When I think of pizza, hot, cheesy strings, and delicious tomato sauce water my mouth. And the toppings? Oh the toppings! Sausages and chicken – onions and tomatoes – mushrooms and seafood… its a pizza lover’s heaven. But of course, some of the toppings water more mouths than others – here we have a list of the most popular pizza toppings which people order:
Pepperoni
At the top of the list, we have… Pepperoni! It is estimated that 36% of all pizza orders have pepperoni. Approximately 251,770,000 pounds of pepperoni are consumed on pizzas annually – Cowabunga! Pepperoni is a type of sausage, and is a composition of beef and port – 55% beef, and the remaining if pork. About a dozen different meat cuts can be used in making the sausage. 40 to 45 percent of total sausage weight is made of fat.
Italian Sausage
Then we have Italian Sausage. Also called “fresh sausage” on pizza menus, usually contains at least 65 percent pork meat, or no more than 35 percent fat. It is seasoned with salt, black pepper, and fennel seed.
Ham and Canadian bacon
The third most popular meat on pizza, behind pepperoni and Italian sausage, is ham and Canadian bacon.
Ground Beef
We have Ground Beef also in the list. Ground beef, or hamburger, comes from grinding the trimmings obtained from cut up (i.e., boned out) beef carcass.
Chicken and Seafood
Chicken and seafood also make it into the list. Chicken usually comes pre-cooked, and pre-seasoned in different flavors, such as Italian fajita, or BBQ. Seafood on the other hand, is an all time favorite amongst people. The list of potential seafood toppings is seemingly endless. The most commonly mentioned items include crab, shrimp, squid (calamari), scallops, clams, and mussels. In certain European countries, such as Germany, canned tuna is the #1 pizza topping. In Japan, shrimp is very popular. And in Korea dried squid is a hit.
Other well-liked toppings are mushrooms, extra cheese, sausage, green pepper and onions.
At the international level several local tastes have been blended into the traditional flavor of pizza. In India/Pakistan for example, pickled ginger, minced mutton and “paneer,” (a form of cottage cheese) are hot favorites. Spicy chicken pieces, known as “tikka” are also used to create a local taste. Japanese prefer “Mayo Jaga” (mayonnaise, potato and bacon) and eel as toppings. Flambé, with bacon, onion and fresh cream, is a personal favorite of the French, Brazilians like green peas, and pineapple is a hot topping in Australia! Interestingly, 62% of Americans prefer meat toppings on their pizza, while 38% prefer vegetarian toppings.
At the international level several local tastes have been blended into the traditional flavor of pizza. In India/Pakistan for example, pickled ginger, minced mutton and “paneer,” (a form of cottage cheese) are hot favorites. Spicy chicken pieces, known as “tikka” are also used to create a local taste. Japanese prefer “Mayo Jaga” (mayonnaise, potato and bacon) and eel as toppings. Flambé, with bacon, onion and fresh cream, is a personal favorite of the French, Brazilians like green peas, and pineapple is a hot topping in Australia! Interestingly, 62% of Americans prefer meat toppings on their pizza, while 38% prefer vegetarian toppings.
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