National Pizza Day

igorovsyannykov, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

February 9th is National Pizza Day in the United States.

Pizza is a well-known Italian dish that usually consists of a round, flattened base of leavened wheat-based dough that is topped with a variety of ingredients. A pizza would normally have tomato and cheese as the basic toppings, with many other additional ones possible. However, as pizzas have spread across the world, both the dough and the basic ingredients have started to diverge from the traditional recipes.

The first known reference to a pizza dates from the 10th century in Laizo in Italy. The modern pizza was invented in Naples. Since the popularity of pizzas spread, it is now a common fast food and takeaway dish in many other countries, as well as being available from supermarkets, both fresh and frozen, and being a common restaurant food, though some of what is sold as pizza would probably be unrecognisable as such to someone only accustomed to the traditional Italian dish.

National Pepperoni Pizza Day

September 20th is National Pepperoni Pizza Day in the United States.

Pizza itself is an Italian dish that consists of a base, usually round, flattened and made from wheat-based dough, that can be topped with a range of toppings. Most pizzas use cheese and tomato as the basic toppings, called the cheese pizza or margherita, but others can be added.

The pepperoni pizza is more of a U.S. creation than an Italian one, and in the U.S., it is often called a sausage pizza. Outside the U.S., this is less typical, for "sausage" is not a term used to describe pepperoni. Pepperoni is an American salami that is made from cured pork and beef and seasoned with paprika or other chilli pepper. For a pepperoni pizza, the salami is sliced thinly.

Image: Pink Sherbet Photography from USA / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

National Pizza Party Day

Valerio Capello at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

May 15th is National Pizza Party Day in the United States.

Pizzas originated in Italy, though they have since spread all around the world, becoming one of the most popular fast food items, and most of them consist of a flattened base of leavened wheat dough on which tomatoes, cheese and other ingredients are added. The simplest pizza is the margherita, which is just cheese and tomato as well as some herbs.

Not every pizza is on a flattened base. The calzone, for instance, is a folded pizza, and there are other types such as the deep-dish pizza which is commonly associated with Chicago. The traditional Neapolitan pizza is the origin of the New York-style pizza; that and Chicago being the two primary types of American pizza. Other ingredients to make the base have been used as well, not just wheat dough.

A pizza party isn't a way of cooking a pizza; it's a way of eating eat. One that just requires a number of pizzas and a number of people to eat them in its most basic form.

National Deep Dish Pizza Day

April 5th is National Deep Dish Pizza Day in the United States.

What is a deep dish pizza? Well, it is also sometimes called a Chicago-style pizza, though it is only one of several different types of pizza that were developed in Chicago. Though it seems impossible to accurately determined who invented the deep dish and when, it appears that it may have been created in the city in 1943 at the Pizzeria Uno.

The obvious difference between the deep dish pizza and the more normal thin crust is, of course, the crust is very deep. This results in a pizza that more closely resembles a pie than it does a flatbread. Similarly, it is cooked in a steel pan more closely related to a cake or pie tin than it is to a pizza pan. The crust is pressed up to the side of the dish, which allows a thick layer of toppings to be added. With the pizza being deeper, it takes longer to cook than a regular one.

L. W. Yang from Los Angeles, California, USA / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

National Calzone Day

Deryck Chan [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

November 1st is National Calzone Day in the United States.

Calzones are a type of Italian pizza but, unlike the more common flat pizzas, these are folded and baked in an oven, although in Italy some street venders sell small ones that have been fried.

The ingredients that go into a calzone can vary, just like they can with a regular pizza. Cheese is a typical ingredient, with mozzarella being common but not the only one. Ham, salami and vegetables can also be included, and different varieties can have different ingredients. Plus, making your own choice means that effectively a calzone can be stuffed with the full range of ingredients that can be found in a normal pizza. They are also often topped with such as marinara or other sauce.

