I don't think this is OT: To get a real pizza, one shall cook it in a brick
oven stuffed with wood fire.
Do you know how and when pizza was invented?

It dates back to the peak of the Roman Empire might and wealth.
The rich Romans were used to organise huge parties with a lot of guests and
a lot of food.
Many more guests than their available porcelain, ceramic, wood and/or metal
dishes can accomodate.
So, it became a standard practice to serve the food over thin circular bread
especially backed for that.

For sure, those bread "dishes" were abosrbing all sort of sauces and
carrying quite a lot of leftover at the end of the party.

So, the Roman guests get used to take away their "dish" and give it to the
beggars and poor people who were queuing outside of the party place.

Back home, those poor people were warming up the bread and its "surface
content" over wood fire or in wood-stuffed ovens.

And that's pizza....
OK, recipes have been sophisticating this original pizza practice quite a
lot, but the principle remain the same: Thin slice of circular bread with
whatever you want on it, then brick oven...

The Frog footnote: THIN slice of bread. The one inch thick stuff you can get
at Pizza Hut is NOT pizza. Well, not the real original one.....It shall be
crispy!

Cheers
Daniel

Daniel wrote:
> I don't think this is OT: To get a real pizza, one shall
> cook it in a brick oven stuffed with wood fire.
> Do you know how and when pizza was invented?
>
> It dates back to the peak of the Roman Empire might and
> wealth. The rich Romans were used to organise huge
> parties with a lot of guests and a lot of food.
> Many more guests than their available porcelain, ceramic,
> wood and/or metal dishes can accomodate.
> So, it became a standard practice to serve the food over
> thin circular bread especially backed for that.
>
> For sure, those bread "dishes" were abosrbing all sort of
> sauces and carrying quite a lot of leftover at the end of
> the party.
>
> So, the Roman guests get used to take away their "dish"
> and give it to the beggars and poor people who were
> queuing outside of the party place.
>
> Back home, those poor people were warming up the bread
> and its "surface content" over wood fire or in wood-
> stuffed ovens.
>
> And that's pizza....
> OK, recipes have been sophisticating this original pizza
> practice quite a lot, but the principle remain the same: Thin slice of
circular bread with
> whatever you want on it, then brick oven...
>
> The Frog footnote: THIN slice of bread. The one inch
> thick stuff you can get at Pizza Hut is NOT pizza. Well,
> not the real original one.....It shall be crispy!
>
> Cheers
> Daniel

I agree about the crispy part. Like many dishes the origins are clouded in
the fog of time. Another version of the origins states:

" The common belief is that Italians invented the pizza, however the origins
go back to the ancient times. Babylonians, Israelites, Egyptians and other
ancient Middle Eastern cultures were eating flat, un-leaven bread that had
been cooked in mud ovens. The bread was much like a pita, which is still
common in Greece and the Middle East today. Further it is known that ancient
Mediterranean people such as the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were eating
the bread, topped seasoned with olive oil and native spices. "

http://www.aboutpizza.com/history/

Since the Romans were widely traveled and traded extensively your version
certainly sounds plausible although the actual concept might be a bit
earlier than that.

--
Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet.
promfh at hal dash pc dot org

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:51:20 +0700, "Daniel" >
wrote:


>It dates back to the peak of the Roman Empire might and wealth.
>The rich Romans were used to organise huge parties with a lot of guests and
>a lot of food.
>Many more guests than their available porcelain, ceramic, wood and/or metal
>dishes can accomodate.
>So, it became a standard practice to serve the food over thin circular bread
>especially backed for that.

An interesting sidenote to this is that the same practice existed in England in
the middle ages. There, the bread "plate" was quite large and was like a modern
serving platter -- enough for several people, but too hard to eat, just a
disposable plate. It (and the food on it) was called a "mess", hence the modern
term "mess hall".

Daniel wrote:

> I don't think this is OT: To get a real pizza, one shall cook it in a brick
> oven stuffed with wood fire.
SNIP
> And that's pizza....
> OK, recipes have been sophisticating this original pizza practice quite a
> lot, but the principle remain the same: Thin slice of circular bread with
> whatever you want on it, then brick oven...
>
> The Frog footnote: THIN slice of bread. The one inch thick stuff you can get
> at Pizza Hut is NOT pizza. Well, not the real original one.....It shall be
> crispy!
>
> Cheers
> Daniel

Yes it is off topic, but of no concern, if in doubt, post as OT. BBQ
here is primarily meat cooked outside, using coals and or coals/wood for
the stout at heart and for the light weights, propane.

The modern version of where pizza came from, and this is expoused by
Pizzaria Uno in Chicago, that when in Italy during World War 2, the
yanks saw Italians with thin bread with tomato sauce and perhaps one or
two items added to it, not really what Americans think of pizza. One of
these soldiers returned to the US after the war and started tinkering
with this idea for his drinking establishment in Chicago, eventually
turned it into the Chicago deep dish pizza which IMHO is great! I found
the recipe for it in a Frugal Gourmet cook book.
--
Mike Willsey (Piedmont)
"The Practical Bar-B-Q'r!"
http://groups.msn.com/ThePracticalBa...ewwelcome.msnw

Charities; Oxfam GB: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/about_us/index.htm,
Operation Smile: http://www.operationsmile.org/

If you or a loved one has thyroid issues, please have their thyroid
checked for radiation levels!

dug88 wrote:
> Apparently
> pizza was a poor man's bread.
> yeast was not a profound thing back then, so it was usually unlevened.
> a flat bread.
> the topping was usually a lard, with a seasoning or a only item
> available to the the peasants.
> the ham and pineapple with anchovies, was a very long in coming.
> but interested in following this string.

Would you kindly knock-off the top-posting, please?
--
Dave
Dave's Pit-Smoked Bar-B-Que
http://davebbq.com/

There, the bread "plate" was quite large and was like a modern
> serving platter -- enough for several people, but too hard to eat,
just a
> disposable plate. It (and the food on it) was called a "mess",
hence the modern
> term "mess hall".


the bread plate was called a trencher, thus "trencherman" for a real
chowhound.

joe
petersburg (one of the few things i remember from the tower of london)
alaska

Dave Bugg wrote:
> dug88 wrote:
>
>>Apparently
>>pizza was a poor man's bread.
>>yeast was not a profound thing back then, so it was usually unlevened.
>>a flat bread.
>>the topping was usually a lard, with a seasoning or a only item
>>available to the the peasants.
>>the ham and pineapple with anchovies, was a very long in coming.
>>but interested in following this string.
>
>
> Would you kindly knock-off the top-posting, please?

Yeah, what he said. It's very annoying and leads directly to no-replies.

--
Steve

Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little
bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards...