February 9 is National Pizza Day! Here is what a little research dug up …
What is the favorite “All-American” dinner?
Pizza (43%)
Fried Chicken (29%)
Hamburgers (15%)
Other (7%)
Hot Dogs (4%)
Fried Chicken (29%)
Hamburgers (15%)
Other (7%)
Hot Dogs (4%)
Fun Facts:
*Approximately 100 acres of pizza are consumed each day in the U.S.
*17% of all restaurants are pizzerias.
*93% of Americans eat a minimum of one pizza each month.
*Frozen pizzas first became available in 1957.
*Pepperoni – America’s favorite topping – accounts for 36% of all pizza orders.
Where did it come from?
While it is impossible to know exactly where pizza first began, Italy has traditionally been considered the birthplace of the pizza. Tomatoes were first imported to Italy from Peru in the sixteenth century. Wealthier Italians originally thought tomatoes to be poisonous, but the poor ate them along with their usual diet of bread, cheese, and olive oil. As time passed, the combination caught on with the general population. Naples is credited with creating pizza in the form we know it today. Neapolitan pizzas are considered to be the world’s best.
While it is impossible to know exactly where pizza first began, Italy has traditionally been considered the birthplace of the pizza. Tomatoes were first imported to Italy from Peru in the sixteenth century. Wealthier Italians originally thought tomatoes to be poisonous, but the poor ate them along with their usual diet of bread, cheese, and olive oil. As time passed, the combination caught on with the general population. Naples is credited with creating pizza in the form we know it today. Neapolitan pizzas are considered to be the world’s best.
In the late nineteenth century, Italian immigrants brought pizza to the U.S. The first pizzeria, Lombardi’s Pizzeria Napoletana, was opened in New York in 1905. But pizza didn’t really catch on with Americans until after World War II when soldiers stationed in Italy returned home with a passion for pizza. The popularity of pizza spread rapidly during the 1950s and 1960s and has been an American favorite ever since.
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