Pizza is easily one of the most popular kinds of food in the world. It’s easy to cook it, comes in a variety of flavours, and you can easily order them out. While you think you may know everything there is to know about pizza, here are a few fascinating things that you might not know about this favourite.
Pizza is one of the most popular types of food in the world, and it’s easy to understand why. Firstly, it’s easy to eat and cook. Secondly, thick or thin crust pizzas in Singapore comes in so many varieties of flavours that there’s something for everyone. But for a dish that’s extremely popular, people know far less about it than they realise. Here are several of the more fascinating facts that you likely don’t know about pizza, and which could make your next pizza dining experience more enjoyable.
It’s not Italian
The concept of pizza—a flatbread with toppings—goes far back into ancient times. The Greeks and Egyptians were already eating this type of “pizza” with toppings as basic as olive oil and some herbs and spices. The modern idea of pizza with its tomato sauce base did come from Naples in Italy but happened later on in the 18th century. So, in a sense, we owe a lot to those ancient peoples for all that we enjoy today.
The US loves pizza
If you think that Italians love pizza the most, you’d be wrong. The most prolific consumers of pizza are Americans who consume the equivalent of 100 football fields if their daily pizza consumption were laid out flat. Put into a time scale perspective, that’s an average of 360 slices of tasty pizza every second. No other country and no other people come close to matching this number.
There’s one for USD 12,000
If you think that your tasty slice of thin crust pizza in Singapore is tasty and precious, you’d be wrong. The most expensive pizza is worth USD 12,000. That tag and honour belongs to the Luis XIII restaurant Salerno in Italy whose super expensive pizza is not only carefully aged and hand-made, but it’s also assembled on the spot with caviar, Norwegian lobster, Australian sea salt, and other exotic ingredients.
Pepperoni is king
While much of the discussion on pizza toppings revolves around whether or not pineapple should go on pizza, the most popular topping by far is pepperoni. When you think of pizza—from the most basic all the way up to the artisanal—you’re likely to imagine it with pepperoni up top. Many people cite the subtle salty, meaty flavour of this cured sausage as being a perfect counter to mozzarella cheese.
Pizza… in Space!
Cosmonaut Uri Usachov was the first, and so far only, recipient of the first pizza delivery in space. This six-inch pizza was brought up to the International Space Station by the Russian Space Agency in 2001. The agency was paid more than USD 1,000,000 to perform the delivery. The company that made the very historic space pizza delivery? Pizza Hut, of course! It was a specially prepared pizza designed to be easy to consume in zero gravity.
Pizza is a very popular food because it’s very convenient yet tasty. With pizza stores replete in many cities the world over, it’s easy for anyone to get their pizza fix.
