Does Pineapple Belong on Pizza? The President of Iceland Doesn’t Think So.
Pizza can be a very divisive issue. (Just ask New Yorkers and Chicagoans.) If regional styles weren’t dramatic enough, pizza toppings are now under scrutiny by international leaders. Or, at least, a politician from one Nordic island nation.
Iceland’s President had some choice words about pineapple as a pizza topping this week. Spoiler alert: He’s not about it. While visiting a high school, Icelandic president, Gudni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, was asked by a student if he liked pineapple on his pizza. After saying he was “firmly opposed” to the fruit as a topping, Jóhannesson suggested he would be open to banning it from ever being served as a pizza topping.
Pineapple is most popular as a topping for “Hawaiian pizza,” which, incidentally, is the brainchild of a Greek-Canadian retired chef based in Ontario. Atlas Obscura reports that the concept was conceived by Sam Panopoulos in 1962, just a few years after Hawaii became a state and while it still had its novelty.
Not surprisingly, Jóhannesson’s comment ignited a debate on social media about pizza toppings, pineapples, and the government’s role in moderating pizza. And then things got hilariously more serious: A Change.org petition called for Jóhannesson to resign for his “extreme views” on the matter and the leader had to issue a statement backtracking on his words.
“I like pineapples, just not on pizza,”Jóhannesson says in a Facebook post.
We can all agree he lost credibility with the last line.
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What do you think? Does pineapple belong on pizza? Does seafood belong on pizza? Let us know in the comments.