Jun 29, 2023 13:30:00

A mural painting 'something like pizza' was found at the ruins of Pompeii, the research team denied the pizza theory that 'there is no tomato and cheese'

Pompeii , an ancient city near Naples, Italy, was completely swallowed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. In Pompeii, where the situation at that time was left clean because it was buried in the pyroclastic flow in an instant, a new `` fresco that looks like a modern pizza '' was discovered.

Pompeii: a still life discovered by the new excavations of Regio IX - Pompeii Sites
http://pompeiisites.org/en/comunicati/pompeii-a-still-life-discovered-by-the-new-excavations-of-regio-ix/

2,000-year-old 'not a pizza' fresco discovered in Pompeii | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/2000-year-old-not-a-pizza-fresco-discovered-in-pompeii

Pompeii fresco find possibly depicts 2,000-year-old form of pizza | Italy | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/27/pompeii-fresco-find-possibly-depicts-2000-year-old-form-of-pizza

A research team from the Pompeii Archaeological Park, which is conducting excavations in Pompeii, said on June 27, 2023, in a section of Pompeii called 'Regio IX', 'a fresco from about 2000 years ago that looks like a modern pizza. I reported that I found a painting. Regio IX is a section where commercial facilities such as laundry shops and bakeries and residences are mixed, and frescoes were drawn on the wall of the house connected to the bakery.

You can see how the frescoes actually look by watching the video below.

Pompeii fresco depicts what might be the precursor of pizza - YouTube


The excavation site of Pompeii looks like this.

This is the excavated fresco. A picture of food on a silver plate is next to a pretty decorative pattern on the wall.

If you look closely at the fresco on the plate, you can see that a goblet (cup) containing fruit and wine is on a flat plate, and a flat and round pizza-like bread is drawn on the left end. increase. Objects like pineapples are also drawn nearby, but there were no pineapples in Europe at that time, and it is believed that this is a wreath of yellow strawberries.

The bread on the plate is focaccia that was made from the ancient Roman era, and the ones on top are fruits such as pomegranates and dates . In addition, the way of drawing suggests that focaccia is seasoned with moretum , a paste using garlic and cheese, and spices. In the ancient Roman epic Aeneis , there is a description of `` eating bread that was attacked by hunger and used as a plate (table) '', and it is known that bread was used as a plate at that time.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, points out that the fruit-topped focaccia is reminiscent of modern-day pizza. However, the researchers said, ``This painting from Pompeii 2,000 years ago looks like a pizza, but it lacks some of its most distinctive ingredients: tomatoes and mozzarella, so it is clearly not a pizza. No, ”he denies that this is not a pizza.

It wasn't until the Spanish brought tomatoes from South America to Europe in the 16th century that pizza came to its modern form, and in the 18th century Neapolitans put tomatoes and cheese on bread.

The modern pizza was born . Therefore, the fresco found in Pompeii this time does not depict modern pizza, but it may be said to be a ``distant ancestor of pizza''.

Also, The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, said, ``The idea of serving fruit on pizza will infuriate many Italians,'' he said, interviewing Mr. Gino Sorbillo, a pizza specialty store owner in Naples. increase.

Sorbillo said that fruit may have been considered the main dish in ancient Rome, and commented on modern pizza, ``Sweet pizza may use fruits such as figs and strawberries.'' However, when I touched the pineapple-like object drawn on the fresco painting and asked if it was okay to put pineapple on pizza, I was told, 'Taste is taste. We make traditional pizza, but pineapple is I will never use it.' I replied firmly.