Editorial Chef
Pizza is such a delicious dish that is popular all over the world. If you do not agree maybe you should ask yourself why when Hitler is informed his pizza will arrive late he caused such a ruckus. Check out the videos at the end of this guide.
Now to more interesting facts. This food is basically a flatbread made with yeast. It is then generally topped up with tomato sauce and cheese and tossed in a brick oven to cook the bread and melt the cheese. That is the most basic you can get with this dish.
Like any other dish, there is evolution and several iterations that can turn any normal or good dish into a great one. Pizza is just one of those dishes that can be elevated in so many ways to bring out its full potential.
Origins of Pizza
Pizza originated in Naples, Italy in the 18th or early 19th century though long before that flatbread was eaten topped with herbs, spices, and vegetables such as garlic, basil, and Cheese. Tomato was added later with Pizza Margarita coming to the picture in 1889. It was made in honor of the visiting Queen Margarita when the Royal Palace of Capodimonte commissioned the Neapolitan pizza chef, Raffaele Esposito to create it.
Pizza was introduced to the United States by Italian immigrants in the late nineteenth century. Lombardi’s Pizza was the first pizzeria to be opened in New York’s Manhattan in 1905. Today’s most popular pizzeria chains in the USA are Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and Papa John’s.
How to Make Pizza
It starts off with making the dough for the flatbread or the crust as it is more popularly known. The basic dough involves mixing wheat flour, water, salt, sugar, and yeast. it forms an elastic soft dough that can be kneaded to activate the gluten in the floor. The yeast is used to raise the dough and the sugar is what the yeast acts on. It can also be used to aid in the browning process of the crust when baked.
The dough is then left to rise in a warm place in a cloth-covered bowl until double in size. It can then be kneaded again and left to rise again. The dough can then be rolled around and flat to the desired size.
There are several variations to what goes in the dough including adding herbs such as garlic and basil while others can have milk used instead of water, others can have cheese infused in the dough, and others can have egg added, though not common.
The next step is to add the toppings which include anything from sliced raw or cooked vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, or seafood proteins. Fruit such as pineapple can also be added. Finally, Cheese and Tomato sauce is added to the mix. The most popular cheese used is mozzarella while the tomato sauce can be made out of fresh tomatoes and herbs such as oregano, basil, bay leaves, thyme, garlic, and onion.
When it is ready, the preparation is then placed in an oven and baked.
Other Ways to Get Pizza
It is more commonly purchased from Pizzerias cooked and ready to eat. It is also a popularly ordered take-out. It can also be bought frozen in stores where you can go and complete the cooking process at home. One can also purchase the dough as well as raw or pre-cooked. The same goes for the tomato sauce, which can be bought in stores ready-made.
Types of Pizza Crust
There are two types of crust that are generally enjoyed by lovers of this dish. There is the Chicago-style deep dish which is made thick and can be quite stuffing. This thick crust type originated in Sicily and is also known as Sicilian pizza. Then there is the thin crust like the hand-tossed Neapolitan pizza which can make for some entertaining shows in pizzerias that use this method to prepare them.
The Cheese
As mentioned earlier Mozzarella is the cheese that is commonly used as the topping. Around Naples, buffalo mozzarella is regarded as being the best quality. Other popular cheese varieties that are commonly used include pecorino romano, provolone, ricotta, and scamorza.
More About the Varieties
First off it is good that you know we will not be attempting to mention all the types of pizzas out there as the list would be too overwhelming. We will therefore only mention just a few. Different restaurants and chefs make variations to these varieties as they deem fit but in most cases, they stick to the original personality of those pizzas.
We start off with Napoletana (Neapolitan pizza) which can be considered the most authentic pizza made with San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Margarita is a variant of this sometimes sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Marinara is another variant that uses a marinara source.
In the United States, popular styles include California, Chicago, Greek, and New York styles. Then there are the popular Hawaiian pizzas which include pieces of ham and pineapple.
Pizza carbonara includes additions of eggs and bacon while Pizza Capricciosa includes baked ham, mushroom, and artichoke. It might be good to say here that there is no limit to the toppings that can go on this dish. Pizzas are usually named from the regions they were invented or from major ingredients used as the topping.
There are other related dishes that have grown out of the pizzas either using the base, the tomato sauce, or all the ingredients in one form or another. These have come in all sorts of names such as pizza pie, hot pocket, pizza bagel, Quesadilla, pizza cake, and more.
As promised earlier here is the proof of Hitler’s passion for Pizza:
Hitler Is Informed His Pizza Will Arrive Late Part 2
