11 Comments
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billb's avatar

Well, that's the way that history works -- The Italians couldn't really make pizza until they had invented tomatoes...

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Steve padgett's avatar

Weren’t tomatoes invented in Mexico?

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AlabamaSlamma's avatar

As someone who spent two of his teenage years working in a Pizza Hut and periodically getting his arm burned by the oven, I appreciate this.

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Dan R Morris's avatar

I sent you a link to my podcast story on the History of Pizza . . . amazing how many angles there are.

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Paul Lenz's avatar

Ah great - thank you! Yes, I could easily have written ten times as much about this, but time and word count constraints prevent me!

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Del Morgan-Pickup's avatar

Back to the ancient Romans, evidence was recently discovered of what appears to be an early pizza at Pompeii c. AD79 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66031341

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TRuth's avatar

My mother told me the story that my grandfather, fresh from WWI, told his wife he had the most delicious tomato pie in Europe. So, my grandmother did her best to make tomato pie (like apple pie only tomatoes!) he meant of course pizza!

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Jim Slater's avatar

And what about Frank Pepe and the way he brought many Southern Italian workers to New Haven and fed them with the pizza he made in his pizzeria. It was cheap food, he soon bought cheap living spaces for these laborers who worked in the fledgling industrial time of New Haven. His pizzeria was soon followed by Sally’s and Modern. It was an era, a migration, and their pizza is unique and delicious. (See the movie/documentary, “Pizza, A Love Story.” By Gorman Bechard)

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Don Quixote's Reckless Son's avatar

See the movie/documentary, “Pizza, A Love Story.”

Or better yet, head down to Wooster street.

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James Schwartz's avatar

Thank you for this. I love pizza. I can eat it everyday. In fact when I was a young man and didn’t have tons of money it was what I ate for lunch for what it must have been a year at least. I enjoy trying it from places every where but do have a fav. local place. Pepperoni is my topping. I don’t play around with Dominos or any of those other bastardized chains. I can tell when the cheese is cheap. I’ll make my own too but I’d prefer to just get it delivered. I really appreciate this piece or slice should I say!

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Pier Luigi Zanatta's avatar

Missing all the Chinese side of the story... And many more things. Peccato

pierluigi.zanatta@gmail.com

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