Fun Facts About Pizza | ISU Continuing Education and Workforce Training (2024)

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What are 5 interesting facts about pizza? ›

We learn from an old story that in 1889, to honor Queen Margherita of Italy, the pizzamaker Raffaele Esposito created “Pizza Margherita”, with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, which contained the red, white and green colors that are represented on the Italian flag, and the Margherita pizza was born.

About 350 slices of pizza are consumed every second in the US. You can't have a list of interesting facts about pizza without mentioning just how much Americans love pizza. Americans consume an average of 350 slices of pizza every second. That is equivalent to about 100 acres of pizza a day and 21,000 slices a minute.

It's widely speculated that pizza came from the Greek word “pitta,” which means “pie” ; however some historians believe that pizza came from the Langobardic word “bizzo,” which means “bite.”

However, when it comes to where was pizza invented, Naples is considered the birthplace of pizza. The Neapolitan flatbread, known as 'Pizzaiola', was invented in the 1800s. Initially, the dish was made using only tomato sauce and garlic on a bread base, and it was known as the 'Pomodoro e Mozzarella' pizza.

A small pizza is sometimes called pizzetta. A person who makes pizza is known as a pizzaiolo. The word pizza was borrowed from Italian into English in the 1930s; before it became well known, pizza was called "tomato pie" by English speakers. Some regional pizza variations still use the name tomato pie.

Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy, between the 16th and mid-18th century. The word pizza was first documented in AD 997 in Gaeta and successively in different parts of Central and Southern Italy. Pizza was mainly eaten in Italy and by emigrants from there.

That did start in Italy. Specifically, baker Raffaele Esposito from Naples is often given credit for making the first such pizza pie. Historians note, however, that street vendors in Naples sold flatbreads with toppings for many years before then.

Pizza is not only delicious but can also be a healthy meal choice when thought is put into its preparation. Though many frozen and fast-food varieties tend to be high in calories, fat, sodium and other unhealthy ingredients, pizza can be made healthier.

Folklore has long held that Gennaro Lombardi was the founder of the first pizzeria in the United States.

What state eats the most pizza? ›

The smallest state has the biggest pizza cravings. Google Trends data shows Rhode Island boasts a Search Interest Index of 100, making it the ultimate pizza-loving state. But what makes Rhode Island so crazy for pizza?

Older children ranging from 6 to 11 and adolescents ranging from 12 to 19 eat the most pizza (22 percent have some on any given day). Kids tend to eat pizza for lunch or dinner, while adults typically eat pizza only for dinner.

It's become so well-loved in fact, that Norway has earned the top spot for consuming the most pizza per capita in the world – about 11 pizzas per person. Some even joke that it's the unofficial national dish. While this may come as a surprise to some, it is not shocking, given the history of Norwegian cuisine.

Indeed, for a food to be dubbed great, let alone “best,” it must pleasantly engage all five methods of sensory perception: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. No dish exemplifies this more clearly and familiarly, perhaps, than pizza.

Pizza in the United States. Pizza first made its appearance in the United States with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. According to a 2009 response published in a column on Serious Eats, the first printed reference to "pizza" served in the US is a 1904 article in The Boston Journal.

In total, 13,653 pounds (6,193 kilograms) of dough, 4,948 pounds of pizza sauce, more than 8,800 pounds of cheese and roughly 630,496 pieces of pepperoni went into making the record-breaking pie.

Pizza is Easy and Fun to Eat

Not only is it delicious and easy to eat, but it's also incredibly versatile. You can dress it up with all sorts of toppings, fold it in half for an awesome calzone, or even cut out slices and turn them into fun shapes like stars or smiley faces.