The Invention of Pizza Margherita

Pizza Margherita is one of the most popular types of pizza worldwide. It has three main toppings: Mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil. Most of us have probably eaten Pizza Margherita at least once in our lives. But did you know about the interesting story of how this famous Italian dish was born?

Pizza has been a favorite of Italian people since the day it was invented. It was especially enjoyed by the commoners in the past rather than the royals of Italy, who were said to be more into French cuisine. One of the people's favorites was Pizza Margherita. There are several different stories about the invention of Pizza Margherita. Let's start with the most popular one:

"Pizza Brandi", an Italian pizza restaurant, claims this famous pizza was invented by one of their chefs back in 1889. According to this claim, the story goes like this: In 1889, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy - the monarchs of Italy at the time - were traveling all around the country to celebrate the unification of Italy. During their visit to Naples, Queen Margherita wanted to try pizza, which was very common among her people. Raffaele Esposito, an Italian chef and owner of a pizzeria, stepped up for this job. Since this pizza would be in honor of the Queen, Esposito wanted to make it special in some way. In the end, he came up with the idea of a pizza representing the Italian flag: Mozzarella for white, tomatoes for red, and basil for green. When he presented the pizza to the Queen, she loved it. So, to further honor the Queen, Esposito decided to name the pizza after her: Pizza Margherita!

Others tell this story a little differently. In this version, Queen Margherita had become bored of the usual French cuisine enjoyed among the royals. So, she decided to summon a chef from among the people to the castle. She summoned a chef from Naples: Raffaele Esposito. The Queen told Esposito that she wanted to try out something different. Esposito then prepared three different pizzas for the Queen: "Mast'nicola" which consisted of lard, basil, and cheese, "Marinara" which was made of tomatoes, garlic, fish, and various herbs, and finally "Pizza Alla Mozzarella" which consisted solely of mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. But at the last minute, Esposito's wife, Maria Giovanna Brandi, suggested he should add basil on top of the third pizza to resemble the Italian flag. When Queen Margherita noticed this detail, she immediately loved it. On top of that, out of all the three pizzas she had tasted, Pizza Alla Mozzarella had been her favorite. In honor of this, Esposito decided to change the pizza's name to "Pizza Margherita"!

Even though both versions of this story are quite interesting, some people object to both of them, claiming they are not true. Pizza Brandi shows a letter written by Queen Margherita herself to Raffaele Esposito as proof of their claim. But historian Zachary Nowak decided to compare this letter to other letters from the archives that were also written by royals of Italy. What he found out in the end was that the letter was a fake. Now, you might ask, "Well then, how do people who believe both of these stories to be fake explain the birth of Pizza Margherita?" To that, their answer would go like this: Pizza was a well-known dish among the people of Italy for a long, long time. Pizza with mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil was just another common type of this dish in the pizzerias of the time and had no special name. Some also claim that Pizza Margherita initially used to have egg yolk as a topping. The egg yolk was right in the middle, with pieces of mozzarella cheese surrounding it. As a result of this combination, the top of the pizza resembled a daisy. That's why people decided to name it "Margherita", which means "daisy" in Italian!

There are many different stories as to how "the queen of pizzas" was born. Even though we still don't know which one is true for sure, one thing you can be sure of is that Pizza Margherita will maintain its popularity and continue to be enjoyed all around the world for a long time!