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Anyone who has ever set foot in Italy knows that there are unspoken rules that must be followed, the most important of which concerns food. Cappuccino after 11 o’clock? For tourists only. Spaghetti bolognese? That’s a scary thought. Pineapple on pizza? Heresy – at least it was until now.
But 2024 could be the year pineapple pizza spreads to Italy, thanks to Neapolitan celebrity Gino Sorbillo pizzaiolo (Pizza Maestro) He added the dreaded “bromeliads” to the menu of Via Tribunari, the most famous pizza street in the world pizza capital.
Sorbillo’s work “Margherita con Ananas” costs 7 euros ($7.70). But this is no ordinary Hawaiian. pizza biancaThe tomato layer is peeled off, sprinkled with three or more types of cheese, and served with twice-cooked pineapple for a caramelized taste.
Sorbillo, a third-generation pizzaiolo, told CNN he created the restaurant to “combat food stigma.”
“Sadly, people follow the crowd and condition themselves according to other people’s opinions and what they hear,” he said.
“In recent years, I have noticed that many people criticize ingredients or the way a dish is made, simply because in the past most people did not know about them. I wanted to highlight an ingredient that is used in “Poison is delicious when you put it on a Neapolitan pizza.” ”
He said it was also important to do so at its headquarters in the 3,000-year-old historic center of Naples (Sorbillo has 21 stores around the world, including in Miami, Tokyo and Ibiza).
Bake the pineapple in the oven beforehand and let it cool. Next, we add smoked provola (a local cow’s milk cheese from Campania), extra virgin olive oil, and fresh basil before baking the pizza in a wood-fired oven.
When it comes out of the oven, he sprinkles “microscopic shavings” of two types of smoked cacio oricotta cheese around the dough. He collected one from a goat from Sardinia and one from a buffalo near Cilento.
“It’s going to be really delicious,” he said.
Tasty or not, putting pineapple on pizza is anathema to most Italians, and his pizza he shared on social media this week was not well-received by many. Sorbillo said the insults on social media started a “buzz” and his pizza was even featured on national television.
But he says it’s been well received by those who are curious enough to try it.
“We put it on the menu without saying a word for a few weeks before publishing it on social media, and a lot of people ordered it, including Neapolitans,” he said.
“But Italy is divided down the middle on this issue. It’s not just Italy. There’s a lot of debate going on about it. I don’t think the public is interested. They think it’s something different. I have a sense of distrust.”
Gino Sorbillo
The historic center of Naples has more than 3,000 years of history, and much of that history is devoted to pizza.
Food journalist Barbara Politi, who went straight to Naples to try it, was positive.
“It’s good and it’s refreshing. I’m all for it,” she said. “Did you know that pineapples have been a part of European food culture ever since Christopher Columbus tasted them in Guadalupe and brought them home in 1493?
“When Sorbillo released pineapple, I got interested and looked into how long pineapple had been used in Europe, and found out it was part of Europe. [food] A culture that has lasted a long time. So, in fact, we are talking about spirituality and habits of taste.
“I liked it. It’s like sushi. You might not like it at first, but then it becomes an obsession.”
For Sorbillo, pineapple on pizza is no different from the more adventurous toppings pizzaioli has been working on in recent years.
“In recent years, people are using ingredients that would never have been used five or six years ago. Now speck from Alto Adige, mortadella, chopped pistachio, which was never used 10 years ago, We use powdered olives, mozzarella foam, and even jam. Why not rediscover pineapple? Over the last five or six years, pizza has taken on a new lease of life.”
He said he thought pizzaiolo’s ancestors “would be embarrassed” by serving pineapple, but added: “You should taste it first and then form your own opinion.” In the past, even ham and arugula were not included on pizza, but now they are common. ”
Gino Sorbillo
Since then, Sorbillo has developed a ketchup pizza to further inflame the critics.
But what sets him apart is that he starts with a tomato base.
“It’s a different fruit. It’s two fruits and they’re both sour, so it doesn’t make for a good product,” he said. “If you put three slices of smoked cheese on it instead, it transforms the pizza and gives it a different taste.”
He said the Hawaiian history of using tomatoes means that “people, like me, condemn tomatoes without even trying to address them.”
“Obviously there’s controversy from people who say you shouldn’t use it. But why be offended? No one is forcing you to buy it.
“Pairing is important in meals. If you combine ingredients well, you get a good result. The fact that people interested in gastronomy are eating it means we’ve done it well.” .”
In fact, Sorbillo has already used that criticism to create another controversial pizza.
“When pineapple pizza came out, someone wrote, ‘Now see if you can make ketchup pizza,’ so I did,” he said. “And another line started.”
But it was no ordinary ketchup. Instead, I used a homemade sauce made with red and yellow Italian Datterino tomatoes on a white base with smoked provola. He then took a picture of himself surrounded by bottles of homemade ketchup, enthusiastically eating it and saying, “It’s delicious.”
“All you have to change is one ingredient, or one preparation step, and you create something completely new,” he said.
“I am sure that in the near future we will see pineapple pizza on the menu not only in Naples but also in other pizzerias in Naples.”