Hold the toppings, please, National Cheese Pizza Day is celebrated annually on September 5, and it’s time for you to celebrate in cheese-pizza style.
We all love the classics, like pepperoni, pizza with pineapple, barbecued chicken pizza, or juicy meat lovers. But nothing surpasses the basics of holding a gently folded, single slice of melty deliciousness — the cheese pizza.
Each year, more than 2 billion pounds of pizza cheese is produced in the U.S. alone. So on this special day, savor a classic slice of ooey, gooey cheese pizza for yourself, and share a slice or two with some of your very best friends.
You may be familiar with National Pizza Day on February 9: it’s an iconic day for everyone to celebrate their favorite pizza dish. But to give special appreciation to the well-loved cheese pizza, National Cheese Pizza Day was born to be celebrated every year on September 5.
Let’s be honest, every pizza deserves its own day for love — the Margherita, pepperoni, olive, and mushroom — which is most likely the reason for National Cheese Pizza Day being created. Although the exact creator and birth date are unknown, it’s still a day that is widely celebrated and, of course, participated.
The beginnings of pizza aren’t exactly known either, but many people date it back to Ancient Greece when people would cover their bread with oils, herbs, and cheese. That sounds like a pizza, right? However, the kind of flatbread pizza that is well-known now was first created in Naples, Italy, and it used the highest-quality of buffalo mozzarella to create the origins of the cheese pizza that is loved today. Yum!
Eventually, travel and discovery led to pizza making its way to the Western Continent. The first pizza establishment in the Western world opened in 1905 in Little Italy in New York. It wasn’t until 1939 that the D’Amore family introduced pizza to Los Angeles and the dish had officially made it across the country. The popularity of pizza in the U.S rose dramatically following World War II. Veterans returning from the Italian Campaign, who has been introduced to Italy’s native cuisine, led the increase in pizza consumption at the time.
It was during the second half of the 20th century that pizza became an iconic dish in North America. It was in 1958 that two men, Dan and Frank Carney, borrowed $600 from their mom and opened the first-ever Pizza Hut Kansas. By the 1960s they were coming up against some stiff competition and introduced the iconic red thatched roof that we still associate with them today.
An organized industry association, the Pizza Industry Council, was even set up with the purpose of addressing issues specific to pizza operators. Today the pizza industry in the U.S is worth over $40 billion per year.
Cheese Pizza has also had an impact on pop culture, with the dish famously being Kevin Mccallister’s preferred choice in the Home Alone movies. Although perhaps nobody loves pizza as much as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who became a global phenomenon in the 1990s. Joey Tribianni, the iconic Friends character, also introduced the Joey special in the 1990sm which consisted of two pizzas.
There’s no doubting it, pizza has become a U.S and Canadian favorite, and cheese pizza is at the heart of it. It’s a popular dish at any party or friend gathering, and that’s not about to change anytime soon!
