this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
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Today I Learned

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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 126 points 10 months ago (11 children)

It's kinda crazy that it took the combined culinary efforts of at least 4 nations to create something genius that would piss off all of those nations.

Also, pineapple on pizza is fucking delicious, and I will fight over that personal opinion being as valid as it sucking :)

[–] CannedTuna@sh.itjust.works 53 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Pepperoni, bacon, pineapple, and jalapeño. The ultimate combination of sweet, spicy, salty, and savory.

[–] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

You have been awarded the key to the city of Halifax.

[–] Snowpix@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago

Replace the bacon with ham slices and you've got my favourite pizza

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[–] Bumblebb@kbin.social 14 points 10 months ago

Whats even crazier is the ethnobotanical path to GET those ingredients together.

Tomatoes had to be brought from south america. Bred to grow at lower altitudes. Peasants had to be persuaded to eat them (they were formally animal feed because they were from the nightshade family and peasants didn't trust the fruit not to be poisonous since the leaves are) and then enough time (100 years) had to pass for them to develop cuisine around them.

[–] NIB@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

In Greece, eating feta cheese with watermelon(or melon) is somewhat common. You combine the sweetness of the watermelon with the saltiness of feta. And both things are cold.

[–] dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

In Italy, prosciutto with melon is pretty common. Sweet and savory as a combination is pretty common. See also: sharp cheddar on apple pie.

[–] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Yup, people who object to Hawaiian Pizza for any reason other than "it's not for me" don't really understand food.

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[–] Dabundis@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Pizza is a very fatty, often greasy food, and acidic taste balances out greasiness in the mouth

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Good thing tomatoes are acidic then

[–] masterspace@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago

Not American tomatoes, at least, not in tomato sauce form; they put a tight sugary lid on that.

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Pineapple, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, red onion, and balsamic drizzle. My recent stroke of genius from the local unlimited topping pizza place.

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[–] humorlessrepost@lemmy.world 41 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And some countries put canned corn on pizza and call it “American style” because Americans love corn.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I was once in a Filipino grocery in L.A. and they had corn and cheese ice cream. I don't mean they had corn ice cream and they had cheese ice cream, I mean they had an ice cream flavor called "corn and cheese."

[–] cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Filipino here, grew up with the stuff and never realized how weird it could be perceived as until now. It's more like a cheesy vanilla flavor with bits of corn.

We also have a creamy vanilla sort of popsicle with red mung beans in it that I suspect we got from the Chinese.

[–] Duranie@literature.cafe 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"cheesy vanilla flavor with bits of corn"

That is seriously not helping lol. I will concede though that it could be one of those things better tasting than you would imagine. Like the first time I tried the off the cob version of elote (Mexican Street corn.) A cup of hot corn with mayo, cheese, and chili powder? I thought it sounded bizarre at the time but holy shit - I ate the hell out of it and wanted more lol.

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[–] ultranaut@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (3 children)
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[–] CptEnder@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Me loading my .45 1911

"Shame"

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[–] jopepa@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

I’d try it

[–] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago (4 children)

In Japan, there's Vermont curry, which has a maple-syrup-y taste.

Vermont doesn't have a state curry.

[–] rustydomino@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yup. You can get it in the USA at Asian grocery stores, and even in some American stores located in areas with large Asian populations. And it’s fucking delicious.

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[–] baseless_discourse@mander.xyz 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

AAAAND it is inspired by north American Chinese food.

Inspired in part by his experience preparing Chinese dishes which commonly mix sweet and savory flavours,

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_pizza

[–] Can_you_change_your_username@kbin.social 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And then the Hawaiians replaced the ham with spam.

[–] Neato@ttrpg.network 7 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Honesty that'd probably be better. Ham is so bland on pizza; it can't compete with the sauce. I always do pineapple and pepperoni. The spice from the pepperoni cuts through the sweetness really nicely.

[–] xploit@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

That's why you need some nice smoked ham or honey roast or similar....agree though, most places just use most bland crap they can find cheap

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[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 16 points 10 months ago

It gets even messier.

Modern tomato sauce used in pizza is a variation of the sauce in southern Italy. People were cultivating tomatoes there after they were introduced by Spain, that controlled both that region and the North American lands formerly controlled by the Aztec city-States (nowadays by Mexico).

Where are tomatoes from? South America. Yup. The lands are today Peru's and/or Ecuador's. Likely domesticated way before Cuzco/Inca expanded over the region. In the meantime, the pineapples being put over the pizza are from another region, the Paraná basin (currently controlled by Brazil and Paraguay).

Then you got the dough. Wheat was domesticated somewhere in the Fertile Crescent; I think that the lands currently controlled by Iraq should be a safe bet. In special, Eastern Rome (aka Byzantium) used to control Naples too, spreading πίτα/pita (a type of flat bread) again into the region. (I say "again" because the Aeneid already talks about pizza, in Republican times.)

Cows (for the cheese) were domesticated a bit further to the west, probably what's today controlled by Syria... well, at least one of the times, because you can almost hear haunting zebu moos from what's controlled now by Pakistan. (I believe that most domestic breeds should be a cross between both, with varied amounts of zebu x taurus. And perhaps a third stock from the Maghreb.)

[–] BarrierWithAshes@kbin.social 12 points 10 months ago

This is why I can never hate on hawaiian pizza. It is a true-born Canadian pizza, birthed from these frozen wastes.

[–] mateomaui@reddthat.com 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Finally

That being said, I do enjoy it.

[–] sachamato@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I go to Italy often just to eat real Italian food. I understand that for Italians, the hawainana pizza is an aberration, like many other things if not cooked as they traditionally do. And I respect it, because it's a key part of their culture. Still, I have a right to eat and like whatever I want, so I also expect respect on that sense. Some people will do this and some others won't. I think it's a personal choice to decide respecting others opinions.

[–] Tristaniopsis@aussie.zone 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Traditional schmaditional. They never had tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, corn or a bunch of other things until Meso-America was ransacked.

[–] masterspace@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Discovering that tomatoes were new world fruit really torpedoed any chance of me respecting Italian traditions

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[–] neo2478@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 months ago

Whats a Canadian from Greece? Was the guy Greek living in Canada? Doesn’t that just make him Greek? Or was it a person born in Canada with Greek ancestry? That would not make him from Greece.

[–] kindenough@kbin.social 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

A fruit native to Brazil. We call it "pizza hawaii" in the Netherlands and it's tasty. Ananas, ham and cheese, perfection I say, pizza puritan snobs be damned.

[–] nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I personally cannot stand pineapple on my pizza (despite wanting to like it). And really do not care what other people put on their food.

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[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 4 points 10 months ago

I'm not too sure if pineapples are native from the lands currently controlled by Brazil, Paraguay, or both. The Amerindians farmed them quite a bit, so they spread even to to a chunk of North America; and the native range of a relative hints me that the genus originated further west.

That's just a guess though - the point is that nobody knows for sure.

[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

pineapples are farmed a lot in Hawaii, though.

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[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Just think, if you open your mind and let other cultures be your inspiration, you too could invent something as reviled and divisive as Hawaiian pizza.

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

The Germans seem to think they invented it. Order it in Sweden, and it'll come with bananas.

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