The Queen who inspired the Pizza

Margherita di Savoia or Margaret of Savoy (born November 20, 1851 in Turin, died January 4, 1926 in Bordighera), was the queen of the Kingdom of Italy during the reign (1878-1900) of her husband, Humbert I. She married her first cousin Humbert (Umberto) on April 21, 1868. On November 11, 1869, Margherita gave birth to Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples. Her husband Humbert was assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci on July 29, 1900.


In 1889, the Margherita pizza, whose red tomatoes, green basil, and white cheese represent the Italian flag, was named after her. Her name means "daisy" in Italian.
The Italian chef Raffaelle Esposito first made the pizza in 1899 when Queen Margherita visited Naples to escape a cholera epidemic in the north of Italy. The ingredients used to make a Margherita pizza, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, imitate the colours of the Italian flag. Queen Margherita liked the pizza so much that she wrote a thank you letter to Esposito, who decided to name the pizza after the Queen.