
World Humanity Heritage
“Pizza” is one of the most famous Italian words in the world and is one of the few dishes able to meet the most disparate tastes and culinary cultures. Water, flour and yeast: pizza – the symbol par excellence of the Mediterranean diet – is made of these few and simple ingredients. Round, squared, sliced, thin, thick, crunchy or soft, only with mozzarella and tomato or with the addition of special ingredients, pizza is one of the most versatile dishes of the Italian cuisine. Americans are the main consumers with 13 kilos of pizza per person, while Italians rank first in Europe with 7.6 kilos per year per person, followed by Spaniards, French and Germans.
Things you should know
Overseas, pizza is topped with exotic fruit, coconut or even sweets, such as marshmallows. In Australia, pizza is served with kangaroo or crocodile meat!
World Pizza Day
The World Pizza Day is celebrated every year on 17 January (in honour of Saint Anthony, patron saint of pizza makers.) This tradition began in 2017, when the traditional art of the Neapolitan pizza makers was included among the World Humanity Heritage by Unesco.
Origin
The origins of the dough date back to the beginning of the 16th century, when, in the ancient suburbs of Naples, flat focacce called “pizze” were prepared with lard, coarse salt, basil and caciocavallo.
Subsequently, the dough was enriched with tomato, introduced in Italy after the discovery of America, yeast and mozzarella. This is the famous Pizza Margherita, which was created to celebrate the wife of King Umberto I during her stay in Naples.