Humble Origin of Pizza

Today, pizza is a favorite food of young people and I am one them. Specially when there is a hot sauce and complemented with a cold drink. But a word of caution is in order. To be considered as nutritious, pizzashould be made from healthful ingredients that are balance in carbohydrates, proteins, and fats and that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Olive oil is recommended ingredient in pizza. It promotes the formation of  HDL, describes as "the good type of cholesterol that helps clean the arteries"

It is said that pizza originated in Naples, Italy about 1720. Back then, pizzawas primarily for the poor, a "fast food" or should we say a "street food" that was sold and consumed outdoors. A story has it that King Ferdinand I (1751_1825) loves to eat pizza but because it was banned by the Queen from the royal court, King Ferdinand I disguise himself as a common man and visited a poor neighborhood in Naples just to eat pizza. Eventually King Ferdinand I made his penchant pizza known to the royal court. Before long, this street delicacy won such favor that even members of the wealthy elite and royal class began flocking to pizzzerias. Ferdinand'sgrandson, King Ferdinand II, went so far as to have a wooden-burning oven built in the gardens of Capodimonte Palacein 1832. Thus, he was able to keep his aristocratic guests happy.

If king Ferdinand were alive today, he would have no trouble indulging his appetite. Currently, there are some 30,000 pizzerias in Italy. So the next time you indulge your penchant for pizza, recall its humble origins. And be glad that KingFerdinand I did not keep his love for pizza a secret.