The History of Pizza

Pizza is the Italian food that has conquered the world: from Brussels to LA, from Beijing to Buenos Aires, pizzas and pizzerias can be found everywhere today. But what are the origins of this food and how did it rise from its humble origins to become the world best-loved food?

The story begins in the narrow alleys of Naples where, in the late eighteenth century, the city’s impoverished inhabitants lived in a state of constant hunger.  Pizza was born as a street food to assuage the hunger of Naple’s poor. Cheap and versatile, it remained anonymous for more than a century – the few outsiders who encountered this strange flatbread, ‘more burned than cooked’, either loved it or hated it. Gradually pizza spread to other parts of Italy and then, with the mass migration of Italians to the New World, it landed in the United States, where it enjoyed unprecedented success, invigorated by new ingredients, new recipes and new tastes. Today the biggest consumers of pizza in the world are Americans, who eat 13 kilos of pizza per capita per year. 

The renowned culinary historian Luca Cesari retraces the story of pizza’s rise from the backstreets of Naples to a global industry now worth more than $200 billion a year. He describes how pizzas were made, the ingredients that were used and the reactions of travellers, critics and consumers. Richly illustrated with recipes from different times and places, The History of Pizza will transform your view of Italy’s most iconic food.