# Why the vehement opposition to pineapple on pizza? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 27, 2021, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875 "2021-02-27T07:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/101 "2021-02-28T03:05:33Z")
“Salty” is not really the right term – I think folks were just looking for an antonym to “sweet”. I would agree that terms like “umami” (from the tomato sauce and potentially some of the toppings) and perhaps “spicy” (from toppings like pepperoni) are more descriptive than “salty”. Though anchovy definitely hits you with a salty flavor! ---
**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:** [February 28, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/102 "2021-02-28T03:14:07Z")
Yeah, “savory” would be the closer one. “Umami” isn’t really a term much used except by foodies. OK, maybe it is bleeding into the mainstream, but for me, growing up, we were only taught four basic tastes: sweet, salt, bitter, sour. That said, I will often use “savory” as an antonym to “sweet” like in talking about sweet vs savory crepes, or sweet vs savory breakfasts, etc. But I don’t know how common it is. I think most people will reach for “salty” around here on first attempt. “Savory” and “Salty” are linked concepts; for example, [like in this quiz](https://quizly.co/do-you-prefer-sweet-or-savory-food/) (only linking as a citation for the quote; no need to click on it): “All of us have a clear preference for either sweet, sugary foods or savory, salty foods.” Plus, yeah, pizza actually is fairly salty with all that cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/103 "2021-02-28T03:14:34Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Do Americans just pile a bunch of salt in everything, or am I missing something? No! Sometimes we pump it full of corn syrup instead. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/104 "2021-02-28T03:34:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > But here’s one thing about that: here in Chicago, we have a very clear idea what goes on a hot dog and what definitely doesn’t go on a hot dog: ketchup. Me putting ketchup on a hot dog does not ruin your enjoyment of your own hot dog with your own toppings, yet this food controversy has legs, as you say. I’d say even more than pineapple on pizza. Steak being cooked well done gets ridiculed by some, yet my (fictional) well-done steak is not going to ruin the enjoyment of your medium-rare steak. Some people laugh at adults putting ketchup on their eggs. The no-ketchup-on-hotdogs thing is about regional identity. All sorts of random stuff gets caught up in that. Out here in San Francisco, a similar in-group/out-group identity is whether or not you refer to the interstate transport system with a determiner. Nobody outside of Chicago cares about ketchup on hotdogs - people may or may not like it, but nobody’s performative about it. Beyond that, most people recognize that it’s considered rude to criticize other people’s food preferences. It still happens, because some people are just rude, but most people don’t. Ordering pizza is an exception - the process necessarily involves expressing an opinion on other people’s tastes. This is gives people the opportunity to engage in performative “outrage” - it’s “loathed by all right thinking people,” and similar routines. This gives this particular bit of food snobbery more legs than most other forms - steak excepted. For some reason, not only is being a snob about steak more socially acceptable, people seem to really mean it. Nobody genuinely cares about pineapple on pizza, but some folks get actually pissed off at the idea of a well done steak. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/105 "2021-02-28T03:35:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Sure, but you can split toppings on pies if it’s a problem. I’m the “I don’t give a shit, put whatever you want on the pizza and I’ll eat it” but I’ve never been unable to find a solution that everyone’s happy with just by having them split up the toppings on a pie. er… - That doesn’t work with anchovies for anyone. - I won’t eat a piece of pizza if there was pepper on an adjacent slice, because the flavor leaks a few inches, and ruins everything it touches. - I’ve known people who keep sorta-kosher who will share a cheese pizza with a group, but won’t eat a pizza that has meat on the other side. I’m sure there are other examples. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Does this happen in real life? I’ve seen it plenty of times on TV, but in practice I’ve never actually witnessed an argument - let alone gotten into one - about pizza toppings. Like Miller, I’ve seen plenty of negotiations and some that end in people casually bitching about the compromise. I’ve never actually seen anyone angry, nor anyone go hungry, nor any other actually serious outcome. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/106 "2021-02-28T03:37:15Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > some folks get actually pissed off at the idea of a well done steak. well, lots of people have issues with wasting food… That being said, my husband likes his steak overcooked, so I overcook half the steak. Because, you know, he’s going to eat it and it should be something he wants to eat and all that. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/107 "2021-02-28T03:46:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > er… > > - That doesn’t work with anchovies for anyone. > - I won’t eat a piece of pizza if there was pepper on an adjacent slice, because the flavor leaks a few inches, and ruins everything it touches. > - I’ve known people who keep sorta-kosher who will share a cheese pizza with a group, but won’t eat a pizza that has meat on the other side. > > I’m sure there are other examples. OK, we’re going a bit afield now. In relation to pineapples, though, no, I don’t see how it could be a problem for anyone that is not solvable and I really don’t think it has anything to do with why this is a popular food “sin” or whatever you want to call it. That’s all I’m trying to say. I don’t think it goes beyond pizza is popular and many people think pineapple on pizza is weird. