Pizza tops the list of the world's most popular foods, with almost every nation having its own version, alongside the well-known Neapolitan and Roman. We've put together some basic information and a few interesting facts about this much-loved dish.
All you can eat
For example, did you know that pizza was the first food in the world to start the “all you can eat” craze?
Bismarck
The Chancellor of the German Empire, Otto von Bismark, used to say that those who work hard should be well fed, so he often ate 12 eggs at a time. This is the origin of the perhaps lesser known „pizza alla Bismarck”, which is baked with an egg in the middle.
Calzone
A version of a folded pizza that „pockets” your favourite ingredients, from delicious meats to mozzarella cheese, where they stay warm and melted for much longer thanks to the preparation.
Pasta
Water, wheat flour, salt, oil and yeast: that's all the ingredients for the original Neapolitan pizza dough and its recipe is protected by national and European legislation.
Poor people decide
Originally started out as a staple food, with a few simple ingredients, pizza is now a gourmet dish, reinterpreted and experimented with by many great chefs. Here at home, the salmon pizza at the Spago restaurant at the bottom of the Matilda Palace, dreamed up by Wolgang Puck himself, is currently on sale for 8,500 euros.
Fried in oil
Deep-fried pizza is a special version of Neapolitan pizza, which is smaller in size and is tossed in a generous amount of oil instead of frying. It is available with or without toppings and is often sold as street food.
Known everywhere
It is one of the most popular foods in the world, as it consumed everywhere, with basically minor differences. In Oxfam's ranking, it shares the world's most popular food with hamburgers and ramen, and also holds the world record for the most photographed food.
Pizza Hut
With branches in 90 countries, Pizza Hut is the world's most widely distributed pizza maker, although Domino's Pizza is the largest. The furthest delivery ever took a vegetarian pizza from London to Melbourne, Australia.
Family heritage
Everyone knows that the birthplace of pizza is Naples, and that its name comes from the Latin word “pinsere”, meaning „to beat” or „to press”. There are veritable pizza-making dynasties here, where the art of kneading and stretching dough is passed down from father to son.
Johannesburg
There are many record-breaking pizzas, but the biggest ever launched was the one from Johannesburg, South Africa, which was made in a supermarket and sold there. It was made from a total of 500 kg of flour and measured over 37 metres in diameter.
Japan
In the ranking of quirky pizza toppings, Japan has some of the most bizarre flavours: common ingredients include eel, squid and „mayo jaga”, a combination of mayonnaise, potatoes and bacon.
Louis XIII
Traditional pizza dough with lobster, the best cheeses, caviar and hand-picked Australian pink salt: this is Luigi XIII pizza. If you're going to eat this, you'd better have some cash on you - it's $12 000. But there's also the Royale, an Italian creation in honour of 007, topped with gold leaves, also lobster and the finest salmon, and served with 1958 Dom Perignon.
Olympia
Last summer, the first Pizza Olympics were held in Naples: despite Italy taking most of the medals, the surprise winner of the “traditional pizza” category was a Japanese pizza maker from Hiroshima.
Margherita pizza
Margherita is the world's most common variety: a tomato sauce topped with white mozzarella and a basil leaf, invented in 1889 by Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito. The colours were a tribute to the Italian flag and the pizza was named after the reigning queen.
Round
The typical shape of a traditional pizza is a round pizza starting from a ball of pasta stretch into a tart shape. If you get the chance, be sure to watch an acrobatic pizza maker perform a stunt with his fully stretched dough on one finger.
Slice
Despite tradition, pizza is often eaten in slices, especially outside Italy: sliced pizza is extra large in diameter. Which is the most common? The pepperoni pizza, often topped with salami.
Fill in
Since pizza dough is made in almost the same way all over the world, chefs can use their imagination on toppings, which vary considerably depending on where in the world they are made. From Japanese squid, to the sweet and sour taste of pineapple, to crocodile meat and insect pizza, they've packed everything onto the dough.
Kemence
Authentic pizzas are baked in an oven, even better if the oven is lined with a lava stone from Vesuvius with a small, low entrance to avoid heat dispersion.
Sex
It's so good and so widespread that many people compare it to sex: one of the most popular quotes on the subject is by Mel Brooks and Sharon Stone, who wrote: “Sex is like pizza, even if it's good and bad.”
Yeast
Brewer's yeast is usually used to make pizza, but the most important thing is to ensure that the dough is properly proofed before putting it in the oven: otherwise the pizza dough will continue to rise in the stomach.
