| Pizza is an extremely popular main dish consisting | | | | slices of mozzarella, tomato, basil, and extra virgin olive |
| basically of cheese and tomato sauce on a round | | | | oil. |
| crust. Although pizza was originally created and | | | | Margherita extra: A further variant on the margherita, |
| developed in Naples, Italy, it can now be purchased and | | | | the margherita extra is made exclusively with fillets of |
| eaten the world over. | | | | mozzarella from Campania. |
| It is true that basic components of a pizza are cheese, | | | | As strict as the rules about pizza are in Italy, there are |
| sauce, and a crust, many toppings can be added to a | | | | other places in the world where the idea of what can |
| pizza, from pepperoni, mushrooms, anchovies, and | | | | be 'pizza' is stretched significantly. A few notable |
| onions to pineapple and eggplant parmigiana, depending | | | | example are: |
| on the region of the world where it is created. | | | | Brazilian: In Brazil, pizza started as a novelty brought by |
| The idea of pizza may date as far back as Ancient | | | | Italian immigrants. That novelty has grown considerably, |
| Greece. Greeks used to cover their breads with | | | | so much so that Sao Paulo calls itself the "Pizza |
| toppings like cheese, herbs, and of course olive oils. | | | | Capital of the World" because of the sheer volume of |
| The Romans had a dish called placenta (no, no that | | | | pizza restaurants and pizzas consumed on a daily |
| placenta) which was a thin piece of floury dough with | | | | basis. Although pizza was originally only to be found in |
| cheese and honey, flavored with bay leaves. | | | | the Italian communities, in the past several decades |
| However, the earliest relative of the modern pizza | | | | pizza's popularity has swelled and swept the entire |
| came from Naples, Italy, as the pie with | | | | nation. Pizza in Brazil tends to follow the Neapolitan |
| tomato--cheese was added in the late nineteenth | | | | style more than the Roman one. |
| century. | | | | Indian: Pizza has hit India as well. It is a very popular |
| There is a legend that Kind Ferdinand I disguised | | | | fast food in that area, and many pizza counters sell |
| himself as a peasant and snuck into an impoverished | | | | what otherwise appears to be conventional pizzas |
| Neapolitan neighborhood. They say that he craved a | | | | topped with Indian delicacies as topping, like lamb |
| taste of a delicious local food which his wife had | | | | roganjosh, fried paneer, and tandoori chicken. The |
| permanently forbidden to made at court--of course, | | | | pizzas also tend to be significantly spicier than pizzas |
| that food was the pizza. | | | | served in other parts of the world. |
| There are many, many different varieties of pizza, | | | | Australian: A pretty significant proportion of the |
| since the dish has been around for a while and has | | | | Australian population is of Italian descent, and not |
| traveled the world so effectively, picking up new | | | | surprisingly, pizza is very popular there as well. You |
| evolutions and variations as it goes. However, in Italy, | | | | can get all the standard version of class Italian pizza, |
| pizza has become a "guaranteed traditional specialty," | | | | but also available are the Australian version, which is |
| which is sort of an odd distinction to award something | | | | like a normal pizza except it also has bacon and eggs |
| as changing and cultural as pizza. That means there | | | | on it (Australians seems to put bacon and egg on |
| are only three official, sanctioned variants of the pizza | | | | almost anything--for example, on cheeseburgers). You |
| allowed. These three variants are: | | | | can also sometimes find prawns on this style of pizza. |
| Marinara: This official variant is made with garlic, | | | | Pizza has long been a popular food around the world, |
| tomato, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil. It is true that | | | | and it's only a matter of time before we see what |
| most pizza places in Napoli use basil in the marinara as | | | | other kinds of unusual combination of flavors are |
| well. | | | | possible. |
| Margherita: This delicious and popular variation use | | | | |