A Firm Favourite
Pizza is, without a doubt, the world’s favourite fast food. Found in one form or another in virtually every country, we eat it everywhere – at home, in restaurants, on street corners.
And this tasty treat has been a favourite for centuries. It started out as a humble Italian street food, a simple meal for those who could not afford plates or for lowly labourers on the go. As Italians migrated across the globe, they brought their tastes of the home country with them for which we are forever grateful.
The first Italian pizza restaurant, Antica Pizzeria Port Alba, began baking pizzas in 1738. Some 150 years later, the classic Margherita Pizza was created to honour the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, and the toppings we know so well, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, were chosen to represent the colours of the Italian flag.
Initially, pizza would always include slices of fresh tomatoes, but this all changed when the world discovered tomato sauce, and now there is a specially produced pizza sauce to slather across your pizza base. Cheese is another essential ingredient, be it creamy, crumbled or the trademark stretchy mozzarella, no pizza is complete without some form of cheese.
As pizza has grown exponentially in popularity, countless variations have appeared across countries and cultures. Parisians snack on pizza decorated with anchovies, caramelised onions and fried eggs, while Argentina boasts offugazetta, with its thick crust and plenty of cheese and onions. In Sweden, classic cheese and tomato are swapped out for a blend of smoked ham, curry powder and ripe bananas, and their close relatives in Finland love a good Pizza Berlusconi with a topping of smoked reindeer, cheese and red onion. The method in Canada is sauce first, then toppings, then a veritable blanket of cheese, and in the tropical region of Brazil typical toppings include ham, cheese, corn, green peas, and hearts of palm.
Experimenting with different flavours and toppings is all part of the fun when it comes to pizza, and whether it’s a quick weeknight dinner or a family gathering at the weekend, pizza will always be welcome on the menu.
Pizza Stats
- The Pizza Hut global franchise uses more than 100 million kilograms of cheese each year, making the company the largest user of cheese on the planet.
- Over 5 billion pizzas are sold each year in the twenty-first century.
- The world’s largest consumer of pizza per capita is Norway, at a staggering 11 pizzas per person per year, more than any other nation on Earth.
- On average, 350 slices of pizza are eaten each second in the United States of America.
