They say food can bring people together; yet nothing divides a dinner table like the Hawaiian pizza. The origins of using pineapple as a pizza topping began in 1962 Canada when Sam Panopolous, a Greek chef started experimenting with new toppings due to a lack options at the time. Clearly some people loved the combination which is why it is around to this day, but some have strong oppositions against the Hawaiian pizza – from harsh chef critiques to rumors of national bans in Italy.

Pop culture and social media do play a role in biasing preferences, but why do some toppings go together with pizza better than others? What is the secret to a successful marriage of ingredients? Apart from personal preferences, there may be physicochemical reasons humans have paired certain ingredients together.

Taste contrasts

Sweet and salty taste combinations are not uncommon – salted caramel, pineapple jalapeno salsa, habanero mango sauce, peanut butter and chocolate, Garret’s cheese caramel popcorn anyone? Yumm! While there are complexities in liking associated with binary taste interactions, contrasting tastes often balance the sensation of elements in a dish.1,2 It seems plausible that the sweetness of pineapple would pair nicely with the saltiness of the pizza sauce. Evolutionarily, sweetness signals presence of an energy source to humans whereas, salt indicates a balance of electrolytes which means we may be wired to like sweet-salty combinations.3

Flavor – a multisensory experience

Taste is not the only sense that affects how we experience food. Aroma as sensed by the receptors in our nose, the physical sensations on our tongue (thick gravy vs crispy crackers), and chemesthetic sensations (for example the cooling effect of mint or spice sensations from chili peppers) together comprise a multisensory flavor experience. Not surprisingly, mouthfeel also plays an important role in food pairing. Continue Reading...

References

  1. Keast, R. S. J. & Breslin, P. A. S. An overview of binary taste-taste interactions. Food Qual. Prefer. 14, 111–124 (2003).
  2. Peter Coucquyt, Bernard Lahousse, J. L. There’s a science to food pairing, and you can learn it here. Available at: https://www.popsci.com/story/diy/best-ingredient-combinations-book/. (Accessed: 30th October 2021)