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The Story Of Pizza: A History Lesson From Marv’s Original Pizza In Paso Robles

The Story Of Pizza: A History Lesson From Marv’s Original Pizza In Paso Robles

Pizza is basically a flatbread covered with any variety of toppings. Flatbreads having been dietary staples for people all over the world for centuries. Tortillas and pita bread are two that come immediately to mind. Evidence of flat unleavened bread being prepared as long as 7000 years ago has been found in Sardinia by French and Italian archaeologists.

An early reference to a pizza-like food occurs in the “Aeneid” (written a little over 2000 years ago) when the queen of the Harpies predicted that the Trojans would not find peace until hunger drove them to eat their tables. When Aeneas and his troops were served a meal including round bread topped with cooked vegetables, they realized that they had eaten the “tables” prophesied by Queen Celaeno.

Tomato sauce, one of the staple toppings for pizza, including the special sauce from Marv’s, the Paso Robles pizza and Italian food restaurant, was not added until the 16th century. The tomato made its appearance from the New World to Europe but because most Europeans believed the fruit to be poison, it didn’t fully catch on for a couple hundred years. By the 18th century, it was common for the poor living around Naples to add tomato to their flatbread. This practice seems to be the birth of the modern pizza.

Pizza and pizza toppings have come a long way since the tomato was added around 300 years ago. Even though there are pizza-purists who cling to the idea that marinara and the margherita are only true pizzas public taste certainly has other ideas.

Marinara is older than the margherita and gained its name because it was the traditional food prepared by seamen’s wives, “la marinara,” when their husbands returned from fishing trips. The margherita is reportedly named after Queen Margherita of Savoy in the late 1880s because her favorite pizza, topped with green basil leaves, white mozzarella and red tomatoes, represented the Italian flag,

Italian immigrants brought pizza to New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Saint Louis in the late 19th century where they peddled pizza up and down the streets. Before World War II, pizza still had not reached much of the North American populations outside of Italian communities, but that changed rapidly when soldiers returning from Italy brought a taste for pizza back home with them. Pizza arrived in Canada in the 1950s, maybe due to returning Canadian soldiers wanting more pizza. The ham and pineapple topped Hawaiian Pizza was introduced in 1962 by restaurateur Sam Panopoulis in Chatham, Ontario.

Hawaiian pizza may have marked the beginning of pizza topping innovations. Even though marinara and margherita pizzas are still standards, Marv’s the Paso Robles pizza restaurant, continues innovative and original recipes that include traditional pizza and Barbeque Chicken, Tri-Tip and Green Chili, Gourmet Chicken and Bacon and Garlic Delight to name a few.

Marv’s Original Pizza menu is not limited to pizza. Pasta dishes and Italian-influenced sandwiches such as the Meatball Sandwich and the Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich plus a special kid’s menu help create take-out or eat-in dining experiences for everyone’s taste.

Paso Robles, a favorite wine country and dining destination for travelers from around the world, is located on California’s Central Coast with easy access from Highway 101, about half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Be sure to drop into Marv’s Original Pizza when in town. Highly rated on both Yelp and TripAdvisor, a visit to Marv’s is on the “must visit” list.

Marv's Original Pizza Company

729 12th Street

Paso Robles, CA 93446

(805) 238-1851

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