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Anyone who has set foot in Italy knows that there are unwritten rules that must be respected, and the most important of all revolves around food. Cappuccino after 11 in the morning? Only for tourists. Spaghetti bolognese? A horrible thought. Pineapple on your pizza? Heresy, at least it was until now.
But 2024 could be the year pineapple pizza breaks into Italy, thanks to Gino Sorbillo, the renowned Napoli. pizzaiolo (pizza chef) who has added the dreaded “ananas” to his menu in Via dei Tribunali, the best-known pizzeria in the pizza capital of the world.
Sorbillo’s creation, called “Margherita con Ananas” costs 7 euros ($7.70). But this is not the usual Hawaiian: he is a white pizzastripped of its tomato coating, sprinkled with no less than three types of cheese, with the pineapple cooked twice to give it a caramelized sensation.
Sorbillo, a third-generation pizzaiolo, told CNN he created it to “combat food prejudice.”
“Unfortunately, people follow the crowd and condition themselves according to the opinions of others or what they hear,” he said.
“I have noticed in recent years that many people condemned ingredients or ways of preparing food simply because in the past most people did not know them, so I wanted to put these ingredients into dispute, which are treated as if they were” re poison – on a Neapolitan pizza, making them tasty.”
Doing so at its headquarters in the historic center of Naples, with its 3,000 years of history (Sorbillo has 21 stores around the world, including Miami, Tokyo and Ibiza), was also an important point, he said.
The pineapple is pre-baked in the oven and then cooled. He then adds smoked provola (a local Campanian cow’s milk cheese), extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil, before popping the pizza into his wood-fired oven.
When it comes out of the oven, he spreads “micro shavings” of two types of smoked cacioricotta cheese around the crust: one from Sardinian goats and another from buffaloes from the nearby Cilento area.
“It makes it very tasty,” he said.
Tasty or not, pineapple pizza is anathema to most Italians, and his pizza, which he launched on social media this week, has not been well received by many. Sorbillo said he has caused “uproar” with insults on social media, and his pizza was even talked about on national television.
But he says those who have been curious enough to try it have been favorable.
“Before launching it on social media, I put it on the menu without saying anything for a couple of weeks and a lot of people ordered it, even Neapolitans,” he said.
“But Italy is divided down the middle on this. And not only Italy. There are a lot of arguments that have been opened about this. I think people in general are not curious. They distrust anything different.”
Barbara Politi, a food journalist who rushed straight to Naples to try it, was positive.
“It’s good, fresh, I’m for it,” he said. “Did you know that pineapple has been part of Europe’s food culture since Christopher Columbus tried it in Guadeloupe in 1493 and brought it back?
“When Sorbillo launched it I was curious and I looked at how long pineapple has been used in Europe and I discovered that it is part of the European market. [food] culture for a long time. So, we are really talking about a question of mentality and taste habits.
“I liked it, it’s a bit like sushi: at first you may not like it, but then it becomes a fixation.”
For Sorbillo, pineapple on pizza is no different from the more adventurous toppings pizzaioli have been working with in recent years.
“In recent years people have been using ingredients that were never used five or six years ago. Now we use speck from Alto Adige, mortadella that was not used 10 years ago, chopped pistachios, powdered olives, mozzarella foam and even jams. Why not rediscover pineapple? “Pizza has taken on a new life for five or six years.”
He said he thought his pizzaiolo ancestors “would be perplexed” by his pineapple offering, but added: “You have to try things first and then have your say. Before, neither ham nor arugula were included in pizzas, now they are normal.”
However, one thing he puts limits on is starting with a tomato base.
“That’s another fruit; with two fruits, both with acidity, it wouldn’t be a good product,” he said. “Instead, I put three smoked cheeses on it and that changes the pizza and takes on a different flavor.”
He said the history of Hawaiians using tomatoes means “people condemn it without trying to work on it, like I did.”
“Obviously there is controversy from people who say that it should not be used. But why are you offended? Nobody forces you to buy it.
“Pairings are important in food. If you combine the ingredients well, the result is good. People who are gastronomically curious eat it, which means it went well for us.”
In fact, Sorbillo has already taken advantage of the criticism to create another controversial pizza.
“When the pineapple pizza came out, someone wrote, ‘Now see if you can make one with ketchup, so I made it,'” he said. “And another fight started.”
However, it wasn’t just any ketchup; instead, he used a homemade sauce of red and yellow Italian datterino tomatoes, on a white base with smoked provola. She then filmed herself eating it triumphantly, surrounded by bottles of homemade ketchup, pronouncing it “good.”
“All you need to change is one ingredient, or one preparatory step, and you will create something completely new,” he said.
“I’m sure that pineapple pizza will soon appear on the menus of other pizzerias in Naples, and not just in Naples.”
