PIZZA

dish of Neapolitan origin consisting of a flattened disk of bread dough topped with olive oil, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, baked quickly and served hot. Pizza is now eaten throughout ItalyRoman pizza omits tomatoes from the topping and adds onions and olives; the Ligurian pizza resembles the pissaladire of Provence in France, with olives, onions, and anchovies. The popularity of pizza in the United States began with the Italian community in New York City; the first pizzeria appearing there in 1905. After World War II the pizza industry boomed; soon there was scarcely a hamlet without a pizzeria. In the United States sausage, bacon, or ground beef, mushrooms, peppers, shrimps, and even oysters are sometimes added.