Is there anything quite like a perfect pizza margherita? Creamy, stringy mozzarella and rich tomato sauce, smothered over a dough that’s crispy, chewy and charred all at once. Many would argue it’s the perfect example of Italian food done right – a combination of simple cooking and incredible ingredients. The pizza we know and love originates around the early nineteenth century in Naples, but the basic premise goes way back to antiquity. The Greek historian Herodotus, for example, claims that the Persian soldiers of Darius the Great used their shields to cook flat breads around the sixth century BC, which they covered with cheese, dates and herbs. Herodotus also claimed that Persia was home to giant, dog-sized furry ants, so he should always be taken with a pinch of salt, but given that there are historical accounts from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome that describe flat breads with toppings, it seems one of his more believable moments.