Pizza

For other uses, see Pizza (disambiguation).
"Pizzaiolo" redirects here. For the restaurant chain, see Pizzaiolo (restaurant chain).

Pizza
A pizza divided into eight slices
TypeFlatbread
CourseOne course meal
Place of originItaly
Region or stateNaples, Campania
Serving temperatureHot or warm
Main ingredientsDough, sauce (usually tomato sauce), cheese (typically mozzarella)
VariationsCalzone, panzerotti
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Pizza[a][1] is an Italian dish typically consisting of a flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.[2]

The term pizza was first recorded in the year 997 AD, in a Latin manuscript from the southern Italian town of Gaeta, in Lazio, on the border with Campania.[3] Raffaele Esposito is often credited for creating the modern pizza in Naples.[4][5][6][7] In 2009, Neapolitan pizza[8] was registered with the European Union as a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) dish. In 2017, the art of making Neapolitan pizza was included on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.[9]

Pizza and its variants are among the most popular foods in the world. Pizza is sold at a variety of restaurants, including pizzerias (pizza specialty restaurants), Mediterranean restaurants, via delivery, and as street food.[10] In Italy, pizza served in a restaurant is presented unsliced, and is eaten with the use of a knife and fork.[11][12] In casual settings, however, it is typically cut into slices to be eaten while held in the hand. Pizza is also sold in grocery stores in a variety of forms, including frozen or as kits for self-assembly. Store-bought pizzas are then cooked using a home oven.

In 2017, the world pizza market was US$128 billion, and in the US it was $44 billion spread over 76,000 pizzerias.[13] Overall, 13% of the US population aged two years and over consumed pizza on any given day.[14]


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  1. ^ "144843". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ "Italian Pizza vs American Pizza & Why Italian Pizza Wins". ALOR Italy. May 26, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MartinMaiden was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Arthur Schwartz, Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania (1998), p. 68. ISBN 9780060182618.
  5. ^ John Dickie, Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food (2008), p. 186.
  6. ^ Father Giuseppe Orsini, Joseph E. Orsini, Italian Baking Secrets (2007), p. 99.
  7. ^ "Pizza Margherita: History and Recipe". ITALY Magazine. March 14, 2011. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  8. ^ "How to Make Neapolitan Pizza". La Cucina Italiana. June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  9. ^ "Naples' pizza twirling wins Unesco 'intangible' status". The Guardian. London. Agence France-Presse. December 7, 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  10. ^ Miller, Hanna (April–May 2006). "American Pie". American Heritage. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  11. ^ Naylor, Tony (September 6, 2019). "How to eat: Neapolitan-style pizza". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  12. ^ Godoy, Maria (January 13, 2014). "Italians To New Yorkers: 'Forkgate' Scandal? Fuhggedaboutit". The Salt (blog). National Public Radio. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  13. ^ Hynum, Rick (December 2016). "Pizza Power 2017 – A State of the Industry Report". PMQ Pizza Magazine. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  14. ^ Rhodes, Donna; et al. (February 2014). "Consumption of Pizza" (PDF). Food Surveys Research Group Dietary Data Brief No. 11. USDA. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.