Tabasco on pizza: Yay or Nay?

rustydrd@sh.itjust.works to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 105 points –

My wife puts Tabasco sauce on her pizza, while I am convinced that an Italian person dies every time she does that. Help us sort this out, please.

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TBF, not only would that same Italian person you envision also die every time a "pizza" is made, (IRL, they're far hardier as a people) but I personally reached a similar point in my impression of "proper" sushi. 🤷🏽‍♂️ For decades now, I've looked down on cream cheese, et al, used as ingredients in rolls of all kinds. That eventually evolved into other disdainful opinions on adjacent foods' contents, but I've fairly recently discovered a simple fact: in its culture of origin, sushi is known to on occasion include ice cream as an ingredient.

Therefore? Such quixotic prescriptionism is worse than useless: it restricts access to experiences based on fabricated and imaginary rules (or, face the piercing judgment of... actually no one at all).

Fuck what "people" say. Engage with your wife's view, and maybe even join her in exploring what other curious ways one can enjoy weird shit. 🫀🖖🏽

Yup, there’s three rules about food:

  1. Don’t eat what will kill you.
  2. Eat stuff that tastes good.
  3. Eat stuff that’s good for you.

As long as you never break rule one and only occasionally break rules 2 and 3, you’ll have a good time.

I felt somewhat similarly about cream cheese in sushi, then I watched some video of a guy in Japan taking Americanized sushi to an old traditional sushi chef. When he liked the cream cheese, I unclutched my pearls a bit.

The closer I get to that "old chef" icon myself, the more I come to realize that the majority of it is projected onto the concept from the surrounding culture... (I blame that very thing for contributing in large part to the robbing us all of Bourdain, in fact. 🙇🏽‍♂️💔)

Well, let's be real, pizza isn't some kind of holy thing that is only Italian.

It's not like they're the only people to ever put things on flat dough and bake it.

But ignoring that, food is a living thing, just like most languages, like music, like fashion and art. You can try to stick a pin in it, but you kill the thing by doing so.

It reaches a point where it's ludicrous to try and claim a thing is possessed in its entirety by the place that first named something.

Once a cultural idea spreads far enough, you can only specify one type of the thing. It's why we have champagne, and sparkling wine. It's a way of putting a pin in something but recognizing that there's still living versions out there.

Or, look at it like the difference between formal and colloquial language.

Pizza may have started in Italy as a term, but it's like kleenex and qtips. Pizza is now the generic term for stuff cooked on flat dough. It can even be applied to stuff being placed on flat bread, and then cooked, though I don't know why you'd not call it one of the other words for that idea other than being unaware of those words.

Put whatever you want on your dough, call it pizza, and enjoy ;)

Yay. Chili flakes are great, too.

BTW, the worst pizza I ever had was served in Italy. Absolutely drowned in oil.

Maybe the oily pizzas are more pizzas than the ones we eat out of Italy

Don't worry about what Italians think about how you eat pizza. Unless you are in Italy, however you are eating it is probably unappealing to most Italians no matter what you are putting on it, even in its base form with no modifications.

Not one single actual Italian gives a flying fuck how you eat anything, as long as you eat enough.

The only "Italians" who say this shit are people that claim to be Italian because their great great great great grandfather once got a hand job in a Fiat 500

You put red pepper flakes on your pizza sometimes, yeah? She just likes hers in liquid form.

If you wanted pizza to be "italian", it would have to have no tomatoes, peppers, pepperoni, buffalo milk cheese, basil or a whole bunch of other ingredients that are commonly added to pizza.

Pizza is a global food, do with it as you will

I mean, Italians put French fries and hot dog slices on pizza. Can we really say they're the last word on "authenticity" ?

That's Pizza Americana though

I don't see them serving these in America, though.

And I don't see them serving Panda Express in Beijing. The point is not authenticity it's that different cultures take what they perceived to be another culture's food and bend it to their preferences.

But mostly I was making a joke because of its name.

Put whatever you want on a pizza, its a good delivery mechanism

I'm not a big hot sauce ON pizza kinda guy, but I dip the crust in something like secret aardvark. Buffalo chicken pizza is pretty popular and that's basically a hot sauce pizza.

As an Italian I love Sriracha or Harissa on pizza, but the vinegar, no please!

Tabasco?

I prefer hot sauce on old pizza, not vinegar

Sure, why not? I put sriracha on some the pizzas we get, or make at home.

Some Italians may find this offensive, alas not as offensive as lathering pizza in ketchup.

Tabasco is tasty and Italian food mythologies are fairly silly.

As an Italian, sorry for my choice of words but that article is pure, untainted ass.

"Pizza is more American" why doesn't he go yell it in public in Napoli, i fucking dare him.

