03/01/2024
I’m honored to have this article published in this month’s Pizza Today Magazine. I’ve always been curious, since childhood, about our origins and how things have evolved into what we know today. History, tradition, evolution - it all fascinates me. I want to express my gratitude to Janet Zapata of 550 Pizzeria in Laredo, Texas, and Tony Garcia of One Guy from Italy in Lubbock, Texas for their contributions, as well as Denise Greer, Bill Oakley and Jeremy White of Pizza Today and Pizza Expo for so many opportunities to delve into and immerse myself in these subjects. A very special thanks to Maestro Enzo Coccia - Pizzeria La Notizia, whose passion for sharing this history inspired me to explore further.
A few interesting tidbits and observations from my study:
- Americans consume on average 30lbs of tomato’s per year, of which 60 percent comes from canned tomatoes
- The global tomato market generates $181.74 billion in revenue yearly, not far off from the entire GDP of Greece, Peru and Portugal
- Tomatoes originated South America, and didn’t find their way to Europe until 16th century
- Tomatoes were not used in Italian cuisine until the late 1700’s
- Historical Italians Julius Caesar, Leonardo Da Vinci, Marco Polo, Michelangelo and even Christopher Columbus never had a dish of Spaghetti Pomodoro
- Our Founding Fathers, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Sam Adams did not know what pizza was.
