Unit 9
Lessons 3+4
SB pages 74 and 75
Food
Before reading
While reading
The history of pizza
The earliest form of pizza was invented when soldiers needed food to take with them on long marches. They baked a kind of bread flat on their shields and then covered it with cheese and dates. This early pizza was a convenient, healthy food for people who were constantly on the move. The wheat flour base provided energy in the form of carbohydrates, the cheese gave the soldiers calcium, which kept their bones and teeth healthy, and the dates provided protein, fibre and various vitamins and minerals that are necessary to keep the body healthy. Pizza is also mentioned in the 3rd century BC, when there was written evidence of a flat round bread that had olive oil, herbs and honey on the top. It was baked on hot stones.
When people explored the remains of Pompeii, Italy, they found evidence of a flat flour cake that was baked and widely eaten there at that time. There was also evidence of the first pizza restaurants in Pompeii in the 16th century CE. Visitors can see the pizza ovens in the ruins, even today.
In 1522 CE, travellers returning to Europe from Peru brought back tomatoes with them. The people of Naples added the new tomatoes to their bread, which consisted of flour, oil, salt and yeast, and created the first simple pizza.
In 1889 CE, the King of Italy and his wife, Queen Margherita, were on holiday in Naples in Italy. They asked a famous pizza chef to come and cook for them. He prepared three kinds of pizza. The Queen’s favourite one was the one that had been made with a white cheese called mozzarella, a green herb called basil, and ripe, red tomatoes. These were exactly the colours of the Italian flag. The chef named this pizza in honour of the Queen: the Margherita.
In the late 19th century CE, pizza became a popular snack that was sold from stalls on the streets of Naples. When many Italians emigrated to America in the 19th century CE, they took the recipe for pizza with them. Its popularity there spread all over the world, and today it is a favourite dish in almost every country
The text talks about:
- The text describes five kinds of pizza since its creation.
- The origin of pizza.
- The chef named a kind of pizza in honour of the Queen: the Margherita.
- The colours of the pizza were exactly the colours of the Italian flag.
After reading
-What happened In 1522 CE?
In 1522 CE, travellers returning to Europe from Peru brought back tomatoes with them. The people of Naples added the new tomatoes to their bread, which consisted of flour, oil, salt and yeast, and created the first simple pizza.