In 1889 the king and queen of Italy, in a bid to seem closer to their subjects, invited pizza maker Raffaele Esposito to the royal palace outside of Naples to make them pizzas. Esposito turned out three different types: one with garlic, one with anchovies, and one with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a sprig of basil. As the story goes, the queen liked the last one the best and Esposito named it after her: thus the origin of the Pizza Margherita. 

This and other olive oil-drenched food history nuggets were the main course last night at the Umbra Institute pizza workshop, aside from the pizza, of course. Students went to the almost-hidden Pizza & Musica pizzeria (on Perugia’s “Best of..” list!) and not only ate pizza but made it too. Three students got to pull the dough out, add toppings, and then actually spin it in the oven. The next workshop will be on February 16th, sign up soon!