As a restaurant owner, there aren't many things more challenging than keeping a steady stream of customers coming in through the front door. Unfortunately, these kinds of challenges can eventually arrest the cash flow of your business, which can cause all kinds of problems in the long run. About three months ago, I decided that it would be a good idea to start focusing more on my own restaurant so that I could improve things. I started small, by changing the way that our team handled a few things, and then eventually worked towards reworking the entire menu. This blog is all about making your restaurant more profitable.
If you're like many people, then you probably know the basic facts about pizza. However, many of the most commonly known facts are not entirely accurate. That tasty piece of pizza actually has a long, detailed history that many people don't know about. If you are looking to impress your friends or want some pizza-related trivia for your next pizza party, here are four detailed facts about pizza.
Pizza Was Not Actually Invented in Italy
While Italy, or more specifically Naples, often gets the credit for inventing pizza, other older cultures had their own versions first. Ancient Greece and Egypt both had a similar version of flatbread covered with toppings. Naples gets the credit for the first piece of flatbread that was commercially sold as pizza, but it usually had no toppings.
Modern Pizza Was Invented For an Italian Queen
The story goes that 19th century Italian Queen Margherita loved to eat the pizza bread that the peasants often ate. She then asked Chef Raffaele Esposito to make a pizza especially for her. The chef covered the flatbread with tomato sauce, cheese, and basil to represent the colors of the Italian flag. It was well-received by the queen and soon became popular in Italy. This type of pizza is still known as a Margherita-style pizza today.
Pizza Came to the U.S. With Italian Immigrants
Pizza wasn't known in the United States until Italian Immigrants migrated to several large cities in search of manufacturing jobs during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Even then, pizza was generally not known outside of the Italian community. However, after soldiers began frequenting restaurants in Italy during World War II, pizza became extremely popular after these soldiers returned back home.
Toppings Are Different Around the World
Nowadays, pizza can be found all over the world. Though the Margherita style is still extremely common, some regions have their own favorite toppings. Indian favorites include ginger and a cottage cheese-like food called paneer. Russians like to top their cold pizzas with a variety of fish. Shrimp and pineapple toppings are not unheard of in Australia. Even in the United States, pizza can vary from region to region and include toppings such as ranch dressing, pineapple, and ham in some locations.
Pizza has been around a long time in a variety of ways, but several changes have been made to it over the centuries. Now that you know more detail about its history and incarnations, you can use this knowledge the next time you have a pizza-oriented gathering. Try incorporating these facts in a game, party favors, or as part of your decorations. You could even consider taking your friends to restaurants and trying different types of pizza at a place such as Original Italian Pizza Pa.
Share15 March 2019
