(SPOT.ph) Pizza is the kind of food that can take on completely different personalities based on its toppings—some go for a simple combo of basil, mozzarella, and tomatoes; some are more playful, with tandems that play on contrasts like juicy pineapple with savory ham. Some deliberately go the more-is-more route, throwing in all kinds of meats and cheeses into the mix.
But not all toppings are created equally. Not all ingredients work on pizza, and as pizza lovers ourselves, we thought we’d explore how these different toppings compare.
Enter our (totally subjective, very non-scientific) pizza-topping ranking, because hey, we eat a lot of pizza and we wanted to find our own answer to the pineapples-on-pizza debate once and for all. We listed 10 common ingredients asked each member of the team to rate each one from one to five, based on how they feel about it not just in isolation but specifically in the context of them being on pizza:
- 1: Strongly dislike
- 2: Dislike
- 3: Neutral
- 4: Like
- 5: Really like
The scores of each ingredient were then added up (out of the maximum possible score of 50) and ranked in order. We’ve rounded up everyone’s specific remarks, too. This is all in the name of our love for pizza, Spotters—can you guess which ones (pun alert) topped our list?
Also read:
Top 10 Cheese Pizzas in Manila (2016 Edition)
10 Underrated Pizza Places to Try Right Now
These are the best pizza toppings, ranked by how much we love them:
10. Olives (20 points)
When you think of olives, what likely comes to mind is the cured kind that also goes into salads and martinis. They can be green or black (the latter tends to be less bitter), and they contribute a briny bite and richness to whatever you add it to.
In the case of pizza, it brings out the savoriness of other flavors. “I love how its salty punch goes with the creaminess of the cheese,” says Staff Writer Trish (who is currently referring to herself in the third-person point of view). Editorial Assistant Mia agrees: “[It’s] perfect in small amounts for a little salty zing.”
But other members of the SPOT.ph team don’t find it all that crucial a piece of the pizza puzzle. “Can do without [it],” says our Managing Editor MM. Shopping + Services Assistant Section Editor Ashley shares that she doesn’t mind when someone orders pizza with olives—but she’ll take them out from her slice. And though our Content Producer Cara says she doesn’t always notice when it’s there, she says, “the only place I want olives is in my vodka martini. Periodt.”
9. Bell Peppers (23 points)
Bell peppers also happen to be fruits, but are more generally thought of as vegetables and are often used in savory dishes. Depending on the variety, bell peppers can be naturally sweet or bitter; when raw, it gives you a crisp and juicy sort of bite, but it can also be cooked or roasted, which renders it tender and concentrates its flavors. But does it match pizza, or is it better reserved for salads?
Our Editor-in-Chief Jo is on the pro-bell pepper camp: “I like the crunch you get from green bell peppers, aside from the nice herby freshness that counters a generally oily pizza.” Our Art Director War enjoys its signature flavor as well.
Some of us feel more neutral about the vegetable—including Ashley (who thinks it doesn't add anything to the pizza, but ultimately doesn’t mind it) and Cara (“‘Saks lang.”) Mia, on the other hand, enjoys roasted peppers, but laments that in practice she more often gets raw ones on her pizza which overpower the other flavors.
Summit Media’s Business Intelligence Manager Mike, on the other hand, is strongly opposed to the idea of bell peppers on pizza. “Removing peppers is just another pre-meal activity,” he shares. “Like shelling peanuts, or peeling shrimp.” Well, we can't argue with that one—we're all for a fuss-free experience.
8. Pineapples (24 points)
This tangy-sweet fruit is well-loved as, well, a fruit, but the team was very much divided on the ingredient when it's on pizza: Trish, Jo, and War are fans, with Trish going out of her way to eat them first whenever she finds them on pizza (whether it’s canned or fresh!) and Jo praising how they contribute a “bright bit of sweet” amidst all the other savory ingredients. War shares how he loves the fruit "wherever you put it—pizza, burger, pininyahang manok, [even] gin pineapple." "I don't get all the hate that pineapples-on-pizza gets," Jo adds.
Though Mia appