Pizza snack rolls (also called pizza rolls, pizza bites, pizza snacks, or pizza poppers) are a frozen food product consisting of bite-sized breaded pizza pockets with an interior of tomato sauce, imitation cheese,[1] and various pizza toppings. They are sold in a variety of flavors including cheese,[2] pepperoni, sausage, supreme, multiple imitation[3] cheeses, and mixed meats.[4] Other flavors included hamburger, cheeseburger, ham and cheese, and combination (pepperoni and sausage). Pizza snack rolls are designed to be quickly cooked in the oven or microwave. The name "pizza rolls" is a trademark of General Mills, current owner of the original product.[5]
Pizza rolls were created in the mid-1960s in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, by product developer and cook Beatrice Ojakangas.[6][7][8][9] She worked for food industry entrepreneur Jeno Paulucci, who specialized in canned and frozen Chinese food under the Chun King brand and was looking for new uses for his egg roll wrapping machine.[10][6] According to Ojakangas, she started with over 50 filling ideas, including a number of sandwich flavors such as peanut butter and jelly. Several concepts were pizza-flavored, and her taste test of the pizza flavors was well received.[6] Paulucci stated, "pizza rolls are nothing but egg rolls with pizza crust and filling."[6] For the commercial production, Paulucci used a co-extrusion process developed by Demaco using a Demaco extruder.[citation needed] Jeno's began using the Pizza Rolls trademark in 1967.[11] In 1985, Paulucci sold Jeno's to Pillsbury, which owned Totino's pizza.[12] In 1993, Jeno's Pizza Rolls were rebranded as Totino's Pizza Rolls.[13] Pillsbury was sold to General Mills in 2001. After a series of commercial spoofs on Saturday Night Live, Totino's pizza rolls saw a boost in popularity and sales in 2016.[14]
Pizza snack rolls are produced by a large number of brands, gourmet brands and store brands. Since the original name is trademark protected, various companies use different names for their product. There are non-GMO, organic and vegan versions offered by some companies.[15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Totino's™ Pepperoni Pizza Rolls™ | Pizza Bites | Totino's US". Totinos US. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Totino's™ Cheese Pizza Rolls™ | Pizza Bites". Totinos US. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Totino's™ Triple Cheese Pizza Rolls™ | Pizza Bites | Totino's™". Totinos US. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Totino's Products". Totino's. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ Pizza Rolls Archived 2021-05-01 at the Wayback Machine, Justicia, accessed May 1, 2021
- ^ a b c d Johnston, Louis D.; Riley, Susan E. (May 19, 2021). "How (American) Chinese cuisine gave birth to the Minnesota-invented pizza roll". MinnPost. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ Dean, Lee Svitak (October 9, 2016). "Adventure of a lifetime". Star Tribune. pp. E7. Retrieved March 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Possis, Ann (December 5, 2016). Beatrice Ojakangas on her big Finnish family, pizza rolls (Radio broadcast). WTIP.
- ^ "Northlandia: Area inventions include a cow on skates, nipple enhancers and Paulucci's golf glove". Duluth News Tribune. October 7, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ T. Rees Shapiro (November 30, 2011). "Jeno Paulucci, food visionary behind the pizza roll, dies at 93". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
- ^ Jeno's v. Commissioner (U.S. Dist. Ct. Minnesota July 22, 1985), Text.
- ^ St. Anthony, Neal (March 10, 1986). "Doughboy is king of the freezer". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ^ "Our History". Totino's. Archived from the original on 10 Mar 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ Painter, Kristen Leigh (November 12, 2016). "General Mills has surprise growth star: Totino's frozen pizzas and rolls". Minneapolis Star Tribune. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ^ Daniel, B (18 Feb 2022). "Are Pizza Rolls Vegan? Can Vegans Eat Pizza Rolls?". Can Vegans Eat. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
External links
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