Pizza Pie

And, that's what we call the circle of life.

Pizza is one of the world’s most popular foods. There’s a reason pizza is so popular. Humans are drawn to foods that are fatty, sweet, rich and complex. Pizza has all of these components. Cheese is fatty, meat toppings tend to be rich and the sauce is sweet. Pizza toppings are also packed with a compound called glutamate, which can be found in the tomatoes, cheese, pepperoni and sausage.

Then there are the combinations of ingredients. Cheese and tomato sauce are like a perfect pairing. On their own, they taste pretty good. But according to culinary scientists, they contain flavor compounds that taste even better when eaten together. Another quality of pizza that makes it so delicious: Its ingredients become brown while cooking in the oven. Foods turn brown and crispy when we cook them because of two chemical reactions.

With bread, cheese and tomato sauce as its base, pizza might seem like a simple food. It isn’t. And the next time you’re about to devour a slice, you’ll be able to appreciate all of the elements of pizza that excite our brains, thrill our taste buds and cause our mouths to water.

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