I have good memories of shrimp pizza. When my husband was in nursing school he worked nights and weekends delivering pizza. There was someone in the country club area of town who used to prank his neighbors by ordering shrimp and anchovy pizzas for them. He'd give his own phone number for confirmation, but give their address for delivery. They would always refuse delivery of them. At the end of the night the workers could take home any pizzas which had been sent back. No one ever wanted the shrimp and/or anchovy pizzas, so my husband was happy to take all of them. I became quite adept at picking off the toppings and finding other uses for them. Even though money was very tight our family enjoyed those occasional seafood meals which came free of charge.
Here in Australia Prawns are a big hit on Pizza, many also like Pineapple although I don't myself. I like Anchovies but many do not. When making Pizza at home it is usually, tomato (paste & slice) cheese (sometimes 2 or 3 different) bacon pieces, sliced sausages (pork) olives and pepperoni. Thin base is preferred generally.
Around the world (including at some artisanal pizza shops in the US) I've had all sorts of weird things on pizza... clams, oysters, yams, potatoes, corn, ketchup, mustard, asparagus, broccoli, shrimp, squid, uncooked ham, tunafish, tandoori chicken, greek yogurt, mango, carmelized onion, crab, peanuts... and some things I couldn't identify
Funniest thing to me is that in many countries they will sell "American" burgers or "American" pizza and put on things that Americans would never... Like in Croatia I think there was this burger shop that had a "Texas Burger"... which was an open-faced sandwich with toppings on it I'm sure nobody in Texas has ever consumed on a hamburger before.
Probably Europeans feel the same way when McDonald's come out with it's "Le French" burger. :D
Hmm somewhat surprised eggplant doesn't make the list. And I was expecting buffalo chicken (or just chicken in general) but thinking about it, maybe buffalo chicken isn't as common internationally? Can grab a slice of it at any pie place in my area (NY/NJ)
It's one of the pies you know will be sitting there ready by the slice wherever you go
I've never seen sausage on a pizza menu. The very thought is gross. Perhaps it refers to a particular type of sausage in the US. My favourite pizza topping is eggplant.
mozzarella is cheese. and anchovies are disgusting. But don't worry it's not against the law or anything for you to eat them. It's just that other people don't want to.
American pizza generally comes with tomato sauce by default. Though you can get sliced tomato as an extra topping, it's kinda redundant so it's not common enough to make the top 10. And like kalbahamut said, mozzarella is the default cheese for pizza so it's already up there, and anchovies are nasty.
I do like all the other stuff you listed apart from anchovies, though. You can get all of them at MOD Pizza, pretty sure, and many other American pizzerias, as well.
To an American, the word "sausage" is much less broad a term than it is to a European. Most Americans would not consider hot dogs, frankfurters, kielbasa, bratwurst, bologna, or salami, among other things, to be "sausage." I think most Europeans would. To an American a sausage is what might be called in the UK (I think?) a "breakfast sausage"... usually small, cylindrical with rounded ends, dark brown, highly textured... looks kinda like a half dried turd. Made with pork, salt, pepper and sage. Inside it is a solid brown color throughout. On pizza it is typically broken up in to smaller spherical pieces with rough edges. That's what Americans would think of as "sausage" as a pizza topping. Salami, pepperoni, and so on would be in a different category.
In the UK I would say that the archetypal "sausage" is what you describe, but I would (it would generally be considered correctly) identify that salami was a sausage. If you were offered a sausage in the UK or ordered one in a restaurant it would be like you describe or sometimes similar but curled into a spiral (a Cumberland sausage). I imagine that in continental Europe it is different, although English is not predominantly spoken there and so they will have different words.
In my area "breakfast sausage" can be one of three things - link sausages, which are the ones Kalba described - they are small, about the size of my forefinger, - or it can be sausage commercially packaged in plastic rolls which are sliced crosswise into patties before frying. Also available is country sausage which is bulk ground pork mixed with salt, black pepper, red pepper, and sage by the butcher and sold by the pound in styrofoam flats covered in plastic wrap in the meat case. It is made by hand into patties before frying. Country sausage usually has a higher fat content than the better brands of roll-type sausage such as Jimmy Dean or Tennessee Pride. Country sausage has a different taste and texture than the ones that come packaged in the plastic rolls because it is ground more coarsely and doesn't have MSG or preservatives added to it.
Pepperoni is an American variety of salami. If anything I believe salami should be accepted for pepperoni. But I wonder what the sausage topping includes. For me as a German pepperoni and ham are sausages. Maybe the problem is that Germans sometimes differ between "Wurst" and "Würstchen" which both translate to sausage. "Wurst" however is salami, ham, boloney... (something that is often eaten in slices) and "Würstchen" are frankfurters, wieners, bratwurst (something that is usally cooked or grilled as a whole). That's not some set rule though.
I was surprised that beef didn't make the top five. It's the most popular topping around here - usually with onions and sometimes black olives or mushrooms. It's always on Mexican-style pizzas, too.
I only missed the two things I don't eat: Mushrooms and olives. I don't have a favorite pizza. It depends on the mood. Some days I crave tuna, sometimes I compose my own. I do like the combination of broccoli, roasted chicken strips and corn.
Man, people will rag on Americans for anything. You're seriously annoyed by what some people choose to put on their own food? That's a new level of petty.
Chicago "pizza" can be tasty but in its most extreme form is more like a quiche than what most people think of as pizza. Neapolitan pizza can be alright, too, in moderation, but is more like grease soup served in a half cooked breadbowl than what most people think of as pizza. New York style pizza is what billions around the globe are thinking of when they think of pizza. Does that make it more "real?" Probably not. But it is what the vast majority of people mean when they say the word.
I really don't understand the hatred for pineapple on pizza. I'm not a fan of it, but surely it's just personal preference. Do people get this animated about a particular thing they put on their toast, or in a sandwich? Why does it bother you if someone is eating something you personally don't like?
(And if you think that fruit on pizza is the reason why it is wrong, you put tomato on a pizza, and that is technically a fruit, so should you stop having tomato on your pizza?)
Also... why so much misguided outrage directed at pineapple, which is delicious, when there are people out there who put on their pizza anchovies, which are completely disgusting? Is it just a matter of the former being so popular? Sort of like how there are tons of people out there who will love to talk your ear off about what a terrible movie Avatar or Titanic was, but very few who are eager to talk about the deficiencies of the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation?
It saddens me to see folks policing other people's food choices. If you like pineapple on pizza, so be it. If you don't, fine. No-one is making you eat it!! Be excellent to each other, remember.
From what I've learned reading the comments on this quiz: 1) Pineapple on pizza is either the taste of heaven or is punishable by death. 2) Americans ruin everything, even if it's a general improvement.
Probably Europeans feel the same way when McDonald's come out with it's "Le French" burger. :D
It's one of the pies you know will be sitting there ready by the slice wherever you go
wow
And I speak for all Europeans...
No, it's fine. Everyone can have their own taste.
(And if you think that fruit on pizza is the reason why it is wrong, you put tomato on a pizza, and that is technically a fruit, so should you stop having tomato on your pizza?)
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Also rocket is the best topping, then prawns, then prosciutto, then chilli, then marscapone/gorgonzola, and none of these make the top 10 :(
ALSO also typing in pepperoni, then seeing sausage come up was weirrrrd (no salami too?)
I actually missed pepperoni because I knew I had already typed it in and couldn't imagine why when I typed peppers it wasn't there.
QM, can you maybe not give credit for peppers when people type in pepperoni?