Pizza - how Pizza got its name

Everyone knows the story about how a cook wanted to make something special for a Queen. And in the castle kitchen the cooks and servants would take pieces of bread and dunk them in the tomato sauce on the fire and eat the dunked pieces of bread for snacks while they prepared the meals for the Queen and her court.   But not many people know who first started that tradition and the origin of the name of that snack, pizza.   Here is that story. This is true. Only a handful of people know this as the tale was handed down by word of mouth and never written until this day.   His name was Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith.   He could never play football because his name wouldn't fit on a uniform. He could never be a policeman because by the time anyone could figure out how to say his name the crime was hours ago. He could never work as a doctor in the emergency room because by the time they tried to say Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith and call Dr Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith the baby was already a year old. Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith is not easy to say. Only the Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith family could pronounce it properly.   When baby Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith was born, by the time the priest at his baptism was finally able to say his name, baby Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith was a month old.   Living with  the name Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith was not easy. But he could cook.  Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith was a great cook. He could whip up a batch of chicken wings in 45 minutes. His chutney was the best in the land. His linguini with garlic was fantastic. His bubble gum on bologna was a favorite.   Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith finally opened a restaurant. His food was so good the Royal family hired him to cook exclusively for the Queen.   And that's when he started dunking his special bread in his special tomato sauce as a snack to eat while he prepared meals, and all of the servants would also eat the dunked bread. After a while every one of the servants would dunk the bread in the sauce as a snack as they did their daily chores.   One day near the holidays the Queen asked Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith to make something special for the court.   Peter said he could make shrimp. But the Queen already had shrimp before.   Peter suggested roast beast. The Queen had already tried his special roast beast before. Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith said he could make broiled trout in wine sauce. Or his special jackalope stew. Or ravioli, chicken, duck, squish, squelch, thud and squirrel frisby. The Queen already had eaten everything he suggested before. Again and again Peter made suggestion after suggestion and every time the Queen said she'd already had those dishes.   Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith was frustrated. He thought and he thought and he thought some more.   And finally, Peter thought of the special bread dunked in his tomato sauce. So, Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith took some of his special bread dough and was going to dunk it when the castle dog jumped up and pushed Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith trying to get some dough to eat and it fell on the floor.   When he looked down, the dough had plopped and made the shape of a circle.   Before he could scoop it up the castle dog picked it up and ran off with it to eat it all by him self.   But Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith had an idea.   He took another piece of special bread dough and plopped it on the table and pushed it into a circle.   Then he put some of his special tomato sauce on it and smushed it all around the special dough.   He baked the circle of special dough with tomato sauce in the castle oven.   When he took it out he tasted it and it tasted just like the bread he and the castle servants had been eating for many years.   He thought this would be a special dish the queen had never tried before.   He had his kitchen help try the new dish. They all liked it.   When he made another one a servant accidentally spilled the Queen's special cheese all over the table and some of it spilled onto his new special bread dough with tomato sauce.   He put it in the oven anyway and baked it. Then a letter came from his family while the special bread dough covered with tomato sauce and accidentally spilled cheese was baking.   By the time the letter carrier person was able to ask for Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith, the special bread covered in tomato sauce and cheese had cooked a little bit too long.   When he pulled it out of the oven it was browner than usual, the accidentally spilled on cheese was browned and bubbling and Peter was worried that it was ruined.   Then.... he tried it.   It was delicious! Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith was amazed at how good it tasted. It was crunchy. It was flavorful. It was amazing.   He asked the other kitchen help to try it and they all LOVED it.   He made another one with special bread dough, tomato sauce and cheese spread evenly over the dough.   He cooked it longer than usual just like the accidental one because the letter carrier took too long to say Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith.   And it was good.   This was the special dish he made for his Queen that day.   And she LOVED it.   When she and the court asked what this delicious dish was called.... Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith was dumbfounded.   He never thought to name the special dough with tomato sauce covered in cheese and baked in the oven.   So the Queen named it after Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith.   Over the years people made this special dish but the name was changed because it took so long to say Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith.   So it was shortened to Pete Zah. And if a person wanted to buy a Pete Zah, they went to a place called a Pete Zahria.   Years later a man named Altagrazia Leuzzi tried some Pete Zah in Italy. His last name Leuzzi was pronounced Lay-Oot-Zee. As he was used to saying Leuzzi, when he said the words Pete Zah, it came out as one word PeteZah.  And from that day on the name of Pete Zah was changed to the spelling of one word and that word was Pizza. And for all time forward the amazing dish that Peter Zahriatarsnsixfernwoodtrattosnitzenhollyhockorangepetalsouthwoodpennywisenniafritzenheimersmith made so many years ago in his castle kitchen for his Queen was called simply Pizza.   And that my friends is how Pizza got its name.   Truth.