Pizza
Pizza has been cooked throughout the world since at least the 1800s and may have existed in multiple forms even earlier than that. The dish as you know it nowadays was born in Naples when poor people started using tomatoes as a topping to increase the nutritional value of flat bread. The city's Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba is believed to be the world's first pizzeria. It opened in 1738 and is still serving up slices today.
Marinara and Margherita
The people of Naples believe that true pizza comes in only two varieties: marinara and margherita. Marinara includes toppings of tomato, oregano, garlic, olive oil, and basil, while margherita includes tomato, mozzarella, and basil. Marinara gets its name from fishermen in the Bay of Naples, who used to eat pizza after a long day of working at sea, while margherita takes its name from Queen Margherita of Savoy, who thought pizza should be made using the colors of the Italian flag (red tomatoes, white cheese, and green basil).
Believe it or not, there's even a group called the True Neapolitan Pizza Association that recognizes only these two recipes and provides explicit instructions for cooking a purist pizza, right down to the temperature of the wood-fired oven and the proper technique for flattening the dough (use hands instead of a rolling pin). The pizza you will find in Naples is often different from that in other parts of the country, such as in Rome, where thin crust is all the rage.
Other Varieties
Of course, there are far more varieties of pizza available in Italy and the rest of the world today (just don't let your friends in Naples hear you call it pizza before you eat it). Toppings include all sorts of vegetables and meats, creative sauces, and even pasta or chicken parmesan. White pizza is made with ricotta cheese instead of only mozzarella, and some restaurants get highly creative and offer versions such as taco pizza (with jalapeño peppers, nacho cheese, and chili). Breakfast pizza is also popular in some locations, with eggs and sausage replacing tomato sauce and pepperoni.
Question
Did Sicilian pizza really originate in Sicily?
Yes — but it's not the same Sicilian pizza that most Americans would recognize. A true Sicilian pizza is defined by its lack of mozzarella cheese; pecorino is used instead. The thick-dough, square pizzas so often called Sicilian in the United States are actually more like the square-baked pizza al taglio or pizza rustica in Italy.
In general, you will be able to find all kinds of pizza in Italy — even in the more tourist-oriented parts of Naples. The slices that are served from carts are often just as tasty as the more expensive pizzas in ristorantes. Follow your nose and you'll do just fine.
