We here at Matador are of the opinion that there is no one perfect way to do pizza — the world is a vast and wonderful place, and it would become much duller if we limited our acceptable pizza styles and toppings to what comes on a simple New York dollar slice (even if it is, in one native New Yorker’s opinion, the actual perfect way to do pizza). But that doesn’t mean there aren’t places that are pushing the boundaries of what we can imagine going on a pizza.
Photo: Industry Kitchen/Instagram
The 17 Weirdest Things People Do to Pizza Around the World
1. Brazil — Green Peas on Pizza
Brazil, like most countries, has adapted pizza to its local flavors. But one of the more surprising ingredients they put on a pizza is green peas. When a man tried something similar in the United States, he was publicly shamed by the internet.
2. Missouri — Cicadas
Cicadas are large, terrifying insects that emerge from the ground every 17 years or so and descend on East Coast and Midwestern states by the billions. So when they end up on pizza, the results are bound to be divisive.
3. Russia — Four Fish
A Mockba (Moscow) pizza is a common order in Russia: it’s a pizza topped with four fish. The four fish are usually mackerel, salmon, sardines, and tuna.
4. Germany — Canned Tuna
If a topping gets popular enough in a country, it inevitably ends up on the menus of the local Pizza Huts. Pizza Huts in Germany serve thunfisch pizza, which uses canned tuna.
5. Japan — Mayonnaise
Mayo jaga is a popular enough pizza in Japan that it’s served at Domino’s — it includes mayo, potato, pancetta, onion, paprika, and corn.
6. Scotland — Haggis
Pizza and spiced meat go together like peanut butter and chocolate, so it was only a matter of time before someone put Scotland’s famous dish made of offal, oatmeal, and suet onto a pizza. You can actually buy frozen pizza with haggis on it in Scotland, because it’s a beautiful world.
7. Sweden — Pizza Africana
Americans love to hate pineapple pizza, but the Swedes have taken it a step further — a popular pizza there is the Pizza Africana, also known as the Banana Curry pizza. It has bananas, curry, pineapple, and sometimes peanuts and chicken.
8. New York — Caviar and 24-karat Gold
New York has its fair share of insane pizzas, but the one that is the most ridiculous (and most indicative, perhaps, of our civilization being on the brink of collapse) is Industry Kitchen’s 24k pizza. The pizza has to be ordered 48 hours in advance. The squid-ink dough is topped with Stilton cheese, foie gras, platinum Ossetra caviar, truffle, and 24-karat gold leaves. Industry Kitchen is, of course, right by Wall Street. They also sell a Unicorn Pizza, topped with cotton candy, sprinkles, and frosting, for those with a sweet tooth — pictured above.
9. England — Cadbury Eggs
For Easter in 2016, Crazy Pedro’s in Manchester made a specialty pizza called “I Am The ResurEGGtion.” It was covered in chocolate sauce and topped with brownies, marshmallows, meringue, and a Cadbury Creme Egg.
10. Philippines — Fried Chicken Crust
KFC likes to put fried chicken where fried chicken doesn’t belong (see the “Double Down”), but apparently KFC Philippines is even more extreme than it is in the United States — there, they’ve created a “Chizza,” which is a pizza that replaces the crust, naturally, with fried chicken.
11. Japan — Sushi
It should surprise no one that the Japanese love putting seafood on their pizza, but sushi pizza is a relatively new invention, created by Japanese chefs in Canada. It has now spread to much of the United States and, of course, back to Japan.
12. England — A Fry-Up Pizza
The classic English hangover cure is the Fry-Up, or the Full Breakfast. It usually includes bacon, sausages, eggs, and may also include beans, puddings, toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, scones, and pretty much anything else. Since it’s a breakfast that includes everything, it was only a matter of time before it ended up on top of a pizza.
13. Denmark — Horsemeat
A few years back, a scandal erupted in Europe when Danish beef was found to actually be horsemeat. A Copenhagen pizzeria naturally decided to piggyback off of the publicity, and started selling horsemeat pizza. The difference, of course, is they never pretended it was beef.
14. Philadelphia — Pizza-Flavored Ice Cream
Little Baby’s Ice Cream in Philadelphia makes a pizza-flavored ice cream. They are connected to the Pizza Brain pizzeria, so, naturally, you can put pizza-flavored ice cream as a topping on your pizza.
15. Canada — Poutine
Canada is home to the world’s best drunk food, poutine (french fries slathered in gravy and topped with melted cheese curds), so Pizza Hut Canada decided to put poutine on a pizza. The full pie is a light and breezy 3000 calories.
16. South Korea — Cookie Dough Stuffed Crust
Popular South Korean chain Mr. Pizza has some pretty interesting items on its menu. Perhaps the most outlandish is the Grand Prix, which has a cookie dough-stuffed crust and is topped with the most obvious of pairings: shrimp and potato.
17. Australia — Vegemite Stuffed-Crust
— Harry Tucker (@harrytuckerr) January 20, 2015
Australians put also sorts of interesting meats on their pizza (kangaroo, crocodile, etc.) but the strangest to the rest of the world is Pizza Hut’s Mitey Stuffed Crust pizza. Mitey, of course, is the famous Australian vegemite spread that is an acquired taste for people outside the country. 