Pizza Napoli is also called Margarita.

ORIGIN OF THE PIZZA MARGARITA
The pizza is one of the most famous meals in the world and comes in many variations. The most famous pizza, the margarita, was named after Queen Margeritha of Italy, the wife of King Umberto I.

Pizza, an old meal
The history of pizza is thousands of years old. Archaeologists have found traces of baking in central Italy that were probably the predecessor of today's pizza. From the pizza base to be exact. Such flat bread-like baked goods were not unique, by the way. Traces of similar baking have been found in many areas around the Mediterranean, and similar meals are still eaten in many places.

Meals that resemble the modern pizza, a flat bread-like baking topped with other foods, have been around throughout history. From Roman times to the Middle Ages. Historians therefore do not entirely agree on what the most direct 'predecessor' of the pizza is. For example, there is a theory that the pizza descends from the Jewish matzah, which was topped with cheese and olive oil by Roman soldiers. Another precursor could be the focaccia. They are still eaten in many places along the Mediterranean Sea and - just like the pizza - can also be found in our supermarkets.

A more direct predecessor is probably the galette as it was eaten in sixteenth-century Naples. Those flat breads were mainly eaten by the poor and were sometimes referred to as pizza. The most famous story about the origin of the pizza, however, is that of the pizza margeritha, the pizza that more or less symbolizes all modern pizzas.

Poor bread for the queen.
Margeritha of Savoy was the only daughter of the Count of Genoa and his wife. She was born on November 20, 1851. Her grandfather was the King of Sardinia, which made Margeretha an attractive marriage partner. In 1868 she married the crown prince of Italy, Umberto.

In 1889 she left for Naples with her husband, because Rome was struck by a cholera plague. In Naples, they were advised to sample dishes by local master chef Raffaele Esposito. The royal couple summoned him to court, where he hurriedly baked them a pizza. Esposito mimicked the colors of the Italian flag with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil to appease the couple. Margeritha was so delighted with the taste of the pizza that she wrote a personal letter of thanks to the chef. Esposito decided to name the pizza after her.

The Italian pizza bakers have used this story to also name their pizzas after princesses and queens. In 2012, Princess Beatrix - then Queen - also had a pizza named after her


"The king is dead, long live the king!"