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/108 "2021-02-28T03:47:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Ordering pizza is an exception - the process necessarily involves expressing an opinion on other people’s tastes. This is gives people the opportunity to engage in performative “outrage” - it’s “loathed by all right thinking people,” and similar routines. OK, said that way, I think that is a reasonable theory and may give this type of haranguing a bit more legs. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/109 "2021-02-28T03:54:33Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’ve known people who keep sorta-kosher who will share a cheese pizza with a group, but won’t eat a pizza that has meat on the other side. Likewise, most vegetarians I know won’t go halves on a meat pizza - the meat juices end up getting on, at the very least, the edge pieces and the pointy bit of each slice. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/110 "2021-02-28T04:07:23Z")
And you can’t go halvsies on gluten free, either. (At any rate, for those people, we order separate pizzas.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/111 "2021-02-28T04:30:07Z")
I love pineapple on pizza. Surprisingly, it did not originate here in Hawaii but was invented by a Canadian, Sam Panopoulos, [who died a few years ago](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/sam-panopoulos-whose-hawaiian-pizza-became-a-canadian-treasure-dies-at-83/2017/06/12/463d3612-4f74-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html). ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/112 "2021-02-28T04:47:04Z")
There are so many things that can be in pizza toppings (e.g. here in China, durian pizzas are popular…and dreadful). So there are only really two principled positions: The Italian position: Only Marinara and Margherita are “true” pizzas Anything goes position: Anything goes. Whether I like a topping or not is irrelevant to whether it “belongs” on a pizza. I will also say that it’s largely a meme at this point, and most people pretending to care are just having fun. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/113 "2021-02-28T04:48:08Z")
In Thailand, I saw pizza with corn and peas as toppings. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/114 "2021-02-28T04:55:06Z")
Sweetcorn? Sweetcorn goes really well on pizzas, particularly balancing out spicy meat. In the US sweetcorn would be considered a crazy topping? Peas…doesn’t sound like a good fit, but I’ve never tried it. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/115 "2021-02-28T05:04:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Sure, but you can split toppings on pies if it’s a problem. Funnily enough my two favorite local pizza places absolutely will not do that. Until recently one wouldn’t even leave anything off. You order off the fixed menu and that’s exactly what you get - no substitutions 😃 ! Which I sorta respect in a weirdly snobbish way. But neither offers pineapple anyway. After years of experimentation I find for me it is more about the dough. It also almost has to be red sauce - despite a lot of trying I just find white pizzas okay at best. Topping and cheese are important but a little secondary. But a nicely fermented pizza dough is what sets the stage. Which is probably why I prefer thin-crust NYC-style to deep dish Chicago-style. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/116 "2021-02-28T05:27:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I’m saying I don’t think that’s the reason it gets (more) derision because there is a typical way of solving it Agreed. If the primary concern was “But what about my half of the pizza?” then people wouldn’t lose their shit over it on the internet when there’s zero chance they’ll ever be sharing a pizza with the people they’re freaking out over. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/117 "2021-02-28T07:57:10Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I have also bookmarked this thread so that I can cite it the next time someone claims that the SDMB is a bastion of intellectual thought. 😁 > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You know that the New York Times has a Food section, right? 😛 I bet the NYT never did a story on [pan-fried semen!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pan-fried-semen/189460) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/118 "2021-02-28T08:18:00Z")
Years ago, I dated a girl who loved Hawaiian pizza: crust, sauce, cheese, ham, and pineapple. If we went for pizza, that’s what we always got. I’d never had it before we started dating, but tried it, and liked it. I’m unlikely to order it for myself, for delivery; but I have no complaints if, at a group gathering at which pizza is ordered, it appears. I’ll have a slice, or two, or three. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/119 "2021-02-28T08:49:52Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Sweetcorn? Sweetcorn goes really well on pizzas, particularly balancing out spicy meat. > In the US sweetcorn would be considered a crazy topping? Yes, Americans would generally be surprised by the idea. BTW, you ask to specify “sweet corn.” What other kind of corn is there? ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875/120 "2021-02-28T09:10:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > People who put pineapple on pizza are the same sort of taste bud deprived people who eat salted caramel. I do enjoy both, but my husband draws the line at salted caramel. We also both enjoy sausages with grapes, similar to [this](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sticky-pan-roasted-sausages-grapes) recipe. BBQ pork pizza? I might be able to get behind that. BBQ chicken pizza? No thank you. > [@Mijin](#): > > The Italian position: Only Marinara and Margherita are “true” pizzas The other thing is most Italians don’t share pizza. When you go to a pizza place, each person gets their own pizza. At least Florence and further north. So worrying about pineapple contaminating the other side is moot. Also, except for tourist areas, you probably won’t find pineapple for pizza. You can get a fried egg, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-vehement-opposition-to-pineapple-on-pizza/933875.md?page=7)