eria "Da Michele" in Via C. Sersale (founded 1870),[21] consider there to be only two true pizzas—the marinara and the margherita—and that is all they serve. These two "pure" pizzas are the ones preferred by many Italians today. The marinara is the older of the two and has a topping of tomato, oregano, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. It is named “marinara” because it was traditionally the food prepared by "la marinara", the seaman's wife, for her seafaring husband when he returned from fishing trips in the Bay of Naples. The margherita is topped with modest amounts of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. It is widely attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito, who worked at "Pizzeria di Pietro", established in 1880. Though recent research casts doubt on this legend,[22] the tale hol

ld in the street and was not considered a kitchen recipe for a long time.[12] This was later replaced by oil, tomatoes (after Europeans came into contact with the Americas) or fish. In 1843, Alexandre Dumas, père, described the diversity of pizza toppings.[13] An often recounted story holds that on 11 June 1889, to honour the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan pizzamaker Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita", a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, to represent the national colours of Italy as on the Italian flag.[14][15][16] Pizza is now a type of bread and tomato dish, often served with cheese. However, until the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, the dish was sweet, not savory, and earlier versions which were savory more resembled the flat breads now known as schiacciata.[17] Pellegrino Artusi's classic early-twentieth-century cookbook, La Scienza in cucina e l'Arte di mangiar bene gives three recipes for pizza, all of which are sweet.[18] However, by 1927, Ada Boni's collection of regional cooking includes a recipe using tomatoes and mozzarella.[19] Innovation[edit] The innovation that led to flat bread pizza was the use of tomato as a topping. For some time after the tomato was brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, it was believed by many Europeans to be poisonous (as some other fruits of the nightshade family are). However, by the late 18th century, it was common for the poor of the area around Naples to add tomato to their yeast-based flat bread, and so the pizza began.[citation needed] The dish gained popularity, and soon pizza became a tourist attraction as visitors to Naples ventured into the poorer areas of the city to try the local specialty.

Records of people adding other ingredients to bread to make it more flavorful can be found throughout ancient history. In Sardinia, French and Italian archaeologists have found bread baked over 7,000 years ago. According to Pro