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Pizza's
Colorful History
By far pizza has become America's favorite food over the past 50 years. Millions of pizza pies
are eaten daily, but how often do the people eating the food stop to consider the history. The true origins of this fine cuisine
are as colorful as any good pizza pie heaping with toppings.
The common belief is that Italians invented the pizza,
however the origins go back to more ancient times. Babylonians, Israelites, Egyptians and other ancient Middle Eastern cultures
were eating flat, un-leaven bread that had been cooked in mud ovens. The bread was much like a pita, which is still common
in Greece and the Middle East today. Further it is known that ancient Mediterranean people such as the Greeks, Romans and
Egyptians were eating the bread, topped and seasoned with olive oil and native spices.
The lower class of Naples,
Italy is believed to have created pizza in a more familiar fashion. In the late 1800s a Italian baker named Raffaele Esposito,
was believed to have created a dish for visiting royalty. According to the story, the Italian monarch King Umberto and his
consort, Queen Margherita were touring the area. In order to impress them and to show his patriotic fervor Raffaele chose
to top flat bread with food that would best represent the colors of Italy: red tomato, white mozzarella cheese and green basil.
The king and queen were so impressed that word quickly reached the masses. The end results were that the dish was well received
to the extent that others began to copy it.
By the beginning of the 1900's pizza made it's way to the inner cities
of the United States, thanks to Italian immigrants, most notably New York and Chicago, due to those cities having large Italian
populations. Small cafes began offering the Italian favorite. American soldiers further prompted the dish to become very popular
at the end of World War II, having been exposed to it while serving on the Italian front.
Pizza Industry Facts
Today pizza has become just as American as baseball and apple pie. Only because of its most recent origins is it considered
an Italian dish. Huge U.S. based multi-billion dollar corporations should be thankful for the development along with poor
college students who can appreciate the fine dining experience pizza has given them. -Author Unknown
PIZZA INDUSTRY
FACTS
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General Sales and Consumption Statistics
October is National
Pizza Month, (US). It was first so designated in 1987 and continues to be the traditional time for celebration of one of America's
most important and popular food industries.
Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza EACH DAY, or about
350 slices per second.
Pizza is a $32+ BILLION per year industry.
There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias
in the United States. (Source: American Business Lists, Omaha, Nebraska.)
Pizza restaurant growth continues to
outpace overall restaurant growth.
Pizzerias represent 17% of all restaurants. (Source: Food Industry News.)
Pizza
accounts for more that 10% of all foodservice sales. (Source: Food Industry News.)
93% of Americans eat AT LEAST
one pizza per month. (Source: Bolla Wines.)
66.66% of Americans order pizza for a casual evening with friends. (Source:
Bolla Wines.)
Each man, woman and child in America eats and average of 46 slices, (23 pounds), of pizza per year.
(Source: Packaged Facts, New York.)
Approximately 3 BILLION pizzas are sold in the U.S. each year.
Italian
food ranks as the most popular ethnic food in America. (Source: National Restaurant Association.)
According to a recent
Gallop Poll, children between the ages of 3 and 11 prefer PIZZA over all other food groups for lunch and dinner.
A study done by a U.S. Department of Agriculture statistician and home economist found that in a three-day survey period,
42% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 has eaten pizza. (Source: Smithsonian Magazine.)
94% of the population
of the U.S. eats pizza. (Source: Parade Magazine.)
Favorite U.S. Toppings
Pepperoni is America's favorite
topping, (36% of all pizza orders). We eat approximately 251,770,000 pounds of Pepperoni per year. Other popular pizza toppings
are, mushrooms, extra cheese, sausage, green pepper and onions.
Gourmet toppings are gaining ground in some areas
of the country such as chicken, oysters, crayfish, dandelions, sprouts, eggplant, Cajun shrimp, artichoke hearts and tuna.
More recent trends include game meats such as venison, duck and Canadian bacon.
Pizza makers have tried virtually
every type of topping on pizza including peanut butter & jelly, bacon & eggs and mashed potatoes.
Mozzarella
cheese represents 30% of total cheese output. Production of Italian cheeses such as mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, parmesan
and Romano by U.S. cheese makers more than doubled between 1980 and 1992, (from 688.6 MILLION pounds per year to nearly 2
BILLION pounds per year. (Source: Cheese Market News.)
Manufacturers' sales of pizza cheese should top $32 BILLION
by 2004.
U.S. per capita consumption of mozzarella cheese was 7.93 pounds in 1994 and is predicted to reach 12.51
pounds by 2004. (Source: Business Trend Analysts, BTA.)
62% of Americans prefer meat toppings on their pizza,
while 38% prefer vegetarian toppings. (Source: Bolla Wines.)
Women are twice as likely as men to order vegetarian toppings
on their pizza. (Source: Bolla Wines.)
Barbeque pizza emerged as one of the more popular pizza variations in a
1994 study by the National Restaurant Association. Nearly 33% of menus offered some form of this dish. Other popular variations
were Mexican pizza, white, pizza, five-cheese combos, non-cheese pies and traditional Italian pizzas such as Margherita, Florentine
and New Potato Pizzas. (Source: NRA.)
Favorite World-Wide Toppings
Some of the more popular international
toppings in India are pickled ginger, minced mutton and "paneer" (a form of cottage cheese) which looks quite like
tofu but is obviously a dairy product. Tandoori chicken and chicken "tikka" are also increasingly popular toppings
in India. (Thanks to Shiv Sharan Singh from New Delhi, India, for this contribution).
Squid and Mayo Jaga (mayonnaise,
potato and bacon) in Japan; and green peas in Brazil. In Russia, they serve pizza covered with mockba; a combination of sardines,
tuna, mackerel, salmon and onions. In France, a popular combo is called the Flambé, with bacon, onion and fresh cream.
(Source: Domino's.)
Around the world, toppings vary greatly, reflecting regional tastes and preferences. In Japan, for
instance, eel and squid are favorites. In Pakistan, curry is a big seller. In Russia, red herring is the topping of choice.
Australians enjoy shrimp and pineapple, as well as barbeque toppings on their pies. Costa Ricans favor coconut. (Source: Numero
Uno Pizzeria.)
Vegetable for pizza toppings in Iceland are grown in greenhouses because of the lava terrain there.
(Source: Domino's.)
In the Netherlands, the "Double Dutch" is a favorite pizza recipe; double cheese,
double onions and double beef. (Source: Domino's.)
In Saudi Arabia, all meat toppings must be 100% beef. Pork
products are not consumed in the country. (Source: Domino's.)
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