If you occasionally order pizza and have to wait a long time for the delivery man to knock on your door, there’s a reason you shouldn’t be annoyed. You’re lucky you don’t live in the era of the world’s first pizza delivered. It was 1889, when there were no cars or motorbikes on the streets.
At that time, pizza was the food of the common people. Because it’s cheap, easy to make, and easy to eat, it’s definitely not suitable for the elite. But Queen Margherita of the kingdom of Italy changed that completely.
It is said that, while with her husband, King Umberto I, traveling and resting in the city of Naples, the queen was fed up with the dishes of “nem cong cha phoenix” . So, she asked to enjoy a rustic local specialty. Since this is Napoli, that dish is nothing more than pizza.
Portrait of Queen Margherita. (source: Wikipedia).
The royal entourage contacted Raffaele Esposito , the best pizza chef in the region, who is today revered as the father of modern pizza. He received orders to deliver pizza to the queen’s residence.
The queen’s request was also very interesting: the cake must be decorated with all 3 colors of the national flag of Italy, including white mozzarella cheese, green basil leaves and red tomatoes. So just waiting at her resting place, the queen was able to enjoy deliciously the world’s first delivered pizza. This type of cake was later named after the queen – Margherita pizza .
Pizza named after Queen Margherita. (source: Life in Italy).
The 1960s of the 19th century is considered the golden age of fast food. This is also where the modern delivery of pizza was born.
Towards the end of the 20th century, thanks to the advent of the World Wide Web, pizza delivery turned a new page. From 1994 to 1997, the pilot service PizzaNet was launched, where people could order food online.
PizzaNet website interface. (source: The History of the Web).
When it first appeared, people thought this website was a joke because it was unbelievable how easy it was to log in, create an order and just wait for the pizza delivery person to knock on the door. However, 20 years later, the method of food delivery, including pizza delivery, is not only so accepted but so widespread that it is hard to imagine a world without it.