Experts say the flatbread depicted in the 2,000 year-old fresco may be a precursor to the Italian dish.

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.

  • barsoapEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    Required? I’d go with water, flour, yeast, salt, olive oil.

    After that it becomes difficult as a pizza bianca with nothing else but olive oil would be strange, you generally get at least garlic and some cheese, but that’s the minimal set of ingredients shared by every pizza.

    OTOH, cheese might actually be a requirement, can’t think of a cheese-free pizza right now. Oh this is going to piss of the vegans.

    Things may or may not get more complicated, depending on what you consider Pizza, if you include Flammkuchen which doesn’t require yeast or olive oil, and also comes cheese-free by default, instead using some sort of sour cream (and onions and ham). If you ever manage to get your hand on Federweißer, that is a killer combination.