Pompeii archaeologists discover 'pizza' painting

[Wicked Blue]

.webp

By James Gregory
BBC News

Archaeologists in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii have uncovered a painting which depicts what might be the precursor to the Italian pizza.

The flatbread depicted in the 2,000-year-old fresco "may be a distant ancestor of the modern dish", Italy's culture ministry said.

But it lacks the classic ingredients to technically be considered a pizza.

The fresco was found in the hall of a house next to a bakery during recent digs at the site in southern Italy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66031341

At least it didn't have pineapple

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Ever wonder why anchovies used to be a standard topping for pizzas ?

Consider this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pissaladi%C3%A8re

[AwakeAtLast]

5. Yum!

I would love that!

[Wicked Blue]

6. The ancient Romans made a condiment with anchovies and other fish

Called garum, it consisted of fermented fish intestines.

Worcester sauce is our modern version of it.

[Warpy]

2. Looks like each section might be a little different

The foreground looks like shrimp and herbs. Yum. The adjacent slice looks like egg yolk. Meh.

I can see bakers using up leftover dough and residual heat in the ovens to do this, making a quick bread and whatever nosh for other working slobs in the area. What's interesting is the specialized pan, it suggests this had been done for a very long time.

[Wicked Blue]

7. The pizza I tried in Italy more than 40 years ago was like a calzone

only it was filled with cooked greens and little else. The only other kind I found was a small margherita pie, but it didn't have much cheese, and no oil on top.

[Warpy]

9. I used to get a Greek variety in Boston

that was thick pizza dough with feta cheese and herbs on top. It was amazingly good for something that simple. The cheese didn't melt or get gooey, it just sort of sank into the bread.

I always thought that heavily oiled stuff was an abomination, the rest of the pizza was generally greasy enough already.

[Wicked Blue]

10. It sounds great

Nevertheless, my heart belongs to New Jersey pizza

[applegrove]

3. Is that corn on the cob? It should not be there.

[multigraincracker]

4. I wonder if they were making

mozzarella cheese from buffalo milk back then. It’s the best I’ve ever had. I keep looking for imported mozzarella from Italy and have never found any.

[pansypoo53219]

8. or a focaccia, or a charcoodery board.