With calzones being folded and baked, their taste is different, as the juices can combine inside. In addition, it is not really possible to have a "slice" of calzone as there is nothing to cut into slices. This is the reason for vendors in Italy selling small calzones; these can be eaten whilst standing.

National Pizza Month

October is National Pizza Month in the United States.

Italy is the country that is most associated with the pizza - one suggestion for the origin of the word is Latin, and another is Italian. The earliest known reference to pizzas is in a Latin manuscript from central Italy at the end of the tenth century. It is probable that the dish pre-dates this reference by a lot, and many other cultures have similar dishes that date back over seven thousand years.

The traditional pizza is made from flat, round bread that is covered in tomato sauce and cheese, as well as possibly other toppings, then baked. This is the simple cheese pizza today, and there are many other variations, including the folded pizza known as the calzone. The cheese used should be, but usually isn't, buffalo mozzarella. Pizzas can also be cooked in different ovens.

The modern pizza can be made up any way desired, but many variations are not considered to be "true" pizzas by purists. Some versions don't even use bread. The crust of the pizza can also vary, from thin and crispy to deep dish to stuffed, to name a few. Probably the greatest number of different pizza types can be found in America, many of which use typically American toppings which are less likely to be found on the Italian pizza.

National Sausage Pizza Day

October 11th is National Sausage Pizza Day in the United States.

Pizza is always a popular dish and there are a whole range of toppings that can be put on them if you desire. Practically anything, in fact, although some are more popular than others - and there are always some toppings that people will think are a horrible idea.

Today the topping is sausage (usually with the other standards, such as cheese and tomato), which is apparently a topping strongly linked with the Chicago pizza.

The sausage topping is not what people in some other countries, such as the UK, would consider to be a sausage, even though they technically are. Rather than the traditional British sausage, a sausage pizza tends to use those of other countries. Consequently, this type of pizza in the UK would be more commonly known by such names as pepperoni and salami, rather than sausage, so anyone expecting to get an old fashioned banger on this pizza is probably going to be disappointed. Not that you couldn't use such as a topping if you wanted to.

National Cheese Pizza Day

September 5th in the United States is National Cheese Pizza Day.

What is a cheese pizza? Well, it could be interpreted as being any pizza, of whatever type - calzone, deep pan or thin and crispy, for example - that has cheese on it. Which, seeing as cheese is one of most common pizza ingredients, would actually be most of them. Mozzarella is the standard, traditional pizza cheese, with buffalo mozzarella being found on the best.

Alternatively, it could be a pizza where cheese is the most important, or practically sole (except for herbs and the tomato based pizza topping) ingredient. One of the traditional cheese pizzas, and one of the oldest pizzas referred to as such is the Margherita, which is made with mozzarella, tomato, basil and extra virgin olive oil. Although the latter two ingredients will often be left out, even though they are still typically called Margheritas.

Other cheese pizzas would have multiple different cheeses on them, such as three and four cheese (or even more) pizzas. These are definitely for the cheese lover. Cheddar cheese is a popular cheese type found on multiple cheese pizzas, as it has a good taste and melts well in cooking.

National Pizza With Everything (Except Anchovies) Day

November 12th in the United States in National Pizza With Everything (Except Anchovies) Day.

This doesn't celebrate the humble cheese pizza, although cheese is still used, but instead it celebrates everything else that can go on a pizza. Except anchovies, of course. Anchovies - small, strongly tasting fish - seem to be one of the more unpopular pizza toppings.

Also known as the works, this pizza can have a wide range of different toppings on it although, considering how many different things can be added (pretty much anything edible in fact can and probably has been added to a pizza) it is probably best not to put every single possible topping on to one single pizza - unless it's really, really big - or you will just end up with a mound of food.

Most pizza places, though, will only have a comparatively limited number of toppings. Comparatively, because this can still be dozens of different toppings, even if it isn't all the many hundreds if not thousands of toppings available. Some toppings will likely not work well with each other, so some forethought is advised before going wild.