All Hail the Queen! Queen Margherita, that is.

What turns 130 this year and makes your mouth water with one bite?

Margherita pizza, of course!

While we’d typically rather eat pizza than talk about it, we figure this monumental anniversary deserves some special attention.

So, we’ve dug into the Authentica archives to find some fun facts about the history of one of our favourite meals.

And apparently, we’re not the only ones who love a steaming hot pie of cheesy goodness…

•      Each year, a whopping 5 billion pizzas are eaten around the world.
•      In the U.S., 350 slices of pizza are eaten every second.
•      That’s an average of 23 pounds (or about 46 slices) of pizza per person per year.

The first ever pizza has its roots in Naples, Italy, where cash-strapped Neapolitans needed budget-friendly food that could be eaten on the go. Flatbreads with various toppings—such as tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies, and garlic—met this need.

The well-known pizza Margherita gets its name from Italy’s Queen Margherita, who in 1889 visited a pizzeria in Naples, getting her first taste of the dish that’s now considered the most popular fast food in the world.

Topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh green basil, the pizza was an instant hit with the Queen. Today, Neapolitan style pizza is popular throughout Italy and each region designs its own versions based on fresh, local ingredients.

As the people of Naples started immigrating to the U.S. in the late 19th century in search of factory jobs, they, thankfully, brought their love of pizza across the ocean, and started replicating this mouthwatering meal almost immediately.

Can you imagine a world without pizza?! We can’t.

That’s why we love to get our favourite sauce and toppings together and create an authentic experience of our own.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy recipe to try for yourself, give our The Bee’s Knees pizza a go. It combines our all natural, non GMO, made in Italy Authentica Arrabiata sauce with some deliciously surprising ingredients.

Sources:

https://www.history.com/news/a-slice-of-history-pizza-through-the-ages

https://www.foodnetwork.ca/fun-with-food/photos/crazy-facts-about-pizza/#!pizza-around-world