Pizza
Italian dish with a flat dough-based base and toppings / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Pizza (/ˈpiːtsə/ PEET-sə, Italian: [ˈpittsa]; Neapolitan: [ˈpittsə]) is an Italian dish consisting of a flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.[1]
Type | Flatbread |
---|---|
Course | Lunch or dinner |
Place of origin | Italy |
Region or state | Naples, Campania |
Serving temperature | Hot or warm |
Main ingredients | Dough, sauce (usually tomato sauce), cheese (typically mozzarella, dairy or vegan) |
Variations | Calzone, panzerotto |
The term pizza was first recorded in the year 997 AD, in a Latin manuscript from the southern Italian town of Gaeta, in Lazio, on the border with Campania.[2] Raffaele Esposito is often credited for creating modern pizza in Naples.[3][4][5][6] In 2009, Neapolitan pizza was registered with the European Union as a traditional speciality guaranteed dish. In 2017, the art of making Neapolitan pizza was added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.[7]
Pizza and its variants are among the most popular foods in the world. Pizza is sold at a variety of restaurants, including pizzerias (pizza specialty restaurants), Mediterranean restaurants, via delivery, and as street food.[8] In Italy, pizza served in a restaurant is presented unsliced, and is eaten with the use of a knife and fork.[9][10] In casual settings, however, it is typically cut into slices to be eaten while held in the hand. Pizza is also sold in grocery stores in a variety of forms, including frozen or as kits for self-assembly. They are then cooked using a home oven.
In 2017, the world pizza market was US$128 billion, and in the US it was $44 billion spread over 76,000 pizzerias.[11] Overall, 13% of the U.S. population aged two years and over consumed pizza on any given day.[12]