- Pizza originated from simple flatbreads made thousands of years ago in the Mediterranean, using flour, water, oil, and spices, but lacked tomatoes and cheese.
- Italy developed its own flatbreads, but tomatoes and cheese were not available until centuries later; cheese came with water buffaloes from India in the 7th century, and tomatoes arrived from Peru in 1522.
- Tomatoes were initially feared as poisonous, but Italian peasants tried them out of hunger, proving they were safe, which led to their adoption by wealthier people and their use as a key pizza ingredient.
- For hundreds of years, pizza was only made in Naples, often in home kitchens, until 1738 when the first pizza bakery opened, selling pizzas via street vendors who carried them on their heads in tin stoves.
- The bakery’s success led to the opening of “Port Alba” in 1830, the world’s first official pizza restaurant, which used a wood-burning oven lined with lava rocks from a nearby volcano, and it remains open today.
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of inference worksheets 4th grade.
