One of the most important ingredients for Pizza is the tomato based sauce. Without the popularity of the tomato, pizza would have tasted much differently. The fruit, (yes tomatoes are actually a fruit) was first believed to have been domesticated in the area around Central America and Mexico by the ancient indegenous population. The Aztecs and Incas are first credited with raising it as a food crop around 700 AD.

In the 16th century European Explorers were so appreciative of this fine fruit that they decided to introduce it to the rest of Europe. Interesting enough while the French, Spanish and Italians began to actively use it as ingredients for recipes, the English saw it as a novel yet poisonous food. This myth continued into the American coloniel period and up until the middle of 1800s when it began to gain acceptance.

Because of the tomato's popularity among the Italians in the past few centuries it was used as a topping by Raffaele Esposito, the Italian baker who is credited with being the first to create the modern pizza.