Hawaiian pizza inventor leaves fruit of life’s work
THE inventor of the Hawaiian pizza has died, leaving a meaty, cheesy and fruity legacy that continues to divide pizza lovers around the world.
Sam Panopoulos, a Greek man who settled in Canada, added pineapple to the top of a pizza in 1962 while running a restaurant with his brothers.
“We just put it on, just for the fun of it, see how it was going to taste,” said Mr Panopoulos, who died on Thursday, aged 83. “We were young in the business and we were doing a lot of experiments.”
More than half a century later, the debate continues over whether Mr Panopoulos’s invention was a work of culinary genius or a revolting bit of vandalism on an otherwise good pizza.
The president of Iceland, Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson, reignited the argument in February when he said he would ban pineapple on pizza if he had the constitutional authority to do so.
Facing uproar, Mr Johannesson later clarified, “I like pineapples, just not on pizza”, and recommended people try topping their pizza with fish.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, rushed to defend the honour of the Hawaiian pizza and gave a nod to Mr Panopoulos. “I stand behind this delicious south-western Ontario creation,” he said.
Mr Panopoulos was born in Vourvoura, Greece in 1934 and moved to Canada when he was 20 along with his brothers, Elias and Nikitas.
The brothers set up several restaurants in Chatham, Ontario, not far from the US border. Pizza was still a rarity in Canada at that point but was beginning to seep into the culinary culture from the United States.
The Panopoulos brothers served Chinese food alongside pizza and liked to experiment with unusual toppings beyond the traditional pepperoni and mushroom.
Taking some inspiration from the sweet and sour flavours in Chinese food, and also nodding to the mid-20th century tiki trend inspired by Polynesian culture, he decided to try putting pineapple chunks on top of a pizza. He called it “Hawaiian” because that was brand of canned pineapples that he used.
“We tried it first, passed it to some customers,” he said. “And a couple of months later, they’re going crazy about it. So we put it on the menu.”
The trend spread across Canada and then into the US and eventually worldwide. Mr Panopoulos came to regret not patenting the idea but said he was “glad we came up with something people like to eat”.
A death notice posted by his family said of Mr Panopoulos: “His booming laugh and blunt honesty will be missed by his family, friends, former employees and customers.”