Pizza is one of the most popular dishes in the world. People of all ages right from kids to school students to teenagers and working people- all love it! Ever since its first serve, it has been welcomed by countries all over the world and the Europeans fondly refer to pizza as "the Queen" of the Mediterranean diet.
History of Pizza:
Pizza (in Latin means flatbread) was first made in Naples, Italy in 1889. Initially, it was made as round bread with basil, tomato sauce, and some cheese; the color combination of which resembled the Italian flag. They were first baked in ovens that were lit by burning woods. Some people feel that a similar kind of dish called Foccacia made in the Common Era may have lead to the idea of making pizza.
At a certain point, pizza became so popular that pizza makers took it up as a full time business. The first pizza shop named Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba still exists in Italy. Today, a majority of the pizza vendors in Italy feel that although there are several hundred varieties of pizza, the Marinara and Margherita are the best of all pizzas. Those vendors serve only these two types of pizzas that don't have too much topping. The Italian pizza believed to be the mother of all pizzas is made from San Marzano tomato and is baked in the oven at around 500 Celsius for about one and half minutes.
Over the years, the making of pizza has been extensively tried out with tons of toppings and flavors. Thus, pizza started becoming one of the best dishes and gradually made its way to the US. The first pizzeria was started by Gennaro Lombardi in Little Italy, Manhattan. It was actually a grocery store that started selling pizzas before becoming a full-fledged pizzeria. Vendors hawked this as a great opportunity to start their businesses and came up with a lot of flavors and offers for the customers. The free home delivery thing has made pizza a phone call away. It's very convenient for the customers to get their favorite pizza right at their door. Today there is a slew of branded pizzerias like Dominos pizza, Papa John's, Pizza hut etc. that deliver top quality pizza in extravagant flavors and variety.
Pizzas are made in hundreds of flavors with innumerous combinations of crusts, sauce, and toppings. Each country has its own unique touch of flavors and toppings. Some of the most popular types of pizzas are the Italian pizza, brick oven pizza, New York style, French bread pizza, grilled pizza, deep dish pizza, Greek pizza, Pan pizza, thick crust pizza, thin crust pizza, Sicilian pizza, stuffed crust pizza, and the white pizza. So that's about the history of pizzas. Let us shift our focus to the health aspects of it. Last week I was watching a cookery show in which the female cook was demonstrating the easiest ways to make a vegetarian pizza. I usually watch a lot of health and cookery shows on channels included in my Dish TV Packages.
All right, folks! Can't resist eating pizzas? Have people told you that pizza is not good for health? Don't worry. Given below are some of the health benefits of pizza:
Pizza predominantly consists of vegetables, cheese, and bread crust. The cheese used in pizza is rich in fats, proteins, sodium and calcium.
The Olive oil used in pizza helps to reduce unessential cholesterol and enriches the body with good cholesterol.
Tomato, one of the most common ingredients of pizzas is rich in lycopene and is a powerful antioxidant by itself.
Basil used in certain flavors of pizzas is full-bodied with Vitamin K, and other essential oils.
Garlic another common topping on pizzas is loaded with manganese, Vitamin C, selenium, Vitamin B6, and is very good for digestion and gastric troubles.
Non vegetarian pizzas enriched with meat toppings are rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins and are also a good source of sodium and other important minerals.
Thus each ingredient that goes into the making of pizza has several health benefits of its own. Moreover, studies reveal that pizza is a healthy source of diet that can prevent cancer and heart problems. So henceforth, you can enjoy the delicious flavors of pizza without any kind of hesitation.
