Although 19th century Italy is regarded as a home of modern pizza, it roots go all the way back to the ancient Roman, Greek and Persian empires. The records from those times depict various types of bread in round and flat shapes, with various toppings on top. Although many European civilizations continued to use meals created in this fashion even up to today(coca from Catalonia and Valencia, Greek Pita, Turkish Pide,Lepinja or Solmun in Balkans), the cooks from Italy became most interested in pizza. They produced various pizza products from the ancient times to the middle ages.
In the preserved ruins of the Italian city of Pompei, archeologist found unmistakable signs of the network that supported pizza production – from the street stands to the restaurant kitchens were pizzas were made. Most important ingredient that elevated local Italian dish to the worldwide famous pizza was arrival of the tomato from the New World in 16th century. Although Italian nobility regarded tomato as a poor man’s food, the inventive recipes and designs of Italian pizza cooks from Naples soon managed to change their minds.
As the popularity of the pizza grew, pizza makers started to expand their business. The first restaurant dedicated only for selling pizza was opened in Naples in 1830, and after that many more appeared across all Italy. The pizza from witch almost all designs are based was created in the 1889 by the hands of the famous Naples chef Raffaele Esposito who made three pizzas for the King and Queen of Italy. His design of pizza Margherita became gold standard for all future pizzas.
