Pizza: a History

Pizza has survived the ages and still has some of its original attributes. It was recorded as early as the year 997 when it appeared in medieval Latin. By the 16th century it was served as a street food in Naples. Pizza was originally a commoners' food and wasn't actually served in the kitchen until the 17th century. As more Europeans moved to the Americas, pizza's red sauce was replaced with fish sauces. Cheese didn't garnish pizza until the chef Raffaele Esposito served a pizza topped with mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes the colors of the Italian flag. This combination is still popular today. Even though we now have a wider variety of toppings pizza is still baked in the traditional fashion.