4 ms·
When I was in Naples a few weeks ago I was told that the Margherita variant was created by the wife of the chef who added a single basil leaf onto the completed
by L_226 7y ago
When I was in Naples a few weeks ago I was told that the Margherita variant was created by the wife of the chef who added a single basil leaf onto the completed pizza. This pizza was served to the royal couple, where the queen (Margherita) was so taken by the creation that the chef decided to name it in her honour.
Also, the flag of Italy was only adopted in the mid 1940's, and Queen Margherita was around about 100 years earlier.
- SamBam 7y agoThe red, white and green were commonly used as the Italian colors from the end of the 1700s.[1] Queen Margherita was born in 1850. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_colours_of_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_colours_of_Italy
- m-i-l 7y agoAccording to the original article, the Margherita pizza was invented after Italian Reunification: "All that changed after Italian unification. While on a visit to Naples in 1889..." I'm not a vexillologist (expert on flags) but looking at the historical flags at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_flags#Unification_and_Kingdom_of_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_flags#Unificat... there are many from 1889 that have the green, white and red, e.g. the state flag of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861. So I think the story is plausible, although that doesn't necessarily mean it is true or didn't come after the event.
- L_226 7y agoFair enough, I stand corrected.
- m-i-l 7y agoActually the link SamBam has provided, i.e. to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_colours_of_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_colours_of_Italy , explains the tricolour better. It also says "An apocryphal story about the history of pizza holds that on 11 June 1889, Neapolitan pizzamaker Raffaele Esposito created a pizza to honour Margherita of Savoy, who was visiting the city. It was garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil to represent the national colours of Italy, and was named 'Pizza Margherita'".