| Right up there with baseball and apple pie, pizza | | | | in the U.S. as Italian immigrants begun to settle in |
| has become an American icon, no longer just | | | | Chicago and New York and established small |
| reserved for college students on a budget – | | | | restaurants and cafes that served pizza in the |
| but a family favorite across the country. Whether | | | | early part of the twentieth century. Soldiers |
| it's piled high with pepperoni and mozzarella or | | | | returning from WWII who had served in Italy and |
| loaded with pineapples and ham, pizza is one of | | | | developed a taste for the beloved pie helped to |
| the most popular foods in the United States. | | | | spur on the popularity of pizza in the U.S. That |
| Amazingly, Americans eat an average of around | | | | popularity begun to grow throughout the 20th |
| 350 slices of pizza every second, amounting to | | | | century, and now 94% of all Americans eat pizza |
| around one hundred acres each day. In fact, the | | | | regularly. |
| average man, woman and child in our country | | | | Toppings. The toppings of the pizza are arguably |
| each eat around twenty-three pounds of the | | | | its biggest selling point. In the United States, |
| cheesy stuff each year. | | | | pepperoni is considered to be the most popular |
| History. Pizza may not be a strictly Italian offering; | | | | topping, accounting for around 1/3rd of all pizza |
| unleavened bread that was seasoned with olive oil | | | | orders at restaurants that serve pizza; in fact, |
| and spices was on the menu many years before | | | | over ¼ of a million pounds of pepperoni is used |
| in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. The familiar | | | | on pizza in our country each year. Additional |
| pizza that is served up at your local pizzeria or | | | | toppings of choice include Canadian bacon, green |
| out of your own freezer is akin to the pies that | | | | pepper, ham, Italian sausage, mushrooms, onion, |
| were first baked up in Naples, Italy in the latter | | | | pineapple and of course, extra cheese. And while |
| part of the 19th century by baker Raffaele | | | | the majority of folks prefer meat on their pizzas, |
| Esposito who concocted the dish for royal guests. | | | | around 1/3rd of all pizzas are ordered with |
| The ingredients for Esposito's original pizza pie | | | | vegetarian only toppings. For those with a taste |
| were inspired by the red, white and green colors | | | | for the more exotic, everything from oysters to |
| of the Italian flag and are represented through the | | | | Cajun shrimp has also been offered up for pizza |
| colors of the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. It | | | | toppings in gourmet pizzerias around the country. |
| was Italian monarch King Umberto and his Queen | | | | Around the world, pizza toppings can range from |
| Margherita whom were the esteemed dinner | | | | eel and squid in Japan to green peas in Brazil. |
| guests; the two royals were so impressed by the | | | | Sardines and onions are favorite pizza toppings in |
| dish that they went on to spread the word about | | | | Russia while in Costa Rica, coconut is commonly |
| it to others, and thus a food phenomenon was | | | | used as a topping . |
| born. It did not take that long for pizza to arrive | | | | |