# Is This Some Weird British Thing about Pizza? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114 "2019-06-26T17:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/61 "2019-06-28T16:01:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, the egg custard is one of the two defining features of a quiche (the other being the pastry shell) Alright, cheese and tomato flan. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/62 "2019-06-28T16:04:04Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Who died and made you Dr Johnson? Pizza, firstly, isn’t an English word. And it doesn’t - in my mind - equal cheese and tomato. > > Heck, my [local independent pizzeria](http://berthas.co.uk/) does a white pizza which doesn’t even have cheese on it. WTF??!!! It doesn’t have sauce OR cheese but you still consider it a pizza? Sure, you prescriptive and descriptive nerds can duke it out over word definitions but, cmon! ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/63 "2019-06-28T16:04:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think it’s one of those cases where qualifiers matter. The English word “pizza”, without any qualifiers, includes tomato sauce and cheese. A white pizza, however, does not include tomato sauce. But a white pizza is not what people mean when they just say “pizza”. Yup, this. As an analogy, if I told someone that I wanted a burger and they started suggesting we have a Salmon Burger, a Gyros Burger or a Cheeseburger Lettuce Wrap we’re gonna have words. A “burger” is ground beef (I’ll grudgingly accept meat blends where beef is the star as well) lodged between a sliced bun. Cheese is optional but highly suggested. Anything else is not a “burger”…the qualifier is required. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/64 "2019-06-28T16:15:29Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > WTF??!!! It doesn’t have sauce OR cheese but you still consider it a pizza? Sure, you prescriptive and descriptive nerds can duke it out over word definitions but, cmon! As I said above, there are pizzas in Italy that have neither, and if it’s good enough for the Italians, it’s good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/65 "2019-06-28T16:16:29Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > WTF??!!! It doesn’t have sauce OR cheese but you still consider it a pizza? Sure, you prescriptive and descriptive nerds can duke it out over word definitions but, cmon! To be fair, my wife was quite cheesed off when she ordered - she now pays closer attention to the ingredients list. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/66 "2019-06-28T16:23:32Z")
Pizza is absolutely an English word. It’s also an Italian word. And the Italian word and the English word probably have different, though related, meanings, which is why I specified that I was talking about the English word. The only information I have about the Italian word is long out of date (my great-grandfather, who was a baker in Rome, considered “pizza” to be “bread with oil and little fishies”, but he left Italy over a century ago). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/67 "2019-06-28T16:29:50Z")
Sure, but I also bet that what “pizza” means in English depends on what part of the English-speaking world you live in. So even the English word is quite variable in meaning, as evidenced even by inter-American arguments about what pizza is and isn’t. As more and more styles become available to everyone, I think we should allow the word itself to expand in meaning to encompass all the various types. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/68 "2019-06-28T16:39:50Z")
I’ve lived in Italy for a bit. When I had pizza they put a drizzle of oil when finished. Not soaking. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/69 "2019-06-28T17:05:20Z")
How can \*anybody \*not like deep-dish pizza?!? :eek: It’s divine! If you’re ever in MPS/STP, visit The Green Mill and sample their little bit of Heaven! :o ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/70 "2019-06-28T18:35:38Z")
When it comes to olive oil on a pizza. No, it isn’t a particularly british thing to do to put it on a pizza. I think what happens is that some restaurants, the one specifically I’m thinking of, Pizza Express, will have a bottle on the table. Plus parmesan. They are probably there for whatever some people use them for. Maybe for some pasta dishes. Or dressing for salad. Some people see it there, and go sploosh (was that Pam?) with it. They’re also the ones who are a bit mad and very fat, ie: the fodder of fat and poor shaming which is common on british television (watch the bailiffs repossess poor peoples tellys, watch some poor unemployed cannabis smoker have the lowest point of their life as they are ejected from their house). It is not normal for uk pizzas. I think I’ve seen (because I watched them do it), some takeaway deep pan pizza places brush olive oil on the crust of their pizzas. It might be more common in one are or another, I don’t eat a lot of pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/71 "2019-06-28T18:43:57Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > That must’ve been a phenomenal bottle of olive oil for you to remember it from the exact year of 1985. Are you sure those were just chili flakes? I was an exchange student in Chicago in 1985. I had never seen such a thing and asked about what it was. The other condiments on the table were a shaker of Parmesan, a shaker with chili flakes (they called them pizza peppers) and a bottle of some hot sauce, not Tabasco. It was my first time in the U.S. and my first pizza in the U.S. I was living on Addison, very near the L station. In the same area was also the first Dunkin’ Donuts I had ever seen. Next time you serve something up, hold the snark. