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So, it’s settled. The kiwi-on-pizza argument went viral this week with some people reacting in horror to an image of the unusual fruit topping.
With opinions so strongly divided on such a sensitive issue, we asked Italy’s best pizza chef Franco Pepe, whose pizzeria, Pepe in Grani, in Caiazzo, outside Naples, has been named number one on the 50 Top Pizza Italy ranking three times in a row.
Reaction to this post on Reddit have varied from the approving to the highly offended. It’s to be expected seeing as how the world is divided down the middle by those who accept that pineapple is a pizza topping and those who would rather burn in hell than eat ‘Hawaiian’.
Stellan Johansson, who visited a pizzeria in Sweden, brought a kiwi with him and asked the pizzaiolo to spread it over his ham pizza, posted a photo of his culinary creation to his Facebook page, where someone found it and posted it to the subreddit r/shittyfoodporn and it blew up. The pizza was labelled an ‘unholy creation’ by reddit users although not all of them were against the idea.
"For me, there is no ‘yes’ or ‘no”, said pizza master Pepe. “There is no need to demonize any ingredient: the important thing is how the raw material is used. For example, I put pineapple on pizza, an ingredient that has been misused by the world of pizza. On my pizza, however, the pineapple was used properly, to the point that my pineapple pizza was even won awards."
Franco Pepe's award-winning pineaple pizza (left), pizza with appricot jam - ©Damiano-Errico (top right), margherita sbaliato © BAW (bottom right)
“Whether it is a pineapple or a kiwi, it is important to understand how the raw material can be transformed on pizza, for example, due to the hot-cold contact. We must not have prejudices towards any ingredient, but start studying, working and experimenting".
So there you have it. The world’s authority on pizza has his say.
