International Pizza Day celebrated annually on February 9th.
Few products have achieved the same popularity and fame as pizza. This simple, at first glance, Italian national dish, which is a thin flatbread stuffed with tomato paste, olive oil, tomato, mozzarella and basil, has earned respect and fans around the world.
It is no coincidence that the Italians turned to UNESCO with a request to recognize their historical gastronomic invention not just as a national treasure, but as part of the world values.
The controversy about when pizza appeared in the modern sense of the word does not subside. It is believed that this dish dates back to ancient times and comes from the Latin word literally meaning “flat cake”. Such dough cakes stuffed with various ingredients were known in Italy, Greece, Persia. However, it was the Italian culinary masters who gave pizza that unforgettable taste that continues to conquer millions of people who try this dish for the first time. They managed to select the varieties of wheat necessary for the dough, from which the flour is made, to make the dough of the desired consistency, to precisely select the seasonings and ingredients for the filling.
An exquisitely and harmoniously selected variety of filling options has determined the variety of types of pizza. The history of the emergence of individual variants of pizza has even overgrown with legends. One of them concerns the favorite pizza-Margarita. Pizza as a dish, understandable and familiar to a modern person, appeared in Naples at the beginning of the 19th century. She was a poor man’s dish. Pizza Margherita was the fruit of the creative imagination of the chef, who cooked either specially to order or by accident in a hurry in 1889 this “author’s” pizza for Queen Margherita, wife of King Umberto I. The pizza that she liked was later named the Queen.
Today, in Italy, where pizza is revered as a national dish, even the Pizza Law is in force, which strictly regulates both the composition of real Italian pizza and the entire process of its preparation, right down to where the ingredients should grow and the cheese should be produced, how the dough should be prepared and at what temperature and in what way the dish should be cooked.
Already at the end of the 19th century, along with waves of Italian emigration, pizza mastered new gastronomic markets, gaining immense popularity not only in European countries, but also overseas. Over time, a huge variety of pizza options appeared there, which, despite the departure from traditional recipes and requirements, continue to delight fans of this dish. Among these options, you can choose pizza according to your taste preferences: meat, cheese, seafood, vegetable, herbs, mushrooms and even fruits.
Along with the appearance of pizza in Italian cities, special bakers appeared who prepared pizza – pizzaiolo, as well as pizzerias – restaurants where you could order and taste your favorite dish. In the 20th century, the popularity of pizza became so high that even frozen semi-finished pizza appeared, which the buyer only needed to heat up in the oven or microwave.
Today, pizza continues to be one of the most revered dishes in the world. It is consistently in high demand in restaurants and remains one of the most frequently ordered meals delivered to your door.
Pizza became one of the Guinness Book of Records holders. So, for example, a pizza made in Moscow with an area of 22 square meters with a map of Moscow got there.
International Pizza Day is held not only in the homeland of this dish – in Italy, but also around the world. Pizzerias and restaurants of Italian cuisine become an invariable participant in this holiday. Often, presentations, master classes in pizza making, exhibitions, fairs, tastings are timed to the holiday. In Italy, a festival is held in which the best pizza makers take part.