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/72 "2019-06-28T18:54:16Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > I was an exchange student in Chicago in 1985. I had never seen such a thing and asked about what it was. The other condiments on the table were a shaker of Parmesan, a shaker with chili flakes (they called them pizza peppers) and a bottle of some hot sauce, not Tabasco. > > It was my first time in the U.S. and my first pizza in the U.S. I was living on Addison, very near the L station. In the same area was also the first Dunkin’ Donuts I had ever seen. > > Next time you serve something up, hold the snark. Wonder if that place was D’Agostino’s. It’s still there. Don’t recall chili oil last time I visited, but it’s been about 8 or 9 years. It’s on Addison, and the sign says “Est. 1968,” though I don’t know for certain if it means that location (although I suspect it does, as it’s an old-timey looking joint that just underwent some rehab a year or two or so ago.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/73 "2019-06-28T19:41:23Z")
If the crust is good, i will dip it- olive oil, or balsamic, or whatever i can get. But drizzled over the toppings? Ecch. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/75 "2019-06-29T01:05:31Z")
I’m not a Brit and don’t do this, but I’m mostly perplexed that the olive oil is the thing being picked out as being “unhealthy” in this situation. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/76 "2019-06-29T04:16:36Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I’m not a Brit and don’t do this, but I’m mostly perplexed that the olive oil is the thing being picked out as being “unhealthy” in this situation. It’s like buttering a donut. Yeah, I’d say it’s worth an eyebrow raise. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/77 "2019-06-29T07:52:35Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I’m not a Brit and don’t do this, but I’m mostly perplexed that the olive oil is the thing being picked out as being “unhealthy” in this situation. it amazes me that in 2019 people are still terrified of dietary fats. Ancel Keys should be dug up and eviscerated. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/78 "2019-06-29T08:53:46Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wonder if that place was D’Agostino’s. It’s still there. Don’t recall chili oil last time I visited, but it’s been about 8 or 9 years. It’s on Addison, Could be, but my memory places it further west. So I did a little checking on Google Street view, and I think it’s a place that is now called Bartoli’s, but used to be called Carreno’s. It’s on Addison and Damen. To this day, If I slice the pie myself, I still do it as a grid, not as wedges. And I swipe the four center squares for myself. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/79 "2019-06-29T09:00:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > So let’s be pizza inclusivists! The world is a better place for have so many choices and styles for every mood. Did I say at any point that Chicago deep-dish\* isn’t\* pizza? Or did\* I\* that there’s only one kind of pizza? No, _I did not_. That was, in fact, the whole point of my pointing out that chicago-style pizza exists. I’m no pizza purist - my documented love of Hawaiian pizza should give the lie to that. Kindly redirect your rant at your fellow Chicagoan telling us what is and isn’t acceptable, not me. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/80 "2019-06-29T09:07:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > How can \*anybody \*not like deep-dish pizza?!? I love my heart? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114/81 "2019-06-29T12:40:36Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Did I say at any point that Chicago deep-dish\* isn’t\* pizza? Or did\* I\* that there’s only one kind of pizza? No, _I did not_. That was, in fact, the whole point of my pointing out that chicago-style pizza exists. I’m no pizza purist - my documented love of Hawaiian pizza should give the lie to that. > > Kindly redirect your rant at your fellow Chicagoan telling us what is and isn’t acceptable, not me. I was ranting? Don’t take it personally. Originally, the post was supposed to be a response to the quiche comment, but yours provided more context. I’m just saying “it’s all good!” in the pizza world. And, yes, I don’t care if anyone puts ketchup on their hot dog (though I _usually_ won’t on mine, but it depends on the type of dog.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-some-weird-british-thing-about-pizza/836114.md?page=5)