Former PM agrees with Icelandic President, no pineapple on pizza
How about bananas on pizza? Photo: Iceland Monitor/Ómar Óskarsson
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland caused quite a stir when he declared that if he could ban anything, he would ban pineapple on pizza. He later withdrew the statement.
The news became an international sensation, and once again Iceland was a headline (Icelanders were very happy that for once the reason was neither a financial scandal nor volcanic eruption).
Justin Trudeau, President of Canada got involved in the debate on social media Twitter, and defended the Canadian invention, Pineapple on Pizza. He’s not the only one overseas to have an opinion, comedian Jimmy Kimmel has also joined the debate, according to Rúv [link in Icelandic].
Back in Iceland former Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (aaaand we’re back to scandals) weighed in on the issue, stating that pineapple had no business on top of pizza, according to Nútíminn [link in Icelandic].
“I had planned not to interfere officially with the pineapple debate, though I have a strong opinion regarding it, and have been trying to educate people on the topic for over 20 years. The reason is that for me there have been enough difficult international debates for now.
But when Canada’s Prime Minister was shown to be misguided, I couldn’t help myself. Pineapple does not belong on pizza.”
He keeps on, that though pineapple juice is delicious, pineapple on pizza is like sour cream on sushi, it doesn’t fit. And then there’s the temperature difference. The pineapple get’s a lot hotter than the other toppings, and again cools down quicker. This creates an imbalance on the pizza. And there’s no point in removing the pineapple after the pizza has been baked, as the juice has leaked all over the pizza by then.
“The President’s interest in banning pineapple on pizza is understandable. In that regard that pineapple should be banned on large pizzas. A possible compromise would be to allow it on smaller pizzas only, made in specific areas of the pizzeria.
Then again, the problem disappears if we only eat Icelandic food.”
