| Trying to trace the history of the first pizza is a | | | | experienced New York style pizza can disagree. New |
| surprisingly controversial subject. Some claim that this | | | | York is famous for its pizzerias, where a true slice of |
| popular food is based on early unleavened breads | | | | pizza consists of a thin, wide crust loaded with plenty |
| served in the early centuries in Rome. Others trace a | | | | of toppings and marinara and smothered in heady |
| connection from modern pizza back to the pita | | | | Italian seasonings. A side of garlic bread and some |
| breads of Greece. | | | | heady pastas and tortellinis usually round out the |
| It's fairly well established that the first pizza as we | | | | menu. Pizzerias in New York are not for the faint of |
| know it today was created by a man named | | | | heart. |
| Raffaele Esposito from Naples, Italy. Esposito's | | | | In the early 1940s, the city of Chicago, IL took pizza |
| creation was designed to honor the visit of Queen | | | | in a different direction. It is believed that the first |
| Margherita to Naples in 1889, and he decorated it | | | | pizzeria in Chicago was Pizzeria Uno, opened in 1943 |
| with the colors of the Italian flag, using white cheese, | | | | by Ike Sewell. Sewell's pizza creation was a new |
| green basil, and red tomatoes (tomatoes, which had | | | | twist on the old New York standard. He created |
| arrived from the west about 60 years earlier, were | | | | what is known today as deep-dish pizza, where the |
| originally thought to be poisonous, but by Esposito's | | | | pizza is sunk low into a deeper pan, and the crust is |
| time they were already embraced by Italian cuisine). | | | | allowed to rise in thick bubbles around the edges. |
| As the years passed and the turn of the century | | | | People flocked to Sewell's pizzeria, and a whole new |
| came about, Italian immigrants brought this recipe | | | | way of looking at this favorite food was born. |
| with them to America. The first pizzeria was opened | | | | To this day you can find yourself in some pretty |
| in America in 1905. It remained popular almost | | | | heated debates if you argue with a New Yorker or a |
| exclusively among immigrants until the end of World | | | | Chicagoan about what constitutes authentic |
| War II, when American soldiers returned to their | | | | pizzeria-style pizza. But whatever crust style you |
| home soil and brought back a love of the pizza they | | | | choose, pizza is a unique food with a foggy past and |
| had discovered overseas. With that, the pizza boom | | | | a definite appeal that has lasted through many |
| in America began and this food became a | | | | incarnations. |
| mainstream meal instead of an underground Italian | | | | So you're lucky enough to find yourself in New York |
| snack. | | | | or Chicago, or any city for that matter that has a |
| The concentration of Italian immigrants in New York | | | | true pizzeria, complete with checked tablecloths and |
| in those olden days explains the fact that many | | | | plenty of garlic on the menu, indulge yourself in an old |
| people feel you must visit New York to get true | | | | tradition and order a slice. After all, its tradition. |
| pizzeria-style pizza. It's where the pizza got its | | | | Information on benefits of onions can be found at |
| American start, after all. And nobody who has | | | | the Fruits And Vegetables site. |