When you’re hungry and you have zero time for cooking, in this day and age, a simple tap or three on your phone will give you your all-time favorite cheese, Hawaiian, or whatever flavor you want. This applies whether you’re a student buried in homework or a project or a busy person swamped with paperwork at the office. Everybody can get pizza at any time which will be great for addressing their hunger.
Who doesn’t love pizza? Let’s look at some statistics:
Brian Roemmele, a business advisor, did research that uncovered the most popular pizza topping: pepperoni. 36% of people order their pizzas with pepperoni on them!
Pizza Today annually releases a list of the top 100 biggest pizza chains in America. Back in 2019, the Ann Arbor, MI branch of Domino’s sold the most pizzas at 15,914. That was worth a grand total of $13,545,200,000 in gross sales! Pizza Hut’s Plano, TX location came second: 18,431 pizzas sold, which equated to $12,212,000,000.
All of that said-why is pizza the most popular delivery food out there in the first place?
Pizza: A Background
People have enjoyed eating pizza for centuries. From the simple cheese pizza to a mouthwatering, topping-filled pizza, pizza has had no limits. But people were eating pies long before anybody knew what a pie was. Pies were savory flatbreads filled with tasty toppings, and they were served as a convenient and yummy meal for those that could not afford plates. Others who benefitted from this are also those who were on the go.
Virgil Aeneid saw these early pizzas come about.
Pizzas were associated with the Lazzaroni or lower class, impoverished people in Naples for the longest time. Depictions of them were often in the framework of beggars; what they could have quite easily was pizza.
Telegraph inventor Samuel Morse once described pizza as “a species of the most disgusting cake, topped with slices of [tomatoes], and sprinkled with little fish and black pepper.” He also said that for him, the food “looks like a piece of bread that has been taken reeking out of the sewer.”
At some point, the status of lazzaronis improved; until the 19th century, however, pizzas were not in the first cookbooks at all. King Umberto I and Queen Margherita wanted to try other foods during a visit to Naples in 1889. This was largely because French dishes were all they had from breakfast to dinner, and they wanted something else.
In response, pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito then cooked three types of pizza:
- One with basil, caciocavallo, lard
- One with basil, mozzarella and tomatoes
- One with cicinelli
The queen was delighted, and she was particularly pleased with the basil-mozzarella-tomatoes pizza. Thus, it was named the pizza Margherita in her honor. This is how pizza went from “poverty food” to a royal dish; it was eventually introduced as full-on Italian food like polenta and pasta.
As Neapolitans traveled, America got pizza in 1905 and became the secondary home of pizza. Eventually, the first-ever pizzeria, Lombardi’s opened in New York City. Pizza caught on by the 1950s entirely, since it’s quick, convenient and delicious.
Conclusion
Pizza is easily the most popular and beloved delivery food out there. This is mainly because it’s tasty and convenient. Historically, it started in the Naples area and eventually went from being a staple for the less fortunate all the way to becoming a royal dish.
Trying to find the best pizza in Indiana? Check out Doreen’s Pizzeria today! We offer dine-in, carry out, delivery and catering.