Historian Luca Cesari is an expert on Italian food. In his new book, The History of Pizza, he explores the origins of this iconic Neapolitan dish, looks at the migration of pizza to the United States, and the evolution of the dish from working-class flatbread into global sensation. I caught up with him earlier this month to talk about the book.

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The feast of San Gennaro once hosted competitive eating contests for cannoli, meatballs, pizza, and zeppole, but then in 2023 all that changed. Here’s a look back at the history eating contests at the Feast.

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Tavern style pizza in Chicago is more common than deep dish

Chicago has a deep history of pizza, and there’s a lot more than the thick crust pizza most Americans associate with the windy city.

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Ray’s — or some variation of the original, famous pizzeria — because ubiquitous in New York City. And then the lawsuits began. A look at the pizza wars that gripped the many Ray’s of New York.

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What’s the difference between a slice and a piece of pizza? It’s a New York thing.

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Pizza was born in Naples, but it was the Italian immigrants in New York City who mastered it. Today, pizza grown into a truly American food available in every corner of the country. Yet, a little more than a century ago, it was an unknown ethnic food few Americans had ever heard of.

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February 9 is National pizza day. Don’t worry if you thought this was in October, which is National Pizza Month. Today is dedicated to pizzas of all sorts — so don’t confuse today with September 5, dedicated to National Cheese Pizza Day, September 20 for Pepperoni Pizza, and October 11 for Sausage pizza. Apparently, the nation loves pizza.

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French Bread Pizza is often associated with Stouffer’s, the frozen food giant that helped popularize lasagna. French Bread Pizza followed a few years later. Stouffer’s launched the product in 1974 with an eye toward pizza ovens, then an increasingly popular home appliance.

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Pizza took off across America during the 1950s. There were numerous contributing factors to the rise in the sudden popularity, but one that profoundly shaped every day cooking was the desire for more convenient foods.

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You might be wondering what a pair of pants and a pizza has to do with calzone.

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