Where did pizza come from? Who made the very first pizza in the world? What is the most popular pizza topping? Learning more about your favorite food dish can help you prepare to cook some delicious recipes. You’ll also have something exciting to talk about when enjoying this popular meal with friends and family.
In this guide, we are going to discuss all of the most interesting pizza facts for kids, that way you can learn more and have fun while dining, all at the same time!
Pizza Facts for Kids
Just hearing the word “pizza” is enough to create an atmosphere of excitement in most homes. This is one of the most popular foods in the world, and most people absolutely love pizza. Not only does it tastes good (and usually means very little effort for parents), but you can also order pizza online and get it delivered straight to your house.
Receiving that pizza delivery is a lot like getting a nice gift, and there is nothing that compares to the aroma of opening up a freshly baked pizza, or tasting that creamy, melted cheese when you take a bite of those pizza slices.
It’s even fun to do pizza-related activities, or learn interesting things about pizza, like the following fun facts:
Pizza Originates In Italy
Dishes similar to pizza have been enjoyed since ancient times by various countries across the globe. Even ancient Egyptians and Romans enjoyed flatbread with toppings that were very similar to the pizzas we all know and love today.
The Neapolitan chef, Raffaele Esposito, is credited for making the first pizza pie. He is mainly responsible for popularizing this amazing treat because he represented it as a flagship Italian food to Queen Margherita when she visited the Napels in 1889.
The Margarita Is Named After a Queen
Most people are familiar with margarita pizzas, but did you know that this pizza is named after a queen? The pizza recipe that includes toppings of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil was named after Queen Margarita. She became quite a huge fan after tasting this pizza in 1889 on her visit to Naples.
Pizza Was Developed for the Poor
The first pizzas were made for poor households as a poor man’s dish for Italian immigrants. This is because the food was very affordable and could easily be carried around on the streets, as well as sold at affordable prices.
These early pizzas usually didn’t include too many toppings or ingredients and truthfully didn’t have a very good name back in the day.
Pizza only became truly delicious during the 18th century, when Italians started introducing tomatoes as part of the toppings (and the food gradually became more and more popular). Pizza restaurants started establishing and developing expensive pizzas that people were happy to wait and pay for.
Pizza Is One of the Most Popular Foods in America
Americans consume over 350 slices of pizza every second of the day and most people order this food on Sunday. It is believed that pizza franchises produce 1 billion pizzas in the US each year.
Pepperoni Is The Most Popular Pizza Topping
There are lots of great and popular pizza toppings like mushrooms, cheese, sausage, onion, black olives, and more. Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping of all and is included in most recipes or added on top of most ordered pizzas. 14-Inch pizzas are also mostly a standard size in most pizza chain restaurants.
The Biggest Pizzas Weighed Over 25 Thousand Pounds
The first world-record pizza ever created was baked over 20 years ago in South Africa. This huge pizza was 121 feet in diameter and consisted of 9920 pounds of flour, 1984 pounds of tomato, 3960 pounds of cheese, as well as other ingredients.
This huge record was broken when Italians baked an enormous pizza with a 131-foot diameter, This pizza was named Octavia and was 100% gluten-free, which is another huge accomplishment.
The current world record holder for the largest pizza is a little bit different from the traditional round pizza. A restaurant in Texas currently holds the world record for the largest pizza in the world. They produced the longest pizza in the world. This enormous pizza was 6333 feet long and 3.6 inches wide.
The Frozen Pizza Hit the World by Storm in 1957
The first branded frozen pizzas were developed by the Celentano Brothers in 1957. Jack DeLuca also started selling frozen pizzas in 1952, and Jim and Rose Totino started producing Totino’s frozen pizzas in the 1960s. Today, you can shop from a huge line of frozen pizza brands and recipes in just about any grocery store. Most of these variations can easily be baked in a household oven.
Pizza Can Taste Different In Different Countries
The ingredients for a pizza can vary or be altered with great success. Some variations of pizza crust are more popular in certain regions than others. This results in many different pizzas that taste very different, all from different countries.
For example, in Argentina pizza is generally made with a thicker crust, while in Italy, they mostly enjoy a more ancient version of pizza that is topped with marinara sauce.
You Shouldn’t Eat Pizza Every Day
It’s perfectly fine to enjoy a delicious pizza from time to time. Eating pizza on a daily basis can however be unhealthy. Since pizza is made from various food groups it consists of lots of nutrients and vitamins. This food is, however, high in calories and sodium, which can negatively impact your health if you eat this food daily (or even weekly).
Final Thoughts
It’s always fun to learn new things about your favorite food and to try different types of pizza. We hope you had just as much fun reading these pizza facts for kids as we had writing them. If you want to find out even more about this delicious food type, then you should have a look at some of the other guides on The Pizza Calculator.