Italians are well-known for being sticklers about the right way to prepare their food, often implying it is ancient. Unless it is a low-oil focaccia or a salad (ancient Roman), it is surprisingly often the case that it is a dish that is 50-100 years old with a foreign influence.

Naples has been making pizza for about 200 years as a basic flatbread with tomatoes, mozarella, and basil. If you eat pizza with a tomato sauce... that's an American change. Pizza was not often eaten outside Naples [Edit:whoopsie] until around WWII. The most common variations around the world are all based on the American version.

Carbonara was a WWII-era invention with tons of variations at first and an American origin. I've known Italians that get actually upset if you prepare carbonara with the "wrong" ingredients even though they were ingredients used on "original" carbonaras less than 50 years ago.

If you go back just a bit farther, every dish that needs tomatoes or potatoes or peppers is from the Americas, not Europe. And Europeans were not big on tomatoes for a looong time. It's only been in much use there for about 250 years.

The opinions of imaginary and very close-minded italians do not concern me and should not bother you as well.

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My wife puts the nearest hot sauce on everything. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate spice, but she has no regard for the flavor profile of the sauce or the food. Maybe your wife's the same. I've been slowly trying to get her to pair her spice sources thoughtfully.

Tabasco is a sup-par hot sauce for most pizzas. Red pepper flakes are best in my opinion, and pack plenty of heat and flavor. I had some serrano basil sauces that went great with pizza, which I think could be expected with any sauce featuring basil. If you're feeling fancy, Truff goes great on pizza too. If you're going to do Tabasco, at least do the smokey chipotle.

Different sauces taste different, and pair differently with different foods. Some flavors synergize with a dish, some overpower it, and some clash. I wouldn't say regular Tabasco necessarily clashes with pizza, but I think it usually overpowers the other notes. There are more delicious choices.

heat improves the flavour often. If you ever cut chilli peppers into a salad, you'll find that you won't need to add salt

I never saw this until moving to Japan. Everywhere I've dined in with pizza gives tabasco. I tried it and I like it. Especially for vinegar-based or otherwise more acidic sauces, it cuts through the fattiness from the meats and cheese and brightens things up. I also like spicy things (we frequently do habanero hot sauce these days). I think maybe a splash of something like white wine vinegar might be nice if someone isn't into the heat.

You can do whatever you want to food, I wont stop you. Some would keep the gates closed to others; deeming this or that ingredient taboo. These people have never been to Naples, never had to make a frozen cheese pizza more palatable with canned peaches or starve to death. Hypocrites! Let them scoff, and weep at our scrambled egg sriracha breakfast pizza. They will never be happy like we are.

Tabasco or some other hot sauce in the pizza sauce would be a lot more ideal, but on top is acceptable if that's what's available.

mmm no, i dont think so. Crushed red pepper and jalapenos tho? Hell yea

I like it spicy, but I can't stand the vinegar taste of Tabasco on pizza. In some restaurants you could request chilli oil, which suits my taste better.

I agree. I find the strong vinegar taste generally off-putting

Tabasco is alright if you like Tabasco, I usually go for something hotter where I can, tabasco as a last option when my options are short.

That being said, they used to make a bomb ass chipotle sauce.

I've made a Christmas dinner pizza with a stuffing and gravy stuffed crust. Just have fun with the food you eat. Why be boring and keep things "authentic"?

Is it Tabasco specifically?

Because I also use Cholula, Tapatio, QM Cocoa Ghost...

I would prefer Sriracha (shout-out to Underwood Ranch specifically) but to each their own.

Not for me but can’t hate on it. People like some weird shit. Do what makes you happy, as long as it doesn’t infringe on others.

Food is food. Do what you want to do to your food because you are eating it. Other people aren't eating it so they don't get a say. If most people saw what the original pizzas were they wouldn't recognize them and some wouldn't like them, including modern Italians.

Tabasco, in my opinion, is just like eating a pizza with peppers or a bunch of pepper flakes on it, or as I sometimes do, ground cayenne pepper.

I find it very tasty, however, I think hot sauce is adding more moisture to a food that's already pretty wet. I prefer red pepper flakes to balance this out. But she should do what she wants

Personally, Tabasco in the bin. Hot sauce on cold pizza the morning after? Breakfast of champions

I put Tabasco on my pizza all the time :)

I think that hot sauce on pizza is awesome and I have been doing it for years. My apologies if I am making their population decline, but I won't be stopped.

I misread it "Tobacco" which was a hard no. Anyone who's swallowed a wad of chewing tobacco will tell you the same thing.

Italians die regardless. If it tastes good, go your gang, live a little. I put mayonaise on my frozen pineapple/ham pizza. Best hangover breakfast ever.

