You're probably thinking of Naples. Most people do. You picture a wood-fired oven, a guy in a striped shirt, and some buffalo mozzarella melting over a thin crust. And while Naples is definitely the "spiritual" home of the modern slice, the real answer to where does pizza originate from is actually way messier than that. It’s a story of poverty, global trade, and a weirdly persistent myth about a queen.
Pizza wasn't "invented" in a lab. It evolved.
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Long before Italy was even a unified country, people across the Mediterranean were basically using flatbreads as edible plates. The Greeks called it plakous. The Persians were reportedly baking flatbreads with cheese and dates on their shields while out on campaigns. Even the Aeneid—written over 2,000 years ago—mentions "consuming the plates" they ate on, which were actually rounds of wheaten cakes.
But that's not really pizza, is it? Not yet.
The Naples Connection: Poverty and Street Food
If we are being honest about the specific dish we recognize today, the trail starts in the 1700s and early 1800s in Naples. At the time, Naples was one of the largest cities in Europe. It was also incredibly poor. The city was packed with "lazzaroni"—the working poor who lived in tiny spaces and spent most of their time outdoors.
They needed food that was cheap. It had to be fast. Most importantly, it had to be something they could eat while walking.
This is where pizza originates from in its commercial sense. Street vendors would wander the alleys with huge tin boxes on their heads, shouting about their wares. These weren't fancy meals. They were simple flatbreads topped with whatever was inexpensive: lard, salt, garlic, or maybe some small fish.
It was actually looked down upon. High-society types and foreign travelers thought it was disgusting. Samuel Morse—the telegraph guy—once described pizza as looking like "a piece of stale bread... covered with a skin of pomodoro or tomatoes." He wasn't a fan. But the locals? They lived on it.
The Tomato Revolution
Here is the thing: tomatoes aren't Italian.
They came from the Americas. When they first arrived in Europe, people thought they were poisonous. They're part of the nightshade family, so that fear wasn't totally crazy. For a long time, they were just ornamental garden plants.
Eventually, the poor in Naples started putting them on their flatbreads. It was a game-changer. That combination of fermented dough, oil, and acidic tomato created the blueprint for everything that followed. By the mid-1800s, specialized shops called pizzerie started popping up, moving the food from the street into actual storefronts with benches and marble tables.
The Margherita Myth vs. Reality
You've heard the story. In 1889, Queen Margherita of Savoy visited Naples. She was bored with French cuisine. She wanted to try the local food. A baker named Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi created three pizzas for her. The one she liked best featured tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil—the colors of the Italian flag.
It’s a great story. It’s also probably a PR stunt that was back-dated.
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Historical research, including work by food historian Zachary Nowak, suggests the legend was likely embellished or entirely fabricated later on to boost the prestige of the Brandi pizzeria. Letters from the Royal Palace that supposedly "prove" the story have been scrutinized for having inconsistent stamps and handwriting.
Regardless of whether the Queen actually ate that specific slice, the name stuck. The "Margherita" became the gold standard.
How Pizza Conquered America (and then the World)
Pizza didn't stay in Naples. Because of the massive wave of Italian immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the recipe traveled across the Atlantic.
Lombardi’s in New York City is usually credited as the first licensed pizzeria in the U.S., opening in 1905 on Spring Street. But it wasn't an overnight sensation for everyone. For decades, pizza was mostly an "ethnic" food found in Little Italys.
Then came World War II.
American GIs stationed in Italy tried the local food. They loved it. When they came home, they wanted more. This created a massive demand that moved pizza out of immigrant neighborhoods and into the American suburbs. By the 1950s, we saw the birth of the "pizza parlor."
The Regional Split
Once it hit the U.S., pizza started mutating.
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- Chicago: Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo created the Deep Dish at Pizzeria Uno in 1943.
- Detroit: In 1946, Gus Guerra used blue steel pans originally meant for automotive parts to create that famous crispy, square crust.
- New Haven: Known as "apizza" (pronounced ah-beetz), this style focuses on a charred, thin crust and often omits mozzarella unless you specifically ask for it.
This evolution is why the question of where pizza originates from is so complicated. If you're talking about the thin crust Neapolitan style, it’s Italy. If you’re talking about the thick, cheesy, pepperoni-laden delivery style that conquered the globe? That’s arguably an American invention.
The Science of the Crust
Why is Neapolitan pizza so hard to replicate at home? It’s the heat.
Traditional Neapolitan pizza must be baked in a wood-fired oven at temperatures exceeding $480^{\circ}C$ ($900^{\circ}F$). At that heat, the pizza cooks in about 60 to 90 seconds. This creates "leopard spotting"—those little charred bubbles on the crust—while keeping the center soft and hydrated.
Most home ovens max out at $260^{\circ}C$ ($500^{\circ}F$). That's why your homemade crust is often crunchy like a cracker instead of chewy and airy.
The Politics of Pizza Authenticity
The Italians are very protective of their history. In 1984, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) was founded. They have incredibly strict rules.
- The dough must be hand-kneaded.
- It cannot be more than 3 millimeters thick.
- Only specific tomatoes (San Marzano) and mozzarella (Fior di Latte or Bufala) can be used.
If a restaurant doesn't follow these rules, the AVPN says they aren't making "real" Neapolitan pizza. It’s a way of reclaiming the narrative of where pizza originates from and protecting it from global "bastardization."
Why Pizza Won the Global Food War
It’s basically the perfect food delivery system. It’s a balance of fat, acid, and carbohydrates. It’s infinitely customizable. You can put pineapple on it (if you want to start a fight) or expensive truffles.
It crossed cultural boundaries because it’s simple.
Today, you can find pizza in almost every country on Earth, but the core remains the same as it was in the streets of 18th-century Naples. It's a humble flatbread designed to feed people who are in a hurry.
How to Find "The Real Thing" Near You
If you want to experience the true origins of pizza without flying to Italy, look for these specific indicators:
- Check the Oven: If they don't have a massive stone or brick oven (usually wood-fired or high-heat gas), you aren't getting a traditional Neapolitan experience.
- The Flour Matters: Look for "00" flour on the menu. This is a highly refined Italian flour that gives the crust its characteristic silkiness.
- The "Wet" Center: Authentic Neapolitan pizza is often "soupy" in the middle. You usually need a knife and fork to start. If it's stiff and cardboard-like, it's a New York style, not the original Neapolitan.
- DOP Labels: Look for the DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) seal on ingredients like San Marzano tomatoes. This ensures they were actually grown in the volcanic soil near Mount Vesuvius.
To truly understand where pizza originates from, skip the frozen aisle. Find a local spot that respects the fermentation process—ideally a 24 to 48-hour cold ferment—and uses high-quality, simple ingredients. The history is in the dough. If you can taste the yeast and the char, you're tasting 18th-century Naples.