The Invention of Pizza

In a small Italian town that almost no one had ever heard of, lived a man named Lorenzo and his wife, Antonella.   

Lorenzo was a man of many interests, and he owned several shops that produced delicious food.  Lorenzo owned a dairy shop that specialized in savory cheeses and a bread shop that produced plump, soft loaves.  He also had an amazing garden where he grew many marvelous vegetables. 

Lorenzo had three daughters named Bella, Gabriella, and Bianca.  They all inherited their mother’s black hair and blue eyes.  And just like their father, the girls delighted in making scrumptious goodies.

Bianca

Bella

Gabriella

As Bella, Gabriella, and Bianca grew older, they each began to help their father in his shops.  

Bella was devoted to the art of cheesemaking. She experimented with new flavors, adding many new cheeses to the shop’s display cases.  She loved nothing more than stirring up a new batch of cheese with some special seasoning.

At the age of eight, Gabriella often could be found in her father’s gardens, watering plants, pulling weeds, getting her hands dirty, and harvesting lush crops of vegetables she had grown herself.  She was especially fond of growing tomatoes and planted many varieties.  When the red fruits were ripe, she would often be found in the kitchen, boiling the tomatoes to make fantastical tomato sauce.

Bianca found great pleasure in spending her time at Lorenzo’s bakery and was often given a bit of dough to play with.  She experimented with the dough, twisting it into designs, sprinkling it with some cheese or herbs, and baking it.  When she was old enough, she started mixing up her own bread dough, exploring new recipes, and tasting the results.  

All of the sisters were credits to Lorenzo’s businesses, and soon many people in the village knew of them.  

One day, Bella was testing a new recipe for a creamy French mozzarella that would melt perfectly when baked.  She made seven batches of cheese before she hit the perfect combination.  

“Mamma mia!” she cried, tasting the cheese.  “This is pure heaven!  I’ve got to show my sisters!”  Then she rushed out of the shop with some slices of the cheese nestled in a bag.  

Mamma mia!

Over in the kitchen by the kitchen, Gabriella was stirring a pot of tomato sauce.  She had just harvested the first of a new kind of tomatoes and was eager to try them in a sauce.  She also had brought in bunches of herbs that she picked herself and was crumbling bits of them into the sauce, trying to get the flavor balance just right.  She sprinkled in a bit of basil, then lifted the spoon to her mouth to taste her concoction.  

“Holy pasta!” she shouted.  “This sauce is undiluted joy!  My sisters must taste this!  I’ll pop over and show them!”  

Holy pasta!

Gabriella hastily spooned some of the sauce into a jar.  Then she hastened down the street toward Bianca’s bakery.  In her haste, she had forgotten to screw the cap onto her jar.

In the bakery, Bianca was just rolling out a ball of dough.  She was aiming to make a round, flat loaf of bread that was chewy and tasty.  Bianca had devised a recipe and now had her fingers crossed that the bread would come out of the oven just as she had planned.

Bella and Gabriella hurried over the bridge toward the bakery.  They waved to each other and Bella said, “Where are you taking that jar of sauce?  I’m taking this new cheese to Bianca for her to try.  It’s called French Mozzarella Melt.”  Gabriella said, “I’m taking this sauce to Bianca for her to taste.  It’s made with Finland tomatoes, basil, and rosemary.”  

Lorenzo's Bakery

I'm taking this new cheese to Bianca for her to try.