Interesting Facts

Pizza is thought to have been created over 1,000 years ago in Italy. (Of course it's now a worldwide phenomenon. In fact, the pizza effect is a term used to describe how elements of a nation or people's culture can be transformed or at least more fully embraced elsewhere, then re-imported back to their culture of origin. Some aspects of the change are not really something to celebrate though. For example, in the UK Pizza Hut created the Cheeseburger crust pizza with a staggering 2,880 calories. Whilst in New York the 24k pizza has been created with gold leaf, caviar, stilton cheese and truffles, a bargain at £1,600.  ( It's gone up since its invention in 2012 .)) Some people will buy into anything.)

9th February International Pizza Day

12th November University Defection Day - The day when more freshers drop out of higher education than any other. National Pizza With Everything (Except Anchovies) Day - Yes there is practically a pizza day for every day of the year. This one is for people who don't like anchovies. Do you remember when we looked at some alternative pizza toppings? (I might even have an oven in time!) It's also pneumonia day. So, if you have pneumonia, get well soon. 

According to a study by Bupa, ice cream is Britain's happiest food. (76% of Brits said food could boost their mood. The foods that make us feel happiest are:- Ice cream Roast dinner Fish and chips Strawberries and cream BBQ Apple crumble Pizza  Steak and chips Curry  Spaghetti Bolognese  I'm surprised no one mentioned chocolate (It is a food, isn't it?), or steak and kidney pie.)

A new device has been invented in Italy, a pizza printer. (You simply add the toppings you want, and what herbs you like, and the pizza will be printed to your specifications, and then baked - all in one.  You can set the size, depending on how hungry you are, up to 14", and the depth of the base, from crispy to deep pan.  You can even have your name baked on in cheese. The inventor, a pizza chef known as Igor Lovera, said, "This could put me out of business. From pressing "Print Pizza", it only takes about 30 minutes to get your personalised pizza. " Click here to learn more .)

Public Health England is considering including foods which have at least one portion of fruit or veg to their 5-a-day recommendation. (This would mean ham and pineapple pizza could count as part of a healthy diet, along with tinned soups and tinned fruit. I wonder if black forest gateau will count. After all, it has cherries in it.)

Pizza Hut introduced the Cheeseburger Pizza Crust pizza. (The spiel is that you can have it all - burger and pizza. At a whopping 2,880 calories, they are recommending it for sharing - for 288 calories a slice. And people wonder why there's an obesity epidemic, I mean how many people do you know who share a pizza between 10 people?) !Update - this pizza was withdrawn from sale in November .

McDonald's used to sell pizza in the 1990s. (The McPizza, I kid you not, could be cooked in under 5 minutes. Suffice to say it was a big McFlop.) Don't believe me?

A New York pizza restaurant is charging $1,000 for a pizza. (Labelled the 'most expensive pizza in the world', the pizza is prepared with thinly sliced lobster and creme fraiche, and then you can choose between two of the most expensive caviars in the world as an extra topping, The restaurant owner, Nino Selimaj, says it is worth every penny, "We sell them to politicians, Wall Street traders, or couples celebrating a birthday or anniversary," he said. I praise his entrepreneurial spirit, and the fact he is able to squeeze a bit of that banker's bonus out of people who can afford it, but during a recession and with half the world going hungry, I have to question his ethics, and those of his customers.)

In 2010 Pali Grewal, from Croydon of all places, became the world's fastest pizza maker. (He can make 3 pizzas in 39 seconds.  Here he is in action on the Russel Howard show:-

Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world's first fat tax: (Now this isn't a tax on fat people, it's a surcharge placed on foods that are high in saturated fat. Foods that contain saturated fat include, butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed foods, which are all subject to the tax if they contain more than 2.3% saturated fat. So, not so much a stealth tax, as a health tax.)

Italy tops the EU chart for products that are protected under the The Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) label, which is similar to the 'appellation controllée' system used for wine. (It has over 200 products currently protected, including the Neapolitan pizza, and Prosciutto di Parma (Parma Ham to you and me). I wonder if I can protect my granny's jam tarts?)

Olympic swimmers can consume more than 12,000 calories a day while training - and not get fat. (Michael Phelp's diet consists of the following:- Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee Lunch: Half a kilo (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks Dinner: Half a kilo of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks. I think I just put on a couple of pounds just reading this list.)

In 1950's Britain, pizza was known as “Italian Welsh rarebit". (Welsh rarebit — or rabbit — is a traditional Welsh snack, comparable to toasted cheese. And let's face it, this is the country that fell for the spaghetti tree report on April 1st.)

Well it's Valentine's Day, and a chef has flown from Scotland to Italy to create the world's most expensive pizza for a St Valentine's Day meal. (Award-winning Glasgow restaurateur Domenico Crolla will prepare the £2,150 (3,000-euro) feast for lawyer Maurizio Morelli and his wife Sabrina in Rome. Am I the only person who thinks it's very strange to fly a chef from Scotland to Italy to bake a pizza.)

On average Americans eat 18 acres of pizza every day. (That's over 72,843 square meters! Every day! I wonder if that includes the crust.)