A Bitesize History of Pizza

Pizza as we know it was invented in Naples as quick, affordable street food for the working classes. But forms of baked flatbread existed long before that, all through antiquity and the Middle Ages. 

The ancient Romans made a flatbread which they baked in the sun, on their shields. Greek cuisine has long involved pitta. Arabian cuisine has khubz (خبز البيتا), and Indian cuisine has roti or naan. But what about pizza? Here's a short, thin (and crispy) history of pizza!

Did Ancient Rome have Pizza?

The ancient Romans wouldn't have recognized the pizza we enjoy today (not least because the tomato wasn't introduced to Europe until the early 16th century). But they did produce flatbread topped with cheese, honey, fruits like dates and figs, nuts, or vegetables.

We actually have a recipe from the early 3rd century CE, as preserved in the writings of Athenaeus. Sweet rather than savoury, the dough is made spelt instead of wheat and flavoured with sesame and honey. You also cook it on a skillet, not in the oven. But hey — at least the form is similar(ish)!

Depictions of Ancient Pizza in the City of Rome

Visit Rome's Porta Maggiore, not far from Termini Station, and you'll find an ancient relief depicting the process of ancient pizza-making. The relief decorates the so-called Tomb of the Baker, a trapezoidal tomb from the first century BC which stands beneath the ancient gate.

The tomb belonged to a freedman (former slave) called Marcus Vergillius Eurysaces who made his fortune as a baker. Eurysaces made enough to build him and his wife Atistia an enormous tomb, which he jokingly calls his 'bread basket'.

The inscriptions along the side of the tomb detail a brief biography of his life. But squint your eyes towards the scenes above and you'll see an engraving of the ancient pizza-making process.

The Tomb of the Baker (left) and its bread-making scenes (right). Photo credit: Reddit

Academics believe the holes in the tomb represent the basins in which the dough was kneaded. The relief, meanwhile, shows the various stages of the breadmaking process on a seemingly industrial scale. It starts with the consignment of the grain (at the bottom of the image above), the kneading of the dough and baking of the bread (at the top), and the dividing of the loaves (in the middle) for distribution.

Admittedly, the loaves look too thick to be the flat pizza we're familiar with. But the wood-fired oven at the top left of the image bears a striking resemblance to what you might find in a modern-day pizzeria!

You can find the original sculpture of Eurysaces and Atistia in Rome's Montemartini Museum.

The Golden Ingredient in the History of Pizza

Today's pizza could only come into being following the import of a very special ingredient from the New World. We're talking about the tomato, or pomodoro (literally, the "golden fruit") as the Italians call it, which first graced Europe's shores in the early 16th century. 

Initially, Italians thought the pomodoro was poisonous and used it as a decorative plant. Later, they realised it was anything but, and started to make sauces by cooking it. Thus was Italian cooking forever changed, particularly in the South.

Pizza Rossa (with a tomato sauce on the base) was a street food in Naples made by the fisherman’s wife – Marinara. It was a bread base with a tomato sauce with garlic and oregano. Cheese did not feature since it would go bad during long fishing trips.

Mad about Margherita? 

The most famous pizza today, Margherita was invented in Naples in 1889 for the Queen of Italy who was visiting Naples with her husband Umberto I to open a train line.  The story goes she saw the peasants eating this strange food on the streets and she wanted to try it!   

Her servants sought out the most famous Pizza maker or pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito, who created a pizza with the finest regional ingredients: a sauce made from the San Marzano tomatoes grown on the slopes of Vesuvius, mozzarella di buffalo from nearby Caserta and Basil leaves. He was also no doubt trying to impress by using the three colours of the new ‘Italian’ flag. 

Remember to visit her grave in the Pantheon and pay homage to the Queen!!

Trying Roman pizza al taglio on a Food Tour of Rome

Varieties of Pizza in Italy

Pizza was exported from Italy at the end of the 19th century by migrants looking for a new life. Less than ten years later, pizzerias opened throughout several cities in the USA.

As with many exported foods, the pizza you will eat in Italy is very different from what we have at home. The bases are different depending on where you are:

Roman pizza is very thin and burnt at the edges. A curiosity is that the best pizza makers in Rome are Egyptian perhaps because of the similarity to Arab flatbreads. 

Neapolitan pizza is smaller and thicker with squishier dough and more tomato sauce.  Neapolitans are purists and some traditional pizzerias in Naples serve only the Marinara and Margherita. (If you want to learn more about Neapolitan pizza, check out Inventing the Pizzeria by Antonio Mattozzi).

Fried pizza is the naughtiest of pizza pies, a deep-fried calzone stuffed with variations of mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and prosciutto ham.

Fried Pizza from La Masardona in Rome

If you're visiting Venice, don't bother ordering pizza. There's a ban on wood-heated brick ovens because of the fire risk they pose for a city built on stilts, and so the only pizzas on offer are cooked (or rather reheated) in electric ovens.

The toppings on pizza are also very different, standard combinations with more vegetables than we use, one of the author’s favourites is a Pizza Bianca with gorgonzola and radicchio.

Do Italians Put Pineapple on Pizza?

Putting pineapple on pizza is blasphemous for an Italian. Request it, and at best you'll be met with confusion; at worst you'll be kicked out of the country and have your right to return revoked for life.

While we're on the subject, a pepperoni pizza is not what you expect. Pepperoni in Italian means bell peppers while the processed spicy sausage we call pepperoni doesn’t really exist. If you want something similar, order a pizza diavola (the devil) which has mildly spicy salami on it.

Don't expect anything super spicy though — Italians aren't all that into it.

Types of Pizza in Rome

You'll find two main types of pizza in Rome:

Pizza tondo: the traditional round pizza you would eat at a pizzeria with a very thin base slightly burnt on the bottom of the edges.

Pizza al taglio: this is a square pizza shape which is more like focaccia with toppings. It costs by weight (per kg) and is baked fresh and served in take-out pizza places around the city. 

Freshly baked pizza al taglio from one of our favourite pizza places in Rome