Do Pineapples Belong on Pizzas?

Photo by bckfwd on Unsplash

I like my pineapples on my pizza, it’s definitely not my favourite flavour, but I like that the sweetness is a great balance and is refreshing on the savoury ham. However, some people beg to differ. You would have been aware of a recent internet debate about whether pineapples belong on pizza. The long-time pizza flavour not only got everyone talking but has also proved that this issue has been the most divisive food topic by far. We have also got down to ask our Instagram followers to pick their vote, but before we get there, we want to talk about the history of pizzas, who exactly invented pineapples on pizza and do they actually belong there?

It is common knowledge that pizza originated in Italy. However, people from the Middle East, mainly the Greeks, Egyptians, Armenians, Israelis and Babylonians were actually already making variations of pizza during ancient times. They made bread topped with olive oil and spices, which was also known as focaccia.

In 1522, tomatoes were brought to Europe and the people of Naples in Italy, mainly the lower-class, placed them on their yeast dough, creating the pizza we know of today. These pizzas were popular among workingmen as it could be consumed quickly and was cheap to produce, which allowed the bakers to sell them for a lower price. As the demand for pizza increased, people became more creative and produced pizza with different toppings, mainly with tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies and garlic. Pizza eventually became so popular with globalisation, as people were bringing these recipes overseas to America, English, France and Spain.

Photo by Miguel Andrade on Unsplash

Now that we know what the traditional pizza looked like back then, let’s talk about who invented pineapples on pizza. Sam Panopoulos claimed to have experimented and added pineapples on pizza in 1962 to attract customers. He mentioned that he liked the sweetness of pineapples on the savoury flavour of ham. This invention was then called Hawaiian Pizza, after the brand of pineapples that he used.

Recently, this issue of putting pineapples on pizza sparked a debate among the people on the internet especially after the president of Ireland, Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson joked about denouncing the use of pineapples. This resulted in more than 120,000 people talking about it on Twitter as they voiced out their opinions. We’ve also asked our Instagram followers to pick their vote and 78% were pro-pineapples which made the remaining 22% of them anti-pineapples! What do you think about the results, are they justified or are you not satisfied?

Whether you are pro-pineapples on pizza or not, California Pizza Kitchen serves an array of pizzas and even unique flavours like Sunny Side Up Bacon & Potato Pizza! For the pineapple lovers, they also deliver their classic Hawaiian Pizza. Check them out here: https://www.foodline.sg/d/18354