Long before Marco Polo’s trip, noodles existed in Asia. The Chinese used a barley-like flour to create pasta-like dishes, including one described as Lagana (sound familiar?). In The Travels of Marco Polo, there is a passage that mentions his introduction to a plant that could be used to produce flour. Still, not everyone is convinced that depiction alone certifies that Italians were actually making pasta. Italians trace back the history of pasta to a 4 th century BC tomb where a depiction of a knife, a board with a raised edge that resembles a modern pasta board, a flour sack, and a pin that resembles a tool used for shaping tubular pasta is prominent. Since at least 1100 B.C., Chinese have made pasta from many more kinds of flours than Europeans. The Pasta LinkĪnother theory suggests that pasta also did not originate in Italy, instead, it was brought over from China by… you guessed it… Marco Polo. The theory of Chinese scallion pie inspiring pizza is believed to come from Marco Polo’s manuscripts, which could have been misinterpreted. When the chef returned to Naples, he added cheese and other ingredients to form what is now known as pizza. Polo supposedly suggested putting the fillings on top of the dough instead of the inside. The chef attempted to make the dish for several hours without much success.
He allegedly met a chef from Naples at a dinner party and persuaded him to recreate the dish. Marco Polo returned to Italy and missed scallion pancakes so he decided to try to find a chef who would be willing to make them for him. The scallion pancake, unlike regular pancakes, uses dough instead of a batter. Scallion pie features unleavened, flat bread folded with oil and minced scallions. That’s a win-win.When Marco Polo came to China, he encountered a baked scallion pancake known as 葱油馅饼 or scallion pie. We’ve placed the exhibit at the entrance to our café so our visitors get a slice of history and enjoy one of the world’s favorite foods. “I love how people’s faces light up as they come off the ferries and are surprised to be offered a slice of pizza. “This is our third year of doing a food exhibit tied to family immigration stories,” said Bob Uffer, Chief Operating Officer of Evelyn Hill Inc. “And who doesn’t love pizza? The stories of the families that run the pizzerias represented in this exhibit will help connect our visitors to immigration history and bring it alive.” “Food is a tangible and fun way to connect our visitors to the story of immigration,” said the Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, John Piltzecker. The five pizza establishments represented in the exhibit were out in front of the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration today, giving away their pizza to visitors arriving by ferry. From New York to Chicago to California, Americans consume more than three billion pizzas a year. The origins of pizza, as we know it today, can be traced back to 17 th century Naples, and it was brought to America by Italian immigrants in the late 19 th century. There’s the thickness and crispiness of the crust, the ratio of sauce to cheese, and then there are toppings. Have you ever asked a New Yorker where to get the best pizza? You could be in for a long conversation. Five purveyors of one of America’s favorite foods have been invited to share their crusty craftsmanship and their founder's immigration stories with a temporary exhibit in the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. Ellis Island, NY/NJ (June 12, 2019) – The National Park Service and Evelyn Hill Inc., the food service concessionaire at the Statue of Liberty since 1931 and Ellis Island since 2009, have cooked up a way to celebrate pizza.