The melted cheese. The crust. The beautiful mix of flavours. Pizza; food fit for Gods! The chefs and pizzaiolos behind Hugo Chetcuti’s delicious pizzas at Hugo’s Pizza & Pasta offer some interesting facts about one of our favourite, doughy meals.
The first pizza is thought to have originated as a cheap meal in Naples.
According to historians, poorer citizens of Napoli in the early 1500s would put slices of tomatoes on dough and add cheese as a topping to make a cheap and tasty meal.
The pizza Margherita was named after Queen Margherita of Italy…
… in the late 1800s by ‘Antica Pizzeria’, the first documented pizzeria in the world, located in Naples.
Pizzas can now cost over €2000!
Pizza may have originally been regarded as a cheap meal, but there are now pizzas available worldwide that can burn a hole in your pockets. These extravagant pizzas include toppings such as edible gold, lobster marinated in the finest cognac, champagne-soaked caviar, Scottish smoked salmon and medallions of venison. One would hope the taste of such pizzas is as whopping as their price tag!
Pizza styles vary worldwide
Pizza may have originated in Italy, but that doesn’t stop countries from developing their own regional spins on the tasty meal. In China, for instance, a crust made of mini-hot dogs is surprisingly popular.
The largest pizza in the world…
The largest pizza in the world was almost 40 metres in diameter, and weighed 23, 249 kg.
Over 5 billion pizzas are sold worldwide each year.
Americans alone eat 350 slices of pizza each second, which adds up to approximately 100 acres a day!
A pizza has been created that can last for up to 3 years!
Everyone needs a boost in their morale, especially soldiers serving their countries abroad. The U.S. Military Lab has invented a ready-to-eat pizza that can last for up to three years, using a special technology to stop bacteria from forming. Although regular dough and pizza components are still used, the only notable difference is that the sauce is a little more acidic due to the controlled pH level.
So cheesy
The four primary kinds of mozzarella used to make pizza are mozzarella di bufala (typically used on Neapolitan-style pizzas), fior di latte (similar to mozzarella di bufala, but made from cow’s milk), burrata, and ‘pizza cheese’ (the less perishable whole-milk or part-skim mozzarella used by the majority of American pizzerias).
The pizzas served at Hugo’s Pizza & Pasta mainly use fior di latte and mozzarella di bufala.
Dough-spinning is a sport!
Dough-spinning has its own professional-level sporting event where pizza teams compete in acrobatic dough-spinning. However, spinning pizza dough isn’t just for show; it’s the best way to evenly spread dough, create a uniform crust, and even helps the dough retain moisture.
There’s pizza-flavoured everything!
Pizza is such an iconic food, that over the years, a number of strange pizza-flavoured products have been released, including potato chips, ice cream, beer, e-cigarettes and even condoms.
At Hugo’s Pizza & Pasta – one of Hugo Chetcuti’s ventures – you can find a wide range of delicious pizzas, ranging from standard to uniquely gourmet. Whichever you choose, two things are guaranteed; high quality toppings and a dough that is made with love and baked to perfection.
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