h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In America, we have a company called Stouffer's that sells frozen French Bread Pizzas. They slice French bread and add pizza toppings to them.

Sounds delish

They are very tasty! As if the French invented pizza, not the Italians. ,tongueout>

frozen pizza on bread basis? you mean these are not delivered? all hot and glowing and ready for .. .. whatever?

They take just a few minutes to heat up in a microwave oven.

Are you tired, Babette?

You raise an interesting question, paulh. People in both France and Luxembourg have been making pizza-like dishes for many many years. Maybe some travelled far and taught it to others (like the italians) - or the concept was invented several places?

I would opt for the second idea. Or maybe it goes even farther back, to the ancient Romans who flocked to the beach near Pompeii and feasted on the Roman equivalent of hamburgers and chili dogs. Maybe an inventive Roman tried making a pizza with leftover ingredients from the bread dough and salads and ground beef that he had on hand. Thing is, though, that sauce would not have been an ingredient, as the nearest was on the other side of the ocean. A very acceptable cheese pizza, possibly with mushrooms and sausage, would have been possibole, though.

Maybe one of Thor Heyerdahl's ancestors crossed the ocean on a and brought back some s?

No?

You're right, he probably didn't

Technically, the Romans *did* sail across the Atlantic. Maybe 200 ships made it, but they didn't get back to Rome, with or without the .

but did they make pizzas when they arrived on your side and found ?

They left no records of it one way or the other. A Roman ship, ca. the time of Octavian/Caesar Augustus, was found sunk along the Brazilian coast. It was full of amphorae, which were nicely sealed, so scientists were able to analyze what was in them. Any written records were long gone, if there had been any at all. Another ship was found off the coast of Central America. The men on these ships left grieving widows back home. Scientists figure that there were about a hundred other ships for every one that they have found, so the "200 ships" figure is just an estimate. No one knows for sure.

If these vessels carried pizzas I wonder who sent for them

Knowing the Aztecs, any pizzas would contain chocolate.

Be careful with aztec pizzas, though. You might catch Montezumas revenge

no South American pizzas for me ..

"Be careful with aztec pizzas, though. You might catch Montezumas revenge" [Pierce]

Not if I bribe Montezuma's descendants.

by giving them back all the gold, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco and syphilis?

Of course? Who wants those things?

Gold doesn't earn interest, and you can't eat it when there's a famine.

Potatoes digest too fast and send your blood sugar too high.

Tomatoes attract tomato worms and get thrown at lousy singers and public nuisances.

Tobacco is bad for your lungs, throat, heart, and wallet.

Syphilis I don't know much about, but it apparently killed Franz Schubert, who deserved a few more good years.