There is a simple reason why people like pizza, and it all boils down to chemistry. In the United States it is estimated that people eat 350 slices of pizza every second. Forty percent of the population eats pizza at least one time a week.
Humans like foods that are rich, complex, fatty, and sweet. Pizza combines all of these components. Cheese is fatty, the sauce is sweet, and the meat and other toppings are rich. Pizza that is served at the best Italian restaurants in Mesa, AZ, has a compound called glutamate, which you will see in sausage, cheese, pepperoni, and tomatoes. When glutamate reaches the tonsils, it triggers something in the brains that tells it to get excited. Our mouths water in expectation of every bite of pizza.
All of the ingredients used to make pizza at the best Italian restaurants in Mesa, AZ, when eaten on their own, taste good. But when they are combined with other flavors, they taste even better. Something that is unique about pizza is that a number of the ingredients become brown when they are cooked in the oven. Foods turn brown and crispy when they are in the oven because of two chemical reactions. One is caramelization, which makes the sugars in food turn brown. The second is called the Millard reaction. This is why the cheese on your pizza gets brown. Both of these make pizza more enjoyable to eat.
The next time you eat a delicious slice of pizza, you will be able to appreciate all of the complex chemical reactions that go into its enjoyment.
