I’ll agree that cheddar cheese is OK on a pizza, if it’s not the only cheese. Mozzarella NEEDS to be there, other than that, put whatever cheese the person wants. The only exception to mozzarella needing ot be there that I have encountered was a greek pizza that has feta cheese, black olives…probably other stuff, I can’t remember, but it was good, and no mozzarella.
As for pickles on a pizza…they are DIVINE! My favorite pizza combo is pepperoni and pickles. DOn’t knock it until you try it. I converted all my friends to this. Hell, I’m the reason that the pizza place in my hometown has pickles on the list of toppings on their menu! After I introduced my friends to it, they all started ordering it, and eventually the place ecided it should go on the menu. The trick is, use the sourest dill pickles you can find. All the water evaporates, so they become super-pickles!
That sounds like something straight out of the “Gallery of Regrettable Foods”!
Put me down as “depends on the type of pizza.” Sometimes it can be good (Mexican pizza, anyone?), sometimes not. My 'za of choice, however, is a good white pizza-garlic, olive oil, cheese and maybe some chopped onions.
Every kind of pizza described in this thread sounds delicious to me sans anything containing seafood (shrimp and clams are the only marine life worty of human consumption) and cashews. Even the sauerkraut pizza sounded intriguing.
But cashews? What the hell? Who the fuck puts nuts on pizza?!
Lobsang, no offense please, but to me you sound very pizza ignorant (as it were ).
I truly believe you haven’t lived until you’ve had a serious Chicago style deep dish pie with sausage, pepperoni, green pepper, black olive, and mushroom. Maybe onion. And maybe half of it has nothing but the cheese, sauce, and double spinach.
They do it in Pennsylvania, too. Usually it’s called “hamburger” or “cheeseburger pizza.” We also have the weirdo concoction called the “cheesesteak pizza,” which is made with chip steak meat and sautéed onions and green peppers, in addition to the usual red sauce and cheese. Yum.
When I was growing up in Newfoundland in the Fifties, we knew exactly what pizza was - it came in a package from Chef Boy-ar-dee, with a pack of pizza dough, a can of tomato sauce, and some packaged Parmesan. If your mother was into gourmet stuff (mine was), she added hamburger and some shredded cheddar. We thought it was great! I still like pizza with hamburger and cheddar, although my expectations for the crust and sauce have progressed far beyond the Chef.
Seriously, there is “real Italian” pizza, then there is the descendant dish of the same name which has spread worldwide with an amazing variety of sauces, toppings and cheeses. Check out The Web’s First Japanese Pizza Page for some even stranger variations than those mentioned above. Despite the efforts of the Italian government, I feel there is no definitive pizza, the best one is whatever you like it to be. All else is opinion. Mind you, I still wouldn’t put up with cheddar on a “traditional” pizza - it’s mozarella or nothing (well maybe a sprinkle of cheddar or some other cheese as an accent).
I tried rolling sausage links into the crust of a pizza and it worked pretty well. Didn’t get the crust exactly the way I like it, but that’s a separate problem.
My block-headed father-in-law puts asparagus, artichokes, and fucking squid, all on the same pizza, then pisses and moans when people won’t eat it or pick that shit off. I’ll take cheddar cheese any day over fucking squid!
Nah…it’s more of a pie than a casserole. But you’re right. As a Chicagoan, I really don’t count Chicago-style pizza as a true pizza. It’s a whole different beast.
None of these are really unusual toppings for an Italian pizza. Artichokes and/or asparagus are pretty standard on a quattro stagione pizza, and squid on a frutti de mare pizza. Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know it’s not what most people in the US expect of pizza, but I think it’s pretty damned good (especially artichokes and asparagus…they are just heavenly on pizza.)
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