The Priazzo Italian Pie was a pizza product sold by Pizza Hut. It was first introduced in 1985, and was discontinued sometime between 1991 and 1993.
Overview[]
The Priazzo was, in essence, a stuffed deep-dish pizza. It is composed of a cheese pizza baked on top of another pizza that had cheese and a generous amount of meat and/or vegetable toppings depending on the variation. A majority of the variations implement a five-cheese blend of cheddar, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, and Romano. The amount of cheese put into a Priazzo totaled around a pound. Over its retail lifespan, the Priazzo came in several varieties, each of which named after an Italian city;
- Roma - Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, beef, pork, and onions with mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
- Florentine - Ham and spinach topped with cheddar, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, and Romano cheese.
- Napoli - Cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, and Romano cheese with tomato slices.
- Milano - Essentially the Roma without the onions and mushrooms, but with the addition of bacon.
- Portofino - Italian sausage, green peppers, onion, and the usual cheeses.[1]
- Verona - Meatballs, green peppers, onion, and the usual cheeses.[2]
History[]
The Priazzo was the invention of marketing consultant Charles Brymer[3], and it took two years to develop. Pizza Hut invested $15 Million (more than $36 Million when adjusted for inflation, as of this writing) into TV ads to market the Priazzo. The name "Priazzo" was another $61,000 expenditure (equivalent to more than $100,000 when adjusted for inflation). The name itself came from a computer that was programmed to generate names starting with the letter 'P' and containing a double 'z'.
In Oklahoma City, the first customers to sample the Priazzo listened to Italian opera music and were told that the pizza was inspired by foods that were served to nobility in Ancient Rome. In Council Grove, Kansas, Pizza Hut gave away a ten-speed bicycle to commemorate the Priazzo.
According to a former Pizza Hut manager, the dough is heavy in oil and cornmeal, the sauce is thick like lasagna, and the cheese blend is unique to the Priazzo.
In the first year of its release, the Priazzo generated $350 Million in sales, contributing to earning increases that had hit two-year highs. Former customers testify online on Reddit that the Priazzo was very popular during Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat lunch buffets, with one stating that "You'd have to stalk the employees [...] to even stand a chance of getting a slice."
In 1987, when at the time that the Priazzo was still popular, Pizza Hut hired a comedian to travel the country in a mobile home as part of an initiative, the "Pizza Hut Mobile Institute For Pizza Studies", to ask customers what their favorite menu items were. According to The New York Times, the customers would often name the Priazzo.
One major problem with the Priazzo that lead to its discontinuation in the 1990s is the amount of time taken to prepare one, averaging around 40 minutes, relative to Pizza Hut's other offerings of the time. Internet hearsay and musings from former Pizza Hut employees claim that the Priazzo took longer to prepare and used more expensive equipment, including a specialized pan, to bake it properly, and customers weren't keen on pizzas that took 40 minutes to bake. The expensive equipment needed to prepare the Priazzo also wasn't worth it for Pizza Hut.
Legacy[]
Since its discontinuation, the Priazzo Italian Pie had become a cult classic, so much so that people would sign online petitions to try and convince Pizza Hut to bring it back, and even create Priazzo copycat recipes.
Trivia[]
- Napoli, as in the Priazzo Napoli, is the Italian name for the city of Naples. Additionally, Milano (as in the Priazzo Milano) is the Italian name for the city of Milan.
- Verona, which the Priazzo Verona was named after, was used as the setting for two of William Shakespeare's plays, "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" and "Romeo and Juliet".
- Charles Brymer had also given the Pontiac Fiaro its name.
External Links[]
- Mashed - Discontinued Pizza Hut Items We Desperately Miss
- Mashed - The Real Reason People Stopped Buying Pizza Hut's Priazzo
- Fast Food Flashback: Pizza Hut Priazzo Italian Pie @ TheImpulsiveBuy.com