SC - FWD: Pizza Origins

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

In light of the recent Pizza Discussion, I forward this post from 
rec.food.historic. I don't necessarily agreewith all the findings, but 
there are a few interesting facts towards the end and a high-school type 
 bibliography.

Aoife

"Adam Nolley" <nolley.deerfields at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>(Note: this is the paper I wrote for English class on the subject that I
>promised I'd post.  There was more to it, but I've only posted the
>important part.)
>
>_The Origin Of Pizza_
>	I'll start with the things that are certain.  Pizza originated in Naples,
>Italy.  The word pizza means pie in Italian, referring to any type of pie. 
>The dish we refer to as pizza is really pizza alla Napoletana, pizza
>Americana, or pizza Margherita.
>	That is about all the historical information about pizza that is known for
>sure.  Most of the other evidence about the origin of pizza is largely
>speculative.  The majority of it was put together by Neapolitan (the people
>of Naples) chauvinists.  However, since there is no better source of
>evidence, it's what we have to use.
>	Pizza probably evolved from the Greek wafer bread laganon.  In fact, the
>term laganon survives today in Greece as a name for a type of pizza.  The
>idea of baking thin yeast breads like laganon has been around for thousands
>of years.  These breads are first cousins of pizza.
>	When pizza is made, the thin wafery bread becomes a portable meal. 
>Toppings are added, and the crust enables it to be eaten by hand.  It can
>be thought of as the first fast food!
>	To think of pizza brings to mind, at the very least, tomato sauce and
>cheese.  The original pizzas, known as pizza bianca were rather plain and
>resembled a garlic bread.  The tomato wasn't central to the pizza bianca
>because of its fairly late arrival in Italian cooking.  In fact, the plain
>pizza can still be found all over Italy today.
>	The traditional date for the invention of what we regard as basic pizza is
>1889.  Raffaele Esposito, a famed pizza maker, was invited to the palace of
>King Umberton I of Savoy and made three different types of pizza for Queen
>Margherita.  She preferred the pizza with tomato, mozzarella, and basil. 
>It was named after her (pizza Margherita) and is still called by this name
>in Italy.
>	Pizza became really popular in America during the 1950s.  It is now a
>staple food for people of all ages, races, and cultures.  Pizza has become
>an integral part of our culture, and many new ideas have come from this,
>like Mexican pizza and others.  Pizza, no matter where it came from, is
>here to stay.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>_Bibliography_
>
>Bromey, Haworth.  Email interview.  March 21, 1997.  rec.food.historic.
>
>"Food."  The World Book Encyclopedia.  v 7.  1993.
>
>Isaacs, Howard.  Email interview.  March 23, 1997.  rec.food.historic.
>
>Moss, Tim.  Email interview.  March 21, 1997.  rec.food.historic.
>
>"Naples."  The World Book Encyclopedia.  v 14.  1993.
>
>Nielson, Susan.  Email interview.  March 26, 1997.  rec.food.historic.
>
>"Pizza."  Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking.  v 9.  1966.
>
>Shein, Barry.  Email interview.  March 21, 1997.  rec.food.historic.
>
>Slokolov, Raymond.  "The Pizza Connection."  Natural History.  February,
>1989.