As you may know, pizza is our life here at Cosmo’s and we have quite a history! Today we’d like to delve a little deeper, looking beyond our history to share a little something about the origins of pizza itself.

Although this is debated, it is widely believed that the word ‘pizza’ was coined in Gaeta, Italy, in 997 AD. Only then it wasn’t in the form of sauce-smothered cheesy slices, it was a flatbread with oil, herbs and sometimes a sprinkling of cheese. This quickly spread across Italy as a food for peasants, being cheap to produce and easy to eat.

Some argue that modern pizza was not born until as late as 1889 thanks to Raffaele Esposito of Naples. Raffaele baked his version of ‘pizza’, using tomatoes, mozzarella and basil to reflect the Italian flag. This was prepared for the visit of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy… any guesses as to what he named it?

Since then pizza has become a worldwide phenomenon, from New York’s famously thin slice to our very own Scottish twist, the haggis pizza. Who thinks we should have a look at pizzas around the world for our next post? Watch this space!