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This photo displays an authentic Italian pizzeria demonstrating cultural baking practices utilizing beautifully built brick ovens. While many of the varying cultures’ authentic food preparation styles have been modified and modernized, some ethnicity shines through the specific restaurant pictured above. For example, the Iron Gate Pizzeria bakes with an old world style wood-fired brick oven, similar to those used by Italian pizza chefs. The brick oven is a symbol of the Italian’s influence on American cooking habits. It is said that wood fired brick ovens and pizza have been with us since the dawn of civilization. Excavations of virtually every ancient civilization have uncovered the modern form of the brick oven, which was found, initially, in ancient Rome. While the common pizza descends from a very strong Italian influence, it bears the mark of many civilizations around the Mediterranean, starting with the Ancient Greeks who ate flat, baked bread and stretching to the Spaniards who had been to Peru and brought tomatoes back. These ovens are still used throughout Europe for cooking large quantities of bread. The brick ovens found in Pompeii, which still houses 33 uncovered brick ovens, are in excellent condition and could be used for baking in out present day with only small renovations, which demonstrates excellent engineering skill. The best attributes of the brick oven are it‘s dome shape, insulation, and vent. Medieval brick ovens are scattered across Europe, some varying from the original instrument from Rome. The actual word pizza emerged some time in the middle ages among aristocracy. The varying requirements to cook a pizza at a commercial bakery, pizzeria, or homeowner created a split in brick oven design in the late 18th century. The brick oven is not used by many pizzerias in the U.S. today. The brick ovens, although offering a delicious taste, cause the temperature to rise to a highly uncomfortable number. Few restaurants, however, show their roots. In fact, the world’s first Pizzeria to open in 1830, Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, is still in business today in Naples. The pizza in this photo was hand tossed, sprinkled with cheese the employees grated, smothered with an authentic pizza sauce, topped with pepperonis, and put in the brick oven to bake. Pizza is viewed by most to be as symbolic of American culture as apple pie. This is unfortunately not true. Americans cannot take credit for this delicious favorite. Pizza has a strong Italian background. The unique flavor of these brick oven pizzas is unmatched.

Jeffrey A. Sadowski. 1997. "Italian Cuisine: the gourmet's companion". New York: J. Wiley.

Donna R. Gabaccia. 1998. "We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans". Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Set in the west wall of the churchyard on Watling Street is the Kings Oven, built around 1310, where villagers baked their meat and bread until about 1710.