Pizza Bites: America’s Favorite Pizza Topping Isn’t Italian
7/14/20268 min
In the second Pizza Bite from Eating History, Adrienne and Stephen tackle America’s undisputed favorite pizza topping: pepperoni. From the surprising reality of ordering "peperoni" in Italy to its mysterious origins in early 20th-century New York, they explore how an Italian-American community creation transformed into a national culinary staple.
In this episode:
Why ordering a "pepperoni" pizza in Naples will get you a pie covered in bell peppers
The 1919 debut of the word and its evolution from Southern Italian cured meat traditions
The culinary science behind why pepperoni’s high fat content and paprika make it the perfect pizza topping
The earliest documentation of a pepperoni pizza at The Spot in New Haven, Connecticut
How post-WWII expansion turned this Italian-American invention into the default topping for one out of every three pizzas in America
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsStephen Bailey· Host0:00
So imagine you saved up for the trip of a lifetime. You fly into Naples, Italy. You walk into one of the city's most famous pizzerias. You sit down. You confidently order a pepperoni pizza. A few minutes later, the waiter arrives with a pizza covered in peppers. Not sausage, peppers. Because in Italy, pepperoni means peppers, and America's favorite pizza topping, well, it isn't really Italian at all. Welcome to Eating History, where we explore the foods that changed the world. I'm Stephen Bailey, a history expert who loves to eat.
Adrienne Cheatham· Host0:31
And I'm Chef Adrienne Cheatham, a food expert who loves to history. This episode, we're telling the story of how pepperoni became America's favorite pizza topping. But before we get into the story, we need 10 seconds of your time. It would mean the world to us if you would take a moment to rate and review Eating History. It helps more people discover the show and helps us keep bringing you new stories. [upbeat music] Last week, we told the story of Hawaiian pizza. This week, we're tackling a topping that is much less controversial.
Stephen Bailey· Host1:07
Well, I don't know about that. You do have some Neapolitan pizza purists who might have some thoughts.
Adrienne Cheatham· Host1:13
But unlike pineapple pizza, pepperoni became so common that most Americans simply assume it's always been a part of pizza. But pepperoni, which amazingly tops one out of every three pizzas sold in America today, was not brought