Mind-Blowing Facts About Pizza
What is it, exactly, that makes us love pizza so much? Oh, right, it's the perfect food! Bread, cheese, sauce, a virtually infinite number of toppings... You can go your whole life without meeting someone who actively dislikes pizza, and that's saying a lot. But as much as we may think we know everything there is to know about this versatile food, there are actually a whole lot of facts that you most likely didn't know about pizza, and some of them are mind-blowing.
Nobody Knows the Name's Origin
There are a whole bunch of different theories about the root of the word "pizza." Among them are: Pitke, ancient Greek for "fermented pastry;" pizzicare, Italian for "to pluck;" and pizzo, the Old High German word for "mouthful." Which of these, if any, do you think is the true root word?
It Was Originally a Sweet Dish
Until the late 1800s, a typical pizza was sweet, usually topped with things like cheese and honey. Pizza Margherita was invented in 1889, and the bread-tomato-cheese combination didn't really catch on until the 1920s!
The World's Largest Pizza was HUGE
Constructed in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1990, the pizza was nearly 123 feet across! Modern pizzaiolos have yet to beat that record.
The Statistics are Insane
Ready to have your brain melted? According to Statistic Brain, 93 percent of Americans eat pizza at least once a month; 3 billion pizzas are sold in the U.S. every year; each American eats an average of 46 slices per year; there are 70,000 pizzerias in the United States; 252 million pounds of pepperoni are eaten on pizza every year; and pizza is a $32 billion industry!