Pizza facts that you might not know

Everyone has had pizza, at least once in their life, I'd be shocked if you've managed to find yourself on this site without trying it. But you indeed mustn’t have read about these cool and exciting fun facts about the most famous dish, Pizza! Next time you have a pizza party with friends bring up these facts in conversation and see how much they know.

So let’s dive into some interesting facts:

Pizza delivery in outer space

We’ve all ordered pizza at home, but have you heard of the pizza that was delivered 408km upwards in space? In 2001, Pizza Hut delivered a pizza to the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Usachov. As you might imagine, this delivery took a lot longer than 30 minutes to be delivered.

Delivery of this 'Space Pizza' was all part of a marketing stunt for Pizza Hut, and this cost the Russian space agency somewhere in the region of $1,000,000

Pizza can reduce exposure to Cancer

Let me caveat this one by saying I'm not a doctor here, and this is the result of my research for this blog post.

Two Italian researchers at the Institute for Pharmaceutical Research in Milan found that eating pizza once a week can reduce the chances of developing throat cancer by approximately 59%, colon cancer by around 26% and mouth cancer by about 34%.

They researched 3,300 people with mouth, throat colon and oesophagus cancer and 5000 people. During the research, they spoke about their earing habits around pizza, and they discovered that those who ate pizza at least once a week had a reduced risk of developing cancer.

One of the researchers, Dr Silvano Gallus, led the research and said. "We knew that tomato sauce could offer protection against certain tumours, but we did not expect pizza as a complete meal also to offer such protective powers."

The largest collection of Pizza-related items!

Pizza Brain is the home of the largest collection pizza of memorabilia in the world. In 2011 Pizza Brain was recognised in Guinness as "the world’s largest collection of pizza-related items."

Located in Philadelphia, Pizza Brain claim to be the Worlds First Pizza Museum and took its inspiration from small museums dotted around the World.

Soldiers on the front line love Pizza too

Being in the military can be tough for your taste buds. Ove in the USA their Military Lab has invented a pizza for their MRE packs (Meals, Ready-to-eat). This was no easy task though, scientists at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center worked with the commercial food industry to create this slice that can last up to 3 years and withstand temperature up to 30 degrees C.

Collectable Pizza Boxes

Scott Wiener holds the world record for the most extensive collection of Pizza Boxes. Yep, you read that correctly. In 2013 he gained the world record with his collection of 595 different pizza boxes. Since that record, he's grown that collection to over 1500.

I was fortunate enough to see some of this collection in one of my clients' restaurants in Manchester. As you might imagine, it was wall to wall with pizza boxes.

International Pizza Expo!

You read that correct; there is an expo for the pizza industry. Although the general public is prohibited, it is still one of the most eagerly awaited events in Vegas. Unfortunately, only food brokers, pizzeria owners, and distributors are permitted entry to this event.

Maybe I can get a press pass for the next one? I can just imagine all the free pizza that is in every corner of an event like that.

Now that’s expensive!

The cost of the world’s most priced pizza is a staggering $12,000. With that much amount, you can probably buy a luxury travel tickets, or even put down a deposit on a house. $12,000 would also be able to get you over 1000 margarita pizza s from Dominos

As you might imagine, this pizza was created for a very small number of very lucky people. It was created by Renato Viola over in the Salerno, Italy. This pizza, for two, is made with all be best ingredients and the dough takes 72 hours to prepare the before being finished off and cooked in your own home. The toppings are as over the top as you might imagine multiple types of caviar and lobster.

You'll also want something nice to wash that down with. Don't worry, your pizza is paired with a 1995 bottle of Krug Champagne, and to finish the experience, you'll sip away at some Carta Real Sanches Romate Finos brandy and the most famous cognac around, Louis XIII cognac.

The crust of a pizza has a name

The crust or outer edge of the pizza is called "cornicione". It’s probably the least used technical name ever, since very few people know about it, including you probably!

And now you know.

Next time you eat a pizza, don’t forget to shout about your new-found knowledge. Get your friends attention by calling the edges cornicione. Fun facts can be a great way to start a conversation. So, if you’re going on a date or planning a meet up with school friends, these facts might come in handy.