「一道起源於意大利的美味佳餚,由麵團基底製成,上面塗抹各種配料,如橄欖、番茄、起司、鳳尾魚等,並在非常熱的烤箱中烘烤而成。」[OED, 1989],1845年,來自意大利語pizza,最初意為「蛋糕、餡餅、派」,其名稱來源尚不確定。
1907年的"Vocabolario Etimologico della Lingua Italiana"報導說,這個詞可能來自方言pinza「夾具」(來自拉丁語pinsere「打、壓」),這或許是指意大利某些地區製作的折疊式比薩(參見以下引用)。
The pizza is a sort of bun [original: un talmouse comme on en fait à St-Denis, lit. "a talmouse like one gets in St-Denis."]; it is round, and made of the same dough as bread. It is of different sizes according to the price. […] At first sight the pizza appears to be a simple dish, upon examination it proves to be compound. The pizza is prepared with bacon, with lard, with cheese, with tomatas, with fish. ["Sketches of Naples" by Alexandre Dumas, translated by A. Roland for Arthur's Magazine, Aug. 1845.]
比薩是一種類似小圓麵包的食物[原文:un talmouse comme on en fait à St-Denis,字面意思是「像在聖丹尼製作的那種小圓麵包」]。它是圓形的,使用與麵包相同的麵團。根據價格的不同,大小各異。[亞歷山大·小仲馬的《那不勒斯素描》,由A. Roland為Arthur's Magazine翻譯,1845年8月。]
A pizza is manufactured, as far as I can ascertain, by garnishing a slab of reinforced asphalt paving with mucilage, whale-blubber and the skeletons of small fishes, baking same to the consistency of a rubber heel, and serving piping-hot with a dressing of molten lava. ["Simon Stylites," in The Bergen Evening Record, May 15, 1931]
根據我的了解,比薩的製作過程是:在加強型瀝青鋪面上塗抹粘合劑、鯨脂和小魚的骨架,然後將其烘烤至橡膠鞋跟的稠度,最後熱騰騰地上桌,並淋上熔岩醬汁。[《西蒙·斯泰利特斯》,發表於《伯根晚報》,1931年5月15日]