Pizza Bites: America’s Favorite Pizza Topping Isn’t Italian

Eating History

In the second Pizza Bite from Eating History, Adrienne and Stephen tackle America’s undisputed favorite pizza topping: pepperoni. From the surprising reality of ordering "peperoni" in Italy to its mysterious origins in early 20th-century New York, they explore how an Italian-American community creation transformed into a national culinary staple.

In this episode:

  • Why ordering a "pepperoni" pizza in Naples will get you a pie covered in bell peppers

  • The 1919 debut of the word and its evolution from Southern Italian cured meat traditions

  • The culinary science behind why pepperoni’s high fat content and paprika make it the perfect pizza topping

  • The earliest documentation of a pepperoni pizza at The Spot in New Haven, Connecticut

  • How post-WWII expansion turned this Italian-American invention into the default topping for one out of every three pizzas in America

  • More description

    In the second Pizza Bite from Eating History, Adrienne and Stephen tackle America’s undisputed favorite pizza topping: pepperoni. From the surprising reality of ordering "peperoni" in Italy to its mysterious origins in early 20th-century New York, they explore how an Italian-American community creation transformed into a national culinary staple.

    In this episode:

  • Why ordering a "pepperoni" pizza in Naples will get you a pie covered in bell peppers

  • The 1919 debut of the word and its evolution from Southern Italian cured meat traditions

  • The culinary science behind why pepperoni’s high fat content and paprika make it the perfect pizza topping

  • The earliest documentation of a pepperoni pizza at The Spot in New Haven, Connecticut

  • How post-WWII expansion turned this Italian-American invention into the default topping for one out of every three pizzas in America

  • 2026-07-14 8 min
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