Pizza has a long history in Italy. It even arguably shows up in the Aeneid, the poet Virgil’s Augustan-era epic poem about the origin of Rome. Virgil’s poem focuses on Aeneas, a mythic Trojan who escapes from the sack of Troy with a band of refugees and endures a journey around the Mediterranean until he and his crew settle in what would become Rome. At one point in their travails, this “miserabile vulgus” (roughly, “wretched crowd”) rests from its travels and enjoys a meal. Here is how it is described in Robert Fitzgerald’s translation of the epic:
There with his officers and princely son, Aeneas took repose
beneath a tall tree’s boughs. They made a feast,
putting out on the grass hard wheaten cakes
as platters for their meal—moved to do this
by Jupiter himself. These banquet boards
of Ceres they heaped up with country fruits.
Now, as it happened, when all else was eaten
their neediness drove them to try their teeth
on Ceres’ platters. Boldly with hand and jaw
They broke the crusted disks of prophecy,
making short work of all the quartered loaves
This has always struck me as a kind of “proto-pizza,” at the very least. But why “crusted disks of prophecy”? Because, earlier in the epic, Aeneas is told by the shade of his father that when his crew “devoured [their] tables,” they were finally in the place they will call home. Aeneas did not understand what this meant until his son jokingly said that was what they were doing by eating the “crust” of the proto-pizza.
The dish itself took a long journey to becoming the ubiquity it is today. As often happens, a somewhat-quirky delicacy from another country arrived to America, which ran with it and then transmitted it to the world. So much so that Domino’s, one of the more successful American pizza franchises, attempted to set up locations in Italy, starting in 2015. Well, they say it’s hard to sell ice to eskimos, and apparently it’s also hard to sell Domino’s to Italians. The franchise has recently closed its last locations in the country. Via the Wall Street Journal:
EPizza SpA, the Milan-based company that held the master franchise rights to operate the Domino’s brand in Italy, said increasing competition hurt its stores, according to documents filed in April in Italian bankruptcy court. Locally run restaurants and pizzerias began using food-delivery services, eating into the revenue of the Domino’s franchises, according to the documents.
The pandemic also hobbled ePizza, according to the bankruptcy documents.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent and prolonged restrictions from a financial point of view have seriously damaged ePizza,” the company said in the documents.
It’s understandable that these franchises have struggled. Having consumed pizza in both America and Italy, I’ve found that, while Italy makes great pizza, there are places in this country that can compete. But Domino’s could not compare in sheer quality to the best Italian pizza. Where it could compete was in convenience. When Covid restrictions compelled more pizza places to start using delivery, though, that was probably game over for Domino’s in Italy.
But could other forms of American pizza survive, even thrive, in Italy? I think so. Italy may have invented pizza, but America has truly run with the dish, inventing multiple new forms that I could see Italians enjoying. New York, Detroit, and, especially, Chicago have their own types of pizza that Americans could try marketing to Italy, I think with some success. Chicago-style pizza, in particular, could awaken Italians to the new possibilities for the dish, with its thick crust, pie-like volume, and hearty portions.
I understand there is some level of controversy in this country about whether Chicago-style pizza is pizza at all. As with the “controversy” over whether Ohio is a Midwestern state (it is), however, this is a debate I do not understand. Chicago-style pizza is definitely pizza, and it is delicious, probably my favorite kind. There is a legitimate discussion to be had over what the best kind of pizza is. But if anyone would dare dispute that it at least qualifies as pizza, then may his gustatory spirit flee away into darkness.