HELP THESE KIDS

 www.sos-usa.org">
    
and remember toysfortots.org this Christmas

The tomato was brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, By the late 18th century it was common for area around Naples to add tomato to their yeast-based flat bread, and the dish gained in popularity. Pizza became a tourist attraction, and visitors to Naples sought the local specialty.

Until about 1830, pizza was sold from open-air stands and street vendors out of pizza bakeries. The world’s first pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, opened in Naples in that period. A description of pizza in Naples around 1830 is given by the french writer and food expert Alexandre Dumas in his work "Le Corricolo", Chapter VIII ^[2]. He writes that pizza was the food of the people in Naples during winter, and that "in Naples pizza is flavored with oil, lard, tallow, cheese, tomato, or anchovie.
Modern pizza is attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. In 1889 Esposito, working in the pizzeria "Pietro... e basta così" (literally "Peter... and that's enough", established in 1780 and still operating under the name "Pizzeria Brandi"), baked three different pizze^[3]. for the visit of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy. The Queen's favorite was a pizza evoking the colors of the Italian flag – green (basil leaves), white (mozzarella), and red (tomatoes). This combination, named Pizza Margherita in her honor, set the standard by which today's pizza evolved^[3].