Pizza

September 15, 2008
People dining in the finest restaurants on truffle-and-lobster pizza may be surprised to learn that pizza originated as a food for the very poor in Naples as early as the late eighteenth century. It took World War II to make pizza an international dish, soldiers returning from Italy with fond memories of tomato-and-cheese-crowned flatbreads. These novel pies began appearing in Americas metropolises, especially in neighborhoods where there were concentrations of Italian immigrants. In American hands, Naples bread-based pizza became thinner (New York) and thicker (Chicago). Eventually, pizza lost its moorings almost entirely as it acquired such toppings as pineapple, barbecued chicken, and jalapeos. Within a few decades, pizza conquered even the conservative tastes of school-lunch programs and became the basis for many an entrepreneurs fortune, thanks to the innovation of home delivery. Helstosky offers practical recipes for making all styles of pizza.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)