Seriously Important: Hawaiian pizza
Some topics keep true foodies pretty occupied. In the Seriously Important column, we discuss them. Such as: pineapple on a pizza. Does it belong there? Or is it sacrilege in the pizza church?
Who came up with this?
The first person to ever put (South American) pineapple on a pizza, and then sell that pizza, was Sam Panopoulous of Satellite Restaurant in Toronto, Canada. In 1962. He called it Hawaiian pizza.
What do Hawaiians think of it?
Nothing special. Nadine Kam, editor and restaurant critic for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, said when asked that most Hawaiians prefer pepperoni or vegetarian toppings, but that all the well-known pizza chains do have a version with tomato, cheese, ham and pineapple. And that this caters to the wishes of a small group of people who simply happen to like the combination of sweet and salty. Now, I also like the combination of sweet and salty—think glazed pork belly, a honey-glazed country ham, or sweet-and-salty popcorn mix at Pathé—but canned pineapple with square factory-made slices of ham coming along to ruin my pizza? Yuck. Get out.
And the Dutch?
All the self-respecting pizzaioli in the Netherlands we know, including the chefs at Kebec and Toni Loco, looked at us as if we had ordered a cappuccino in Italy after eleven in the morning when we asked whether pineapple on a pizza is ever okay. Alexi Perin of Kebec puts it this way in his charming Canadian-Dutch: “On a Domino’s pizza, with extremely salty cheap cheese and equally salty ham; sure, that could work. But pineapple and tomato together are actually just disgusting. Name one successful recipe that combines tomato and sharp fruit—you can’t. It doesn’t exist. Because of their completely conflicting acidities.”
And yet Hawaiian pizza ranks number 5 on the list of most-ordered pizzas here.
What do we at FavorFlav think?
A little childish. Both making such a fuss about it (just look at the internet going wild) and eating it.
There are other ways
New York chef Emily Hyland says that people with rigid pizza principles can’t have any fun in life, and that she loves her own pizza with pineapple-kimchi and pepperoni. Yes, I can definitely get behind that. And Kajetan Strass of Toni Loco says that quality should always lead the way. “A fantastic ripe pineapple, thinly sliced, grilled, with some top-quality Parma ham on a pizza—that can be delicious. For some people. Canned pineapple and cooked ham: recipe for disaster. We don’t believe pineapple’s flavor goes with our pure tomato sauce and real mozzarella anyway, so we don’t start there.”
Conclusion
As far as Hawaiian pizza is concerned: the world, or at least the internet, is divided enough already. You’re going to do whatever you want anyway, and that’s for the best. And if you’re sitting here reading this, you’re already doing just fine. Another burning food question next time!
Read also:
- Angry Italians on Twitter
- You’re better off having pizza for breakfast than cruesli
- Gordon Ramsay likes it
