I related the story of my French roommate who, when asked what she wanted on her pizza, said “The usual … you know, egg, corn …”
So the question (and maybe this is more of a poll, so maybe I’m in the wrong forum): what are the standard toppings in your neck of the woods?
In Toronto, pepperoni is probably the most common topping. Standard “deluxe” will have pepperoni, mushrooms, and green peppers. When I was a ham eater my favourite was Hawaiian, which is ham and pineapple. (Do they actually eat a lot of ham and pineapple in Hawaii?) I have never eaten a pizza with anchovies but would very much like to; in my experience, they are available but widely spurned so I have never had the opportunity.
There used to be a stone oven pizza place near me, I believe it was run by Iranians, that featured things I considered odd, all I can remember is broccoli and chicken.
Corn is popular in England (they call it “sweetcorn”), and probably some other stuff I didn’t notice or have blocked out from my memory.
What common pizza toppings are standard where you are, or where you’ve been?
Pepperoni is still #1 around here. But several local places have a pizza called an “Ort’s Special,” which has pepperoni, sausage, black olives and diced Ortega chilis. Cashews also seem to be a popular addition.
I’ve discovered the greatness of meatballs on pizza! Usually it’s nice slices of spicy Italian meatballs, although I’ve had them crumbled before too, like ground beef. Goes perfect with onions. I also like ground beef on pizza, with onions and cheddar cheese in addition to the mozzarella. I’d love for someone to offer chili as a pizza topping!
You can’t go wrong with the classics, but if a place offers genoa salami as a topping instead of pepperoni, try it! It is awesome. Anchovies are good too, but nobody else I know likes them, so I rarely get to have them. For fancier toppings, I love fresh basil, fresh spinach, and roasted red peppers. And if you’re having cheap chain pizza, try dipping it in some ranch dressing when you get home. That’s an old college trick.
Here in California, it’s common to see things like artichoke hearts, prosciutto, spinach, roasted red peppers and shrimp on pizza. I used to turn my nose up at anything other than sausage or pepperoni, but I’ve come to prefer these lighter toppings. They don’t leave you reaching for the Pepcid, you know? And they taste darned good.
Pepperoni is by far the most popular in this area, in my experience. Followed by sausage and ground beef. On a supreme I would expect to see sausage, hamburger, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I have seen sauerkraut on pizza before, but never tried it (sounds terrible).
Pepperoni and green chile (sometimes jalapeños) is big in Denver.
Also, there seem to be a lot of “Greek” pizzas, typified by Basil Doc’s (local chain) kick-butt Athenian, which has feta cheese, black olives, spinach and red onions.
I’m in granola-land so in addition to the ‘manly macho meat’ pizzas with pepperoni and all that junk on, there’s a lot of variations on pizzas using chicken as the meat or veggie pizza. Which I far prefer.
Here’s a couple: California Veggie: Button Mushrooms, Roasted Garlic, Onions, and Marinated Artichoke Hearts; Whole Wheat Funky Chicken: Basil Garlic Pesto, Oven Roasted Chicken Breast, Fresh Spinach, Feta, Onions, and Banana Peppers
Living in New York, there is, of course NY Style pizza - thin crust which is barely charred around the edges, giving it a wonderful, crusty taste and smell.
And fluorescent mozz’ (pronouned “mots”)
That’s the key thing - if the mozzarella cheese isn’t so blindingly white that it practically glows in the dark, it didn’t come from Patsy’s or Grimaldi’s…
Beyond that - typically more traditional Italian toppings - margherita, quattro staggioni, proscuitto, etc. Pepperoni is by far the most common “American” topping, along with sausage, green peppers and mushrooms…
There are a lot of frou frou pizzas around here these days – artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and suchlike. They’re still a decided minority, though. Personally, I think pizza is a great way to eat pigs – pepperoni, sausage, canadian bacon, breakfast bacon, salami… mmmm.
In St. Louis, form working at a pizza joint forever, things like pepperoni and sausage were popular, as well as the ‘deluxe’ with a couple of meats and a couple of veggies, usually onions or peppers. Bacon and ham were big too. Pepperoni and bacon is my favorite.
One of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis has a bit more variety, with different types of sauce, like alfredo or BBQ sauce for specialty pizzas. And they offer toppings like shrimp.
This thread is making me think about St. Louis pizza which is making me hungry.
Here in Columbia the most popular pizza joint offers wheat crust. It’s pretty cool.
The most popular toppings here would be trad American stuff like pepperoni, Italian sausage, etc.
However, we do also have the chicken tikka pizza, and Tesco’s supermarket has recently started making pizza ready-meals using naan bread as a base, with curry and yoghurt toppings. (They’re grim, but if they were freshly made I bet they’d be lovely.)
I had a fried egg on my pizza in South Africa.
I Amsterdam, I had pizza with no cheese, and another with no tomato sauce, both on a menu of about 5 choices, so they presumably were common options.
At a few different Mom & Pop Pizza Places in Ohio they offer crushed Potato Chips as a Pizza topping. I’ve never had it myself and I couldn’t say how popular it truly is.
These have been a regular feature in my local Tesco’s discount shelf for a while. (Which says a lot about my shopping habits as well, yes.) But a ‘naan pizza’ seems to miss the point quite spectacularly - two vehicles and nothing to carry?! (Cheddar and lime pickle?!)
I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a pizza purist, to a not-very-great extent. Nothing compares to a good Italian pizza. Thin bases are essential. Simple ingredients (I count Tabasco as simple ). And so on.
Balls to that! Pepperoni and pineapple is a taste combination made in Heaven. The perfect hangover pizza when eaten cold the next morning. Especially if you sprinkle a healthy dose of red pepper flakes on each slice. Damn! Now I’m hungry!
Mmm, I love Imo’s Pizza, with its gooey Provel cheese! Is that where you worked? It is literally impossible to get St. Louis-style pizza or Provel cheese in Florida unless you order it online, expensively. I would kill for some right now, though.
You wouldn’t get confused silence here in Saskatchewan, but you’d probably get a **lot ** more toppings on it then pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers. Many pizza places here offer an all dressed pizza, and they will have nearly everything and the kitchen sink.
I’d say the pepperoni and ham & pineapple are the most common here. The frou frou pizzas mentioned by **Quiddity Glomfuster ** are also pretty common. And spinach and feta is a staple on nearly every menu, which is a happy thing for me, since it’s my favourite.
