Pizza is almost everyone’s favourite choice of food. According to a survey, roughly 3 billion pizzas are sold every year in the United States alone. One may ask, “What is it about pizza that makes it so special?” Well, the combination of tomato sauce, toppings and cheese produces an indescribable aroma that is quite intoxicating! There are different varieties of pizza and each one of them has its own inimitable and rustic flavour. Sometimes, chilli oil is drizzled over the topping, giving it a lustrous appearance and that extra zest. Although not a healthy food choice, given the amount of cheese and yeast that goes into the making of this sinful dish, the people at large still dig into it while savouring every bite.
How did the frenzy begin?
Pizza as we all know is an Italian dish. But you’ll be surprised to learn that the original pizza was very different from what it has become today. Pizza was born in Naples where it was simply a flatbread and different cultures added their choice of toppings. For instance, in Persia, they used cheese and dates as a topping. The citizens of Greece used cheese, herbs, onion and garlic. It was much later in the 18th century, in the rural regions of Italy that pizza evolved into a much finer round piece of bread that was topped with tomato sauce.
The diversity of pizza across Asia
Pizza has been modified a great deal by people from around the globe. Here are some of them:
India: Here, pizza has been greatly adapted to suit the taste buds of locals here. It’s a lot spicier in India with a variety of vegetable toppings and seasonings like oregano and chilli flakes. The local varieties are infused with Indian toppings such as paneer, chicken tandoori, ginger and also a double pizza crust that is infused with cheese.
China: In China, American pizza chains like Dominos and The Pizza Hut have incorporated Chinese ingredients like soya sauce, crab sticks and tuna.
Japan: The Japanese Pizza has all kinds of ingredients thrown into their dish. This could range anywhere from tuna, seafood, chocolate and even honey. They also have a popular tradition of using tobacco sauce over the pizza.
Korea: Korean pizza is almost like a different recipe because they don’t use any of the traditional ingredients that are normally used in a pizza. Their toppings include sweet potato or seafood like shrimp and crab.
