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There are few occasions as contentious in culinary history as the choice made by a Canadian chef in the 1960s to place canned pineapple atop a ham pizza.
When Sam Panapoulos devised what he and his brother, his accomplice, called Hawaiian pizza, it represented a transgression of Italian culinary norms that would resonate for years to come.
Now, six decades later, the debate about whether pineapple belongs on pizza remains an issue that splits countries, communities, and even families.
Currently, a pizzeria in Norwich, England, has proudly declared its position by adding pineapple to its online delivery menu — but at the extravagant price of £100 (approximately $122).
Interestingly, this isn’t the most exorbitant price asked for pineapple over the last year — a $395.99 red-hued variety hit the market in California last May — but it is significantly more than the pound typically spent on a can of tinned pineapple in a UK supermarket.
“Sure, for £100 you can have it. Why not order the champagne as well? Go on you animal!,” taunts the new menu listing for Hawaiian on Lupa Pizza’s profile on UK food delivery service Deliveroo.
It is placed alongside uncontroversial favorites such as Napoli, Meatball, and Pepperoni, all priced at $17 or less.
“I say ‘no’ to pineapple,” Lupa’s head chef Quin Jianoran shared with CNN Travel over the phone.
The Panapoulous siblings blended “Chinese sweet and sour elements with a classic Italian ingredient,” he elaborates. “It’s highly divisive, as people either adore it or despise it. We’re simply taking a stance.”
No orders have been placed yet for the £100 pizza, Lupa’s head chef Quin Jianoran confirmed to CNN Travel, although the online response has “taken a massive turn. It’s honestly astonishing.”
The restaurant has vowed to feature pineapple on its monthly special list if the poll results from the Norwich Evening News, a local publication, lean in favor of the fruit.
The yellow contender is currently leading with a substantial 62% of the votes on whether pineapple is suitable for pizza, although whether the £100 price will be reflected in the meal served at the physical restaurant is still to be determined.
“My opinions might shift!” laughs Jianoran. “It could be £200, or it might be £2, who knows.”
While pineapple has conventionally been rejected by Italian pizza chefs, a year ago Napoli expert Gino Sorbillo introduced a polarizing ananas pizza to his menu on Via dei Tribunali, the most famed pizza avenue in Naples, the pizza capital of the world. His aim, he stated, was to “combat culinary bias.”
The discussion surrounding pineapple pizza has occasionally escalated to such intensity that it nearly incited a political crisis. In 2017, the then president of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, had to clarify that he would not be prohibiting pineapple pizza in his nation — and that he lacked the authority to legislate such a decision — after his disapproval of the combination went viral.
While Jianoran favors traditional toppings, his “favorite type of pizza is a New York-style pizza, as there are virtually no restrictions on their toppings.”
Indeed, a New York pizzeria earned the title of the best in the world in 2024. Una Pizza Napoletana, located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, topped the Italy-based 50 Top Pizza Awards last September.