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.

  • i_love_FFTEnglish
    20·
    2 years ago

    But it lacks the classic ingredients to technically be considered a pizza.

    What are the required ingredients? Can they be sure the ingredients are not hidden underneath the ones on top?

    • AgreeableLandscapeMEnglish
      131·
      2 years ago

      90% sure it’s tomatoes. They are not native to Europe and were only introduced in the colonial era.

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.oneEnglish
        31·
        2 years ago

        I get pizza without tomatoes all the time. Chicken bacon ranch pizza contains zero tomatoes. I need to talk to this uninformed pizza gatekeeper.

    • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
      6·
      2 years 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.

    • AkasazhEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      may have been eaten with fruits such as pomegranates or dates, or dressed with spices and a type of pesto sauce

    • japps13@lemmy.physfluids.frEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      I don’t know which ingredients are required but I don’t think they had tomatoes at that time. Wasn’t they discovered in the new world?