Restaurants here often have a spicy oil on the table that I’ve see plenty of Italians put on their pizza. I don’t see it as being all that different. However, if it was a hot sauce with any amount of pineapple and you’d get your Italian citizenship revoked. 😅

All Italians are already dead after Brazilians decided that having sushi or French fries on a pizza was ok.

They died way before that when japan started putting ketchup on pasta

As a pineapple on pizza enjoyer I am not gonna judge, taste is subjective so no one but you decides what goes on your food. Honestly, this is how new recipes are made. If no one tried new variations then we wouldn't have most of our favorites!

Hot sauce on pizza is a staple. Especially a good vinegary sauce. I'll put aside my ghost pepper sauces and grab my Valentina for it.

Depends on the pizza. If you are eating a traditional pizza just like mamma mia made back in the old country, skip the Tabasco.

If you're eating greasy sloppy pizza from a dirty little place called, "Joe's" load up that Tabasco and the chili flakes, and add some of that artificial Parmesan powder that comes in little packets!

Man, I dip it in ketchup like a literal toddler.

Tabasco is the sauce of life. If I had to replace my blood with another liquid, it would be tabasco

That sounds pretty good to me. Though I would prefer crushed peppers, jalapenos, or Salsa Yucateca, Tabasco is a little too sour. Why do you care? Are you literally gatekeeping her pizza?

What about spicy oil? It's at least how I see it served, but may be there it even more traditional

Here’s my take: most countries outside of the US are lacking when it comes to condiments and sauces. It’s your food, dress it how you wish. One of my recent favorites for pizza is Bachan’s Original Japanese Bbq sauce

I just mix a buttload of chili powder into the pizza sauce when I make them

Depends if it's good pizza or not. If you're talking a sauce heavy Italian/Boston style slice the Tabasco is a travesty... if it's some shitty NY slice the load that sucker up.

As someone who grew up in the NYC pizza area, but has lived in the Boston area for a few decades, this is incomprehesible to me. While there is some very good pizza to be had in the boston area, it is from very individual places, whose pizzas do not constitute any cohesive boston style (and some of which are NY style).

What I would call the closest thing to a regional style is the pizza from sub / pizza shops, usually run by greeks and so sometimes called greek pizza, which tends to be cheese heavy (and i'm not sure what the mix is, definitely not just mozerella/parm), and lacking in the sauce department, to my taste.

I'm sure there is bad NY pizza, but good NY pizza has a tastier sauce, thin crust, and a good cheese balance. And unless things have gone downhill since my last visit (which is certainly possible) even your average NY pizza is pretty decent.

I don't like to put hot sauce on my pizza when it's still warm but cold pizza with hot sauce is pretty damn good

Hot take, but sauce on pizza is both too messy and too salty. It's enough on it's own, damn it!

She likes it, who cares? Enjoy what you want, and let others enjoy what they want. I don't like tabasco on pizza but I'm not going to get bent out of shape over someone doing that. If you are trying to MAKE something and you want that something to be as authentic as possible then sure, tabasco shouldn't be put on pizza. But you are eating. Eating is for enjoyment or sustenance . Not rules.

If you are eating pizza by italian standards, theres only 1 topping besides cheese on there, 2 if you are daring. I like to bend the rules when it comes to personal preference and I also put tabasco on pizza sometimes.

I put it on cold pizza, on hot i use chili flakes

Why does pizza taste good at any (edible) temperature? Hot pizza, lukewarm pizza, room temperature pizza, chilled pizza, cold pizza, any of those tastes fucking amazing in their own way, how? (I don't think frozen pizza is counted as edible).

I put Franks Red Hot on pizza all the time. It's no problem.

Pizza isn't owned by the Italians anyway. Many variants are decidedly American anyway, so it would be like a French person complaining about how the British cook a roast dinner.

So what you want to know is: if i have a very negative attitude towards Italian people, can i support my wife in putting as much tabasco on her pizza?

I have a guideline I like to follow when putting together my pizzas, I like something spicy, something savory, and something sweet

Spice: banana peppers, jalepenos, or yes, hot sauce if that's what I've got

Savory: bacon,chicken, pulled pork, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms,

Sweet: onions, picked red onions, roasted corn, pineapple

You can blend stuff (put tandoori chicken on the pizza) for even more interesting combos!

I feel like one of each gives a great result.

Sriracha on pizza is fantastic, eating that at this second.

Correction: Underwood Sriracha

Don’t let other people tell you how to eat.

If Italians had been gatekeepering 500 years ago, they wouldn’t have tomato-based dishes today.

Nay, Tabasco is weak sauce for babies. Get any craft hot sauce instead.

Totally.

Its not the best hot sauce for pizza bit its still excellent and one of the best hot sauces.