[5][6] The origins of pizza Margherita came from mixing similar toppings that were already present in Naples between 1796 and 1810.

Others can be covered in grated cheese and dressed with lard, and then they put on a few leaves of basil.

Over the former is often added (depending on the region) some small seafish; on the latter some thin slices of mozzarella.

[8]A popular legend holds that the archetypal pizza Margherita was invented in June 1889, when the Royal Palace of Capodimonte commissioned the Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honor of the visiting Queen Margherita.

[11] Later research cast doubt on this legend, undermining the authenticity of the 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.