Pizza is not really Italian. A lot of cultures have invented flatbread that you top with stuff before baking. It just happens that the Italian version of that got spread around widely. And then other cultures added their own flairs, one of which is pineapple, usually connected with a salty pork product like ham or Canadian bacon.
Here in California, that’s called Hawaiian style pizza, and I didn’t get it, myself, until I tried it and found it’s a pairing that works, usually with extra mozzarella cheese.
I don’t know that it’s actually Hawaiian even in style, though my wife’s family used to like going to Hawaiian-style fast food, which involves a lot of Spam (the Hormell kind), so there… may be a connection?
My parents’ generation, in the 1970s way dug anchovies on pizza which I found way too salty. I didn’t get it then, but I don’t see much in the way of anchovies on pizza now. So collective tastes may change with time.
Anchovies are spectacular sources of umami. I use them in tomato sauces, among other things. You don’t taste the fish at all, you just get a nice round salty flavor out of them, and they just dissolve in the sauce.
My parents’ generation, in the 1970s way dug anchovies on pizza which I found way too salty. I didn’t get it then, but I don’t see much in the way of anchovies on pizza now. So collective tastes may change with time.
That makes me kinda sad. I’m definitely nowhere near that generation but I love anchovies on pizza, and people not ordering anchovies on pizza just makes it harder to find places that still offer anchovies. I think it’s the best pizza topping. Although I also don’t mind Hawaiian style pizza separately either.
It is Italian, but it’s not exclusively Italian. Turkish lahmacun (thin base, with a meaty sauce, is a good approximation of the Ur-Pizza, as are various Levantine flatbreads. One of my favorites is manaqish ma’a za’atar, which is a thin pizza-like base topped with olive oil and thyme.
It’s weird. I’m at an age where I wouldn’t mind to try out anchovies on pizza, but it’s become so out-of-style that either pizza places don’t carry it any more, or people are so repulsed by it that it’s hard to order with others sharing.
Meanwhile, I’ve always loved pineapple on pizza, and that one seemed to have stuck around as a topping longer.
Anchovies work. Try with just tomato sauce and cheese, onions and olives. It’s a complex, mature type of taste. Maybe sun dried tomatoes. But it depends a lot on who’s cooking it if you know what I mean.
You know how kids all go crazy about candy? That’s because of how their taste buds work when they’re kids. When you get older, these funky tastes get more like candy to us. Very rich flavors.
Pizza is not really Italian. A lot of cultures have invented flatbread that you top with stuff before baking. It just happens that the Italian version of that got spread around widely. And then other cultures added their own flairs, one of which is pineapple, usually connected with a salty pork product like ham or Canadian bacon.
Here in California, that’s called Hawaiian style pizza, and I didn’t get it, myself, until I tried it and found it’s a pairing that works, usually with extra mozzarella cheese.
I don’t know that it’s actually Hawaiian even in style, though my wife’s family used to like going to Hawaiian-style fast food, which involves a lot of Spam (the Hormell kind), so there… may be a connection?
My parents’ generation, in the 1970s way dug anchovies on pizza which I found way too salty. I didn’t get it then, but I don’t see much in the way of anchovies on pizza now. So collective tastes may change with time.
Anchovies are spectacular sources of umami. I use them in tomato sauces, among other things. You don’t taste the fish at all, you just get a nice round salty flavor out of them, and they just dissolve in the sauce.
That makes me kinda sad. I’m definitely nowhere near that generation but I love anchovies on pizza, and people not ordering anchovies on pizza just makes it harder to find places that still offer anchovies. I think it’s the best pizza topping. Although I also don’t mind Hawaiian style pizza separately either.
It is Italian, but it’s not exclusively Italian. Turkish lahmacun (thin base, with a meaty sauce, is a good approximation of the Ur-Pizza, as are various Levantine flatbreads. One of my favorites is manaqish ma’a za’atar, which is a thin pizza-like base topped with olive oil and thyme.
Ur-pizzas would be from Ur, not the Levant.
Toasted flatbread topped with olive oil and thyme sounds delightful!
It’s not–Hawaiian pizza was invented in Canada IIRC.
It’s weird. I’m at an age where I wouldn’t mind to try out anchovies on pizza, but it’s become so out-of-style that either pizza places don’t carry it any more, or people are so repulsed by it that it’s hard to order with others sharing.
Meanwhile, I’ve always loved pineapple on pizza, and that one seemed to have stuck around as a topping longer.
Anchovies work. Try with just tomato sauce and cheese, onions and olives. It’s a complex, mature type of taste. Maybe sun dried tomatoes. But it depends a lot on who’s cooking it if you know what I mean.
You know how kids all go crazy about candy? That’s because of how their taste buds work when they’re kids. When you get older, these funky tastes get more like candy to us. Very rich flavors.
Anchovies on pizza are fantastic, especially in some Italian thin crust, say with black olives, onions, capers, artichoke…
The problem is that people use them as an ingredient, where they should be used as a seasoning, sparingly.