Clem's Italian Atrocity: The Hawaiian Pizza
 

The Hawaiian Pizza has a curious origin: It was first made by a Greek pizza maker, Sam Panapoulos in Ontario, Canada in 1962. So no, it did not come from Hawaii. Its appellation comes from its association with pineapples which is a major crop in Hawaii. For Hawaiian pizzas, pineapple and ham are the toppings on an otherwise standard Neapolitan pizza (tomato pizza sauce + mozzarella cheese).

Most Italians think that it is sacrilege to top pineapple on a pizza, to wit:

on 20 May 2026, an Italian chef in an Italian restaurant in Brisbane, Australia  was allegedly sacked because he refused to put pineapple on pizza - he said that it was "an insult his culture". He later took his dismissal to the Fair Work Commission but lost his case (there were other issues with his work).

So you can see, this can be a deep cultural issue. However, not being Italian, I have no truck with pineapple on a pizza, although if I were making an authentic Italian pizza, I would never use that infructescence.

Here is one which I made for dinner tonight:

 

www.clemkuek.com

08 November 2026


 

Cooking by Clem: https://clemkuek.com/photoalbum/photo696.html
 

Video presentations can be found here:

Earlier Days: https://youtu.be/BWyHY1h9Y5s

Recent Past: https://youtu.be/PL9wWSI_Dfw

More Recently: https://youtu.be/nk6O2tGJ5pk

Even More Recently: https://youtu.be/-nhItJZ6g1U

Created by Clem Kuek