in 1987. At that time pizza was warm toast topped with ketchup and grated cheese!............
Your friend describes zapiekanka and calls it pizza. The history of Poland in fast-food looks like that:
in 70ties - no fast food in the US meaning ---> no stands with food, no bars, no pizza houses. There were 'Bar mleczny', a place were pierogi, nalesniki, 'milk soups' etc was served. Pity it's gone now, was quie unique, one could drop in and order a glass of hot milk for instance.
In 1980-1981 - first Solidarnosc period. The rapid groth of first fast-foods in Poland, the birth of zapiekanka, sold in the street stands .
13 december 1981-june 1989 - the free enterprise was inhibited by the martial law, nonetheless the fast-foods surivived. Zapiekanka industry grows in strenght.
1989 - all kinds of fast-foods available, zapiekanka holds on in very good shape, evolves into more sophisticated forms.
Additional 'did you know'info. Do you know that pizza is a kind of dish POPULARIZED, not invented, by the Italian diaspora? In Poland we've had a very old dish called PODPLOMYK which is basiclly pizza cake served with some souce, meat etc.