Photo by: Michael Furman
Some people like it with cheese and pepperoni, while others like it with duck and cashews.
That is what associate professor of history Carol Helstosky discovered about pizza preferences while writing “Pizza a Global History.”
Reaktion Press, a London publisher, approached Helstosky, who is a food historian, to contribute to their series, which traces the history of everyday common foods that enjoy global popularity.
“Pizza is a perfect example,” said Helstosky. “It’s an interesting concept to trace as a kind of global phenomenon.”
Helstosky previously published a book on Italian food and nutrition in Italy during World War II as well as in other European countries during the war.
She traces pizza’s origins to Naples, Italy, where it was consumed by the poor throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Pizza then migrated to the United States along with Italian immigrants, who made the dish popular when they opened up Italian restaurants.
Chain restaurants like Domino’s and Pizza Hut popularized pizza not only in the United States but also all over the world.
While writing the book and teaching a first-year seminar class, Helstosky assigned students to eat different kinds of pizza every week and write about their experiences. Her goal was to determine why people enjoy eating pizza and the favored crusts and toppings.
When evaluating students’ comments on pizza and why some ate it even when they did not like pizza that much, Helstosky reached the conclusion that it’s not necessarily the taste that makes pizza popular. Frozen pizza, for example, is just easy to get and prepare.
“Pizza became popular all over the world because of technology and other things that have little to do with the way pizza tastes,” said Helstosky.
Her reason for pizza’s popularity: “It’s because it’s a meal on a plate and you can eat the plate. It’s a blank canvas,” said Helstosky, explaining that the plate is the crust and the meal is what is piled on it. “Consumers get to decorate their plate with any components they like,” she said.
Pizza Hut, which has outlets from China to Russia to South America, globalized pizza’s popularity. The chain generally offers the standard pizza with cheese or cheese and pepperoni but also customizes the toppings to local ingredients and preferences.
In Hawaii, the pizza may come with pineapple, while in Australia the BBQ chicken pizza is standard. In Poland, people like to put Polish sausage and pickled cabbage on their pizzas.
Helstosky theorizes about food trends in general, as well as pizza, and when it comes to current economic setbacks, she points out that it is too early to know the impact on American eating habits.
Some differences are visible: people are eating out less and do not order as much when they do go out, said Helstosky.
“Most likely, people are cutting back on more expensive habits, like eating a multi-course meal in a restaurant and still permitting themselves a less expensive indulgence, like a chocolate bar or a coffee drink,” Helstosky said.
However, candy and chocolate sales are increasing. Helstosky points out that history shows that during economic depressions and recessions, hard liquor is purchased more often whereas when the economy is good, people drink more beer and wine.
Nonetheless, food in the United States is relatively inexpensive.
“There’s much more freedom of choice on the part of consumers, even in the midst of economic difficulties,” said Helstosky.
The bulk of her research for “Pizza a Global History” was done through the Internet. Helstosky utilized flickr.com, a Website where people post photographs that include personal and family celebrations or what they did on trips. Often these photographs show food. Some she used in her book.
Helstosky recently finished another book called “Food Culture of the Mediterranean,” which is currently on sale.
Helstosky plans to get back to researching other interests aside from the edible ones. Her books are available at amazon.com and at local bookstores.
