Those famous old Greeks like Socrates, Aristotle and no, not Jimmy the Greek, loved to put olive oil and various natural toppings on their pita and devour it. All cultures eat bread, a universal food given by God. “Strangely enough” these various loaves of bread all look the same, no matter where you go in the world!

The Pizza we eat in America came from Italy. While the ancient Greeks used a lot of veggies on their flatbread, legend and a lot of historical records have it that about 1000 years ago, Italians were cooking circle flat dough and baked in the primitive ovens of the time with available toppings. These earlier folks had no idea what tomato sauce was because the tomato was not brought to Europe, until after the Spanish conquered Central and South America.

As we know and love it today in the west, our delicacy actually began in Napoli or Naples, where the moon hits your eye, like a bigga pizza pie! This “amore” with the pie was first coated with delicious extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with garlic and mozzarella cheese and then baked! Believe it or not, anchovies was the favorite extra topping at the time!

The first pizza restaurant recorded in the western world was in Port Alba, Italy. Today, while we have the great pizza chains of America like Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Little Caesar, the local mom and pop shop still have the best pizzas in town! The best pizzas are not necessarily to be found just in Little Italy neighborhoods, because anyone with a flair can cook them. The secret is always the sauce! It is source of delight!