Italian Traditions

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Pizza, by definition, is Italian. Beginning in the late 19th century, Italian immigrants from all over Italy started to arrive in the United States. Many of them brought recipes with them from their local towns and their Nonna’s. As they settled in their new cities across the country, they started to bake various types of pizzas that slowly became part of their new local cuisine. However, on paper when Lombardi’s Pizza opened in Manhattan in 1905, this Italian food was mostly confined to home kitchens or church kitchens. Many have recognized Lombardi’s Pizza as America’s first pizzeria and restaurant to sell this Italian staple and fast forward to today and pizza is as American as it is Italian. Today, there is a pizzeria in just about every town across America in the form of a mom and pop shop or a national chain. What is so great about pizza is that it comes in many different shapes and sizes, with a variety of different toppings.