Why Is It Called a Pizza Pie?

Is it because of its round shape? Did pizzas begin in dish-style, like a quiche or a pie? Were pie's actually flat, like pizza, before it developed a deep dish, to hold in the pie ingredients? Or maybe because Dean Martin said it... and said it was Amore'?

Maybe because they are so doggone unhealthy... That's Why!! 

Seriously though, we haven't the slightest idea.

But that is what prompted our internet mission to find out "WHY" a pizza is sometimes called a pizza pie.

Oh Google, here we come, to find the plethora of information you have for us! We enjoy the internet and it's conveniences. However, some of its conveniences are more annoyances (like SPAM) and then we don't like the internet so much. It has, nonetheless, made researching so much easier for us. Much easier than say, calling random Pizza shops and saying "Hey, you're Italian and you own a pizza shop... so why are pizza's called Pizza pie's?". We're not going to get into the fact that pizza's aren't really Italian... not right now. I can just imagine the number of hang ups that I would get from people thinking that we were prank calling. Google, as an added bonus, helps save on the gas on going to the library.

I have nothing against a good library visit. I actually prefer it, it teaches the kids how to research and be independent in seeking knowledge. I grew up on getting information in places like Webster's Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus and Encyclopedia Britannica. Now all our kids have to do is Google and Wikipedia and voila! instant information. Even with Wikipedia's inconsistencies, people still file over to it for information and some teacher's are accepting Wikipedia as a viable "source/reference" (I don't!) but some do. So, the local library is the first choice, but when it's 10:00 at night and you are searching for an answer to that gnawing question (yes, it's gnawing!), the option of the library is out the window.

Back to the "pie" or "pizza pie" or "pizza" or whatever you want to call that deliciously, scrumptious, doughy, cheesy thingy...

Why are people calling a Pizza a "Pie"?

Let's see what different members of my brood came up with.

Well first we have to figure out exactly what a "Pie" is right? 

Well according to Wikipedia (insert laughter here!!):

 "A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Pies can be either "filled", where a dish is covered by pastry and the filling is placed on top of that, "top-crust," where the filling is placed in a dish and covered with a pastry/potato mash top before baking, or "two-crust," with the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings"

 So... Wikipedia says a pizza is a pizza; a pizza is not a pie. Right?

Not satisfied with that answer... pizza isn't exactly an American English word, now is it...

Let's see... we can take a mathematical approach to this word pie (or Pi) 

Pi is a mathematical expression. A circle is a shape with all points the same distance from the center. It is named by the center. The circle to the left is called circle A since the center is at point A. If you measure the distance around a circle and divide it by the distance across the circle through the center, you will always come close to a particular value, depending upon the accuracy of your measurement. This value is approximately 3.14159265358979323846... We use the Greek letter π (pronounced Pi like PIE) to represent this value.

Extra Tidbits: This number π goes on forever. However, using computers, π has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal point.

So, since π a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and since a circle is round and well... can be cut into pieces like a Pizza... could this be the reason for calling a Pizza... a Pie (or Pi)?

But... we still aren't satisfied!


Let's talk Etymology!

The term "pizza" first appeared" to appear in a Latin text from the southern Italian town of Gaeta in 997 AD. However, upon further investigation we find that this goes much further than that. Somewhere around the 1st century, B.C. it is said that the Roman poet Virgil (known for his epic, the Aeneid), wrote about what is known today as Pizza:

Beneath a shady tree, the hero spread his table on the turf,
with cakes of bread;
And, with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed.
They sate; and (not without the god’s command).
Their homely fare dispatch’d, the hungry band invade their trenchers next,
and soon devour to mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour…
See, we devour the plates on which we fed.

Then there is the option that Pizza was developed even earlier than that by the Persians (around 500 B.C.-ish), where the soldiers baked a flatbread on their shields which they then covered with cheese and dates. (yum?) And according to Oxford English Dictionary (which origin is favored, though the entry notes that it is unattested) the Old High German word “bizzo” or “pizzo” meaning “mouthful” (related to the English words “bit” and “bite”) and was brought to Italy in the middle of the 6th century AD by the invading Lombard's.

Whatever the origins of the word for pizza, there’s no denying it is absolutely deliciousness of combinations of sauce and bread, cheese and meat and vegetable toppings. It quiets rustling children (and rumbling stomachs) and unites people, no matter who they are across a dinner table!


Let's see what YOU all come up with AND SHARE IT!! :)