Pizza’s birthplace –in Naples

“Pizza has a long, complex and uncertain history that often inspires heated debate. The origin of the word "pizza" is unclear, but it first appeared in 997 in Medieval Latin, and it was in Naples in the 16th century that a galette flatbread was referred to as a pizza.

The innovation that gave us the particular flat bread we call “pizza” was the use of tomato as a topping. For some time after the tomato was brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, it was believed by many Europeans to be poisonous (as are some other fruits of the nightshade family). However, by the late 18th century it was common for the poor of the area around Naples to add tomato to their yeast-based flat bread, and so the pizza was born.

At that time, the pizza was a baker's tool, dough used to verify the temperature of the oven. A dish of the poor people, it was sold in the street and was not considered a kitchen recipe for a long time. Before the 17th century, the pizza was covered with white sauce. This was later replaced by oil, cheese, tomatoes or fish - in 1843, Alexandre Dumas, père described the diversity of pizza toppings. In June 1889, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the chef Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita", a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza

If you only have one day in Naples, you have to try the pizza from the restaurant Gino Sorbillo (that is everyone says). It clams that makes the best pizza in Naples with Excellent-quality ingredients, top-notch wood-fired cooking. The long-time-family-run restaurant is located in city center with two floors (Via Tribunali, 32, phone: +39 081 446643, http://www.accademiadellapizza.it). It is always packed with people for an obvious reason: amazing pizza and very reasonable price.

I ordered a pizza with tomato, mozzarella, special mushrooms and basil (No. 18 on menu). You can see from the picture it comes a giant round pizza. The pizza is really thin and soft, not like those ones in North America. All fresh ingredients are cooked perfectly. It is an amazing pizza. I can have it everyday for the rest of my life!