Pizza Facts

Just Facts:

Mmmmmm....Pizza

There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United

States. Each man, woman and child in America eats an average
of 46 slices (23 pounds) of pizza a year.

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Pepperoni is America's favorite topping (36 percent of all

pizza orders); we eat approximately 251,770,000 pounds per year.
Other popular pizza toppings are mushrooms, extra cheese, sausage,
green pepper and onion.
Anchovies always rank last on the list of favorite toppings.

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Around the world, toppings vary greatly to reflect regional

preferences. In Japan, for instance, eel and squid are

favorites. In Pakistan, curry is a big seller. In Russia,

red herring is a topping of choice and Australians enjoy

shrimp and pineapple on their pies as well as barbecue

toppings. Costa Ricans favor coconut.

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Modern pizza was born in 1889 when Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni,
the consort of Umberto I, king of Italy, visited Naples.
Don Raffaele Esposito, who owned a tavern-like place called Pietro Il Pizzaiolo,
was asked to prepare a special dish in honor of the Queen's visit. Esposito

developed a pizza featuring tomatoes, mozzarella cheese (a

never before used ingredient made from the milk of water

buffalo) and basil - ingredients bearing the colors red,

white and green for the Italian flag. He named it the

Margherita Pizza, after the guest of honor. Thus, the

modern-day tomato-and-cheese pizza was born.

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Marie Antionette's sister, Marie Carolina, wife of Ferdinand I of Sicily and Naples,
had ovens built in the forest so she could enjoy pizza while
the Royal Hunting Party feasted on wild ducklings and pigs killed in the hunt.

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The world's largest pizza was built on October 11, 1987
by Lorenzo Amato and Louis Piancone.
The pizza covered 10,000 square feet and measured 140 feet across.
It weighed in at 44,457 pounds, consisting of, among other items,
18,174 pounds of flour, 1,103 pounds of water, 6,445 pounds of sauce,
9,375 pounds of cheese and 2,387 pounds of pepperoni.

The pie was cut into 94,248 slices and eaten by more than
30,000 spectators at the baking in Havana, Florida.