Good Taste / May 2007
Slice of Life
Approximately 3 billion pizzas are sold in the U.S. each year, according to the National Association of Pizza Operators. Each woman, man, woman and child in America eats an average of 46 slices (23 pounds) of pizza a year. That’s approximately 100 acres of pizza eaten each day, or 350 slices per second.
In 2005, sales of pizza were in excess of $31 billion. As of July 2006, there were 69,386 pizza restaurants in the US.
Three of the top 10 weeks of pizza consumption occur in January. More pizza is consumed during Super Bowl week than any other week of the year. Pizza is the second most popular takeout food, after chicken, among the over-50 and, according to a recent Gallup Poll, kids 3 to 11 prefer pizza over all other food groups for lunch and dinner.
Pepperoni is America’s favorite topping-approximately 251,770,000 pounds per year on 36 percent of all pizza orders. In America, anchovies always rank last on the list of favorite toppings. Gourmet toppings like chicken, oysters, crayfish, dandelions, sprouts, eggplant, shrimp, artichoke hearts and tuna are gaining ground in some parts of the country. More recent trends include game meats like venison or duck. Pizza makers have tried virtually every type of food on pizzas, including peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs and mashed potatoes. Women are twice as likely as men to order vegetable toppings on their pizza.
According to Domino’s, popular international toppings include pickled ginger, minced mutton and tofu in India, squid, eel and Mayo Jaga (mayonnaise, potato and bacon) in Japan, and green peas in Brazil. In Russia, they serve pizza with red herring or covered with mockba, a combination of sardines, tuna, mackerel, salmon and onions. In France, a popular combo is the Flambée, with bacon, onion and fresh cream. In Pakistan, curry is a big seller. Australians enjoy shrimp, pineapple or barbecue toppings and Costa Ricans favor coconut. In the Netherlands, the “Double Dutch” is a favorite, with double cheese, double onions, double beef.
Basic pizza most likely began in prehistoric times, with bread cooked on flat, hot stones. Roughly 1,000 years ago herb-and-spice-covered circles of baked dough known as focaccia grew exceptionally popular in Naples, Italy, as appetizers or snacks. Today, pizza restaurants have been opened in the Caribbean islands of Curacao and Bonaire; the South Pacific atoll of Palau; and in most Arab countries.
The world’s largest pizza was built in 1987. It covered 10,000 square feet, measured 140 feet across and weighed 44,457 pounds. It consisted of 18,174 pounds of flour, 1,103 pounds of water, 6,445 pounds of sauce, 9,375 pounds of cheese and 2,387 pounds of pepperoni. The pie was cut into 94,248 slices and eaten by more than 30,000 spectators at the baking in Havana, Florida.
As of February, 2007, there were more than 124 million references to pizza on Google and more than 60,000 pizza books listed on Amazon.com.
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