Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the world. In countries from Japan to Brazil, people order pizza for parties, family dinners, or a quick meal. But pizza did not always belong to the whole world. For most of its history, it was a simple food eaten only by the poor people of one Italian city: Naples.
The first pizzas in Naples were flat pieces of bread covered with cheap ingredients like oil, garlic or small fish. Bread of this kind had been made for thousands of years, but what we now call "pizza" began in Naples in the 18th century. Workers needed food that was cheap and easy to eat, and pizza was perfect for them. At that time, no rich person would touch it.
In 1889, according to a well-known story, Queen Margherita of Italy visited Naples. A local cook made her a special pizza with the three colours of the Italian flag: red tomatoes, white cheese and green basil. The queen enjoyed it so much that the cook named the pizza after her. Many people today still order a "margherita."
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, millions of Italians moved to the United States. They brought pizza with them. From New York, its fame slowly spread across the country and the rest of the world.