimonte to create three pizzas for the Queen – the one she favored the most was a variety featuring tomato, mozzarella and basil because the colours reminded her of the red, white and green of the Italian flag.
3 – Pizza was brought to the States by Italian immigrants in the late 19th century, and America’s first pizzeria, the famous Lombardi’s, opened in 1905.
4 – The dish really exploded after World War II when American soldiers came home from Europe with a taste for Italian dishes – this hunger was supplemented by the troves of Italian immigrants who flooded into the US after the war.
5 – The first pizzas eaten in the US were in the classic Italian style, with a thin crust and minimal toppings. The first Chicago-style deep dish pizzas emerged in 1943, created by the Pizzeria Uno chain.
6 – The most expensive pizza in the world costs $12,000 – it’s called the Louis XIII. The dough is made from organic Arabian flour, is dusted with Murray River pink salt and takes 72-hours to prepare. It is topped with three types of rare caviar – Oscietra Royal Prestige, Kaspia Oscietra Royal Classic from the Iranian coast, and Kaspia Beluga – Norwegian lobster and 7 types of cheese. It is also served with host of hand selected beverages including Champagne Krug Clos du Mesnil 1995 which compliments the lobster and caviar, followed by Carta Real Sanches Romate Finos brandy and Louis XIII cognac – the rarest cognac in the world.
7 – Frozen pizzas emerged in the 1960s. The Celentano Brothers hold the trophy for the first frozen pizza brand. But it was the Totinos that perfected the art of making them taste almost as good as they would be fresh. They sold their frozen pizza empire in 1975 for $22 million dollars.
8 – In 2013, Macaulay Culkin formed a band called the Pizza Underground – a pizza-themed Velvet Underground comedy rock band. The band gives out pizza boxes to their fans who attend shows and some of their songs include ‘I’m Waiting For The Pizza Man’, ‘Take a Bite of the Wild Slice’, and ‘All Pizza Parties’.
9 – In 2001, a pizza chain delivered a pizza to the International Space Station – the only pizza ever delivered to outer space. It was a 6-inch salami pizza.
10 – The record for the most pizzas ever made in one hour was set by a pizza place in Australia with 837 pizzas.
11 – The biggest pizza you can buy commercially is made at Big Mama’s and Papa’s Pizzeria in LA and costs $200 – it is a massive square, 1.37m x 1.37m.
12 – The longest criminal trial in American history was the ‘Pizza Connection trial’, which prosecuted a mafia drug ring who were using pizza restaurants as a front for drug trafficking.
13 – The classic Hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple) was invented in 1962 by Sam Panopoulos, a Greek man living in Canada who ran the Satellite Restaurant in Ontario with his brother, Nick.
14 – In 2011, the American government found the two tablespoons of tomato sauce on pizza in school cafeterias to meet the requirements of what is to be considered a ‘vegetable’ serving.
16 – In 2014, a group of scientists in New Zealand studied the baking properties of different cheeses and found that mozzarella is, officially, the best choice for pizza (highest moisture, lowest quantity of ‘free oil’, and that cartoon-pizza elasticity).
17 – In America, 350 slices of pizza are sold every second.
18 – The first bitcoin transaction ever was for pizza that cost 10,000 BTC – this is now worth around $1, 219, 000 USD.
19 – The price of a slice of pizza in New York City has risen at the same rate as the cost of a subway ride with uncanny precision. This phenomenon is called the ‘Pizza Principal‘
20 – NASA is currently developing 3D printers that can print pizzas for astronauts.
We have the world’s best pizza right here in Enmore and Marrickville. If all this pizza talk us making you hungry drop by Manoosh or order from us online. We guarantee you will love everything we have to offer from our delicious pizzas, to more traditional Lebanese street food and desserts (our baklava is pretty much the best).