Raffaele Esposito () was an Italian chef and owner of a

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

called () in the 19th century that had been founded in 1780 by Pietro Colicchio. Esposito is often credited for creating the modern

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

. In 1889, pizza had not yet become a popular or well-known dish and was typically eaten by poor people as a way to utilize various ingredients that would otherwise be wasted.Paul Hofmann, ''That Fine Italian Hand'' (1991), p. 32. At that time, Esposito was considered the premier () in the city of Naples.Father Giuseppe Orsini, Joseph E. Orsini, ''Italian Baking Secrets'' (2007), p. 99. According to a popular (but questioned) legend, Esposito was requested to prepare a pizza for Queen

Margherita of Savoy Margherita of Savoy (''Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna''; 20 November 1851 – 4 January 1926) was List of Italian royal consorts, Queen of Italy by marriage to her first cousin King Umberto I of Italy. She was the daughter of Prince Ferdinand ...

, who had traveled to Naples with King Umberto I. Esposito and his wife were admitted to the royal kitchens to prepare this dish as he saw fit. Deeming the traditional

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

topping to be unfit for the royal palate, Esposito instead prepared three different pizzas, the last of which used a combination of

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es,

mozzarella Mozzarella is a Types of cheese#Semi-soft cheese, semi-soft non-aged cheese prepared using the ('stretched-curd') method with origins from southern Italy. It is prepared with cow's milk or buffalo milk, taking the following names: * or mozz ...

cheese and basil to emulate the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. It is claimed by some sources that this was the first time pizza was made with mozzarella cheese. Queen Margherita, having never had pizza before, enjoyed the dish so much that she had her head of table services send Esposito a letter to commend his pizzas, stating that they "were found to be delicious". Esposito used this recommendation to successfully promote his restaurant, naming the pizza most enjoyed by the Queen, pizza Margherita. The legend of pizza Margherita is considered a false history, as a pizza made with the same toppings was already present in Naples between 1796 and 1810. It is widely reported that this event caused pizza to become a fad, from which it retained enduring popularity. Because of Esposito's experiments with ingredients and presentation, and his successful preparation of the dish for Queen Margherita, it is suggested by some that Esposito was the father of the modern pizza. Esposito's restaurant still exists on the spot where it was founded by Pietro Colicchio, at Salita Sant'Ana di Palazzo 1/2, although its current name is Pizzeria Brandi. The royal letter favoring Esposito's pizza is on display in the restaurant. Later research cast doubt on this legend, undermining the authenticity of the royal letter of recognition, pointing that no media of the period reported about supposed visit and that both the story and name Margherita were first promoted in the 1930s–1940s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esposito, Raffaele Italian chefs Year of death missing Year of birth missing