You Know How to Make Margherita Pizza with Italian Dough; but Do You Know the History?
Margherita pizzas are some of the most simple and most sophisticated pizzas you can make; and including the Italian dough, it really only requires four ingredients. But, what’s the history behind this type of pizza? And who do we have to thank for it?
It was over two centuries ago, in 1889, that Queen Margherita of Savoy took notice of the food the peasants were cooking over fires and in their primitive stoves and ovens. Their main dish, Italian pizza dough and some of the finest toppings, tempted her the most, and she wanted to bring them into the kingdom. She soon hired the most famous pizza chef (pizzaiolo) of the time, Raffaele Esposito, to cook for her a pie such as the ones she had seen.
Wanting to create a pizza that exemplified the queen and the country, he created one using only dough, tomato sauce, whole slices of mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves – the three colors to represent the Italian flag. And, although pizza and pizza crust had been around for some time, this new style of it seemed to breathe new life into this peasant food – and it still continues to be considered a gourmet style of pizza today.