Sorry if that question sounds as obvious to you as it does to me. To me I expect a pepperoni pizza to have cheese and pepperoni on it, and nothing else.
But recently we’ve been doing a tour of all the local takeaways and leaving a review for each one, which has been fun. A surprising number of them add green peppers to the pepperoni pizza, even when it’s not documented on the menu. The menu will say like,
meat feast: ham, chicken, beef;
hawaiian: ham, pineapple;
pepperoni: pepperoni
but then it arrives with additional green peppers. So I’ve got into the habit of saying “just pepperoni, no other topping”, which usually works but this week’s takeaway arrived with green peppers again anyway.
Sorry to rant, but do I just not know what a pepperoni pizza is, or is it the children who are wrong?!
When people endlessly debate what should and shouldn’t be on a pizza:
What region are you and what exactly do you define as pepperoni?
No this is weird. Those pizzerias are bugging.
I distinctly remember going to Italy, asking for a pepperoni pizza, getting a pizza with only red peppers on it, then being told that “pepperoni” just means bell pepper in Italian, and that the sausage is actually an American invention. Then smacking myself because the word is actually so obvious.
It’s weird that they would call the sausage pepper+oni which rather obviously means big pepper, rather than a variation on “salciccia” which obviously means sausage, but the deed is done and everyone is stuck with that confusion now.
Anyway, I guess that means the answer is both and pepperoni purism is fucked? Imagine being Italian and being asked for a pepper pizza “but only the pepper, no [foreign word for pepper]” and having to cut up sausage for some reason.
PS: maybe it’s actually a good sign if you get peppers when explicitly asking for only pepperoni: it must mean someone with passing knowledge of Italian works there
It’s a linguistic contamination, it contains paprika and chili pepper powder, which are similar enough sounding to make that bridge.
Why don’t you call it spicy salami. Pepperoni in Germany is a pickled green Chili (Peperoncini) btw. You’d be really confused if you ordered a pepperoni pizza here… 😅
Same. Late '90s post-graduation trip. We got a mix of whatever peppers they had, heh.
If I ordered a Pepperoni Pizza, I would expect a “standard pizza” of cheese and tomato, with Pepperoni on it.
Red peppers, green peppers, chillis, onions and especially red onions can fuck off back to the “hot shot” or “spicy” pizzas or “extra toppings” or whatever.
No objection to them being available on a pizza, but tell me on the menu, don’t surprise me when I open the box.
Pepperoni to me is crust + sauce + cheese + pepperoni and nothing else unless specified.
Base pizza (dough, tomato sauce, cheese)
Pepperoni
if its a fancy place, I can accept an addition of a handful of fresh basil leaves.
Y’all make me want to go test this theory tonight getting my own pizza. Perfect
excusescientific theory to use tonight.Pepperoni. But I wouldn’t mind green onion, too. I simply wouldn’t expect it.
Unless they charge me for a TWO topping pizza. Then they can get fucked.
If I order a pepperoni pizza, and it shows up with green peppers or onions on it, that pizza shop is going to be bringing me a new pizza with just pepperoni on it. They can have their old pizza back, I’m not eating one bite of it.
Pizza places here will clearly list what is on each pizza but you can specify with or without. Generally in my experience pepperoni is usually just pepperoni but depends on the shop.
Personally though, and I’ve been told this isn’t the way, I like to have onion, peppers, chillis, olives on any type of pizza. I like a lot of variety but somebody once told me you can enjoy each flavour like that. I do though
There’s this one pizza place close to us that does a Garlic sauce base instead of tomoto purreee, and if you top it with Pepperoni and Cheese the whole thing makes your mouth melt
Pepperoni pizza should have pepperoni and cheese but the superior pizza is pepperoni and mushroom.
I want the top of the pizza to be mostly pepperoni with very few gaps through which cheese is visible. I do my best to be clear on this topic when I place an order.
These people do their best to help you eat healthy and you just ignore their efforts. Eat your greens!
