Every year, February 9th is celebrated as national pizza day, the day of the mouthwatering dish with uncountable lovers worldwide. With different enjoyable variations, pizza has won everyone’s heart as it is the 2nd most popular food in the USA, ranking after hamburgers. There is no information about when or how national pizza day was started, but it is popular and celebrated every year. And every year, Americans eat an average of 23 pounds of pizza each person, making us understand the existence of national pizza day.
The history of this palatable food dates back to Naples in the 1700s. Flatbreads with toppings were consumed by ancient times, but the emerge of modern pizza was in Italy, Naples. People of Naples created pizza first as flatbread with different toppings in search of easy-to-consume food. These first pizzas were topped with cheese, garlic, oil, and anchovies. The spread of pizza in the USA began with the immigration of some Italians to the USA.
By the time, different variations emerged: Gourmet pizzas, original Neopolitan pizza, deep-dish pizza, and many more. And the most preferred and loved pizza toppings are in order cheese, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, bacon, onions, green peppers, and olives.
Why We Celebrate National Pizza Day?
Pizza’s allure stems from the fact that it can be changed according to different tastes and preferences. There is a pizza for everyone—whether with or without sauce, thin or thick-crusted, and whichever cheese kind you want.
It has a feature of gathering everyone together. Pizza always has its place near us at parties, home with friends, workplaces, or a restaurant, whether celebrating a particular day or just enjoying this fantastic dish. So, National Pizza Day is just another good excuse to meet with friends and enjoy this delicious food.
Which Ones are the Most Popular Pizzas?
- Pepperoni
Pepperoni is a favorite topping of most Americans. Pepperoni is the name of the spicy salami made of beef and pork, and the pizza is made using pepperoni, tomato sauce, and mozzarella.
- Margherita
We can count Margherita as the first pizza type, taking its name from Queen Margherita, marking that pizza is Italian.
- Stromboli
Stromboli is a kind of turnover dough filled with mozzarella or other cheese types, meat such as pepperoni or salami, and sometimes vegetables. The dough, either bread or pizza dough, is wrapped before baking.
- Chicago Style Deep Dish
Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is a cultural symbol of Chicago, and even there is a special day for it, April 5th national deep-dish pizza day! It’s made of a few cheese layers, tomatoes, meat, and a crispy crust.
- Sicilian
Sicilian pizza is made of a thick square-shaped crust with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Mozzarella cheese is put under the sauce for the crust to bake properly.
- New York Style
New York-style pizza is similar to margherita pizza, a thin-crust pizza made of tomato sauce seasoned with garlic, oregano, red pepper, sugar, salt and topped with mozzarella cheese.
- Greek Style
Created by Greek immigrants, this pizza is made of thick crust, oregano-flavored tomato sauce, greasy cheese, and the toppings of feta cheese, artichokes, and olives. It is cooked in an oily pan, making the crust fry.
- California Style
It is a thin-crusted pizza known for its unique toppings. It can be topped with various toppings such as fish, chicken, bbq sauce, or pineapples.
How to Celebrate National Pizza Day?
There are many fun and delicious ways to celebrate this amazing day aside from just having a slice of pizza.
- Find the best pizzeria in your city and gobble up the pizzas with your friends.
- Try to bake new pizza styles with your family. Maybe a chocolate pizza? Not so unique. What about a tuna fish pizza?
- Costume as a pizza with your friends or family. Pizza-shaped clothes, hats, and even a mask. Make yourself a whole cheesy pizza.
- Decorate everything and everywhere as pizza. Have fun and eat pizza as much as you can on traditional pizza day.
For Food Service Business
You can also turn national pizza day into a huge advantage for your business. Apart from national pizza day, there are many other pizza holidays such as deep-dish pizza day, national pepperoni pizza day, pizza Margherita day, etc. Considering huge numbers of pizza lovers in the USA, investing in these pizzeria equipment in your restaurant can throw an unforgettable pizza banquet on national pizza day.
- Dough Mixer: Dough mixers are designed specifically for dense doughs. The spiral mixing hooks are stationary, but the bowl rotates instead, ensuring all the content is mixed thoroughly.
- Pizza Dough Rounder: The next step in baking pizza is dividing and rounding the dough. At this point, a pizza dough rounder and dough divider rounders enter, making you easily and quickly round a huge amount of dough in a bit of time.
- Pizza Dough Presses: With a pizza dough press, you can easily achieve the perfect thickness and round of the dough.
- Pizza Prep Table: With the pizza prep table refrigerated counters, you can keep all your ingredients and toppings in safe temperatures until preparing pizzas on top of the prep table.
- Commercial Pizza Ovens: A commercial pizza oven is the most crucial commercial kitchen equipment in baking a good pizza. Brick ovens are a traditional way of baking pizza with wood fire, giving it a smoky flavor, but they are hard to install and require considerable space, so that you may prefer a convection or conveyor oven for your kitchen.
- Countertop Hot Food Display Cases: With countertop hot food display cases, you may display the delicious-looking pizzas while keeping them warm at the same time. And they will give customers an idea about how different pizza types look.
- Pizza Pan Racks: Pizza pan racks are a lifesaver to operate efficiently and save space in the kitchen. You can place the pizza pans before putting them in or after taking them off the oven.
- Pizza Heated Cabinets: Pizza heated cabinets are another way to display and keep the pizzas warm until serving simultaneously. With multiple racks, you may save a few pizzas at the same time and bake many pizzas without waiting.
(You can also take a look at our guide about pizzeria equipment for more.)
To Sum Up
Pizza is delicious food, but maybe more importantly, it has the feature of gathering people together, especially on national pizza day. Whether you bake, sell or eat pizza, do not forget to make the most of this palatable dish. Happy and delicious national pizza day; enjoy your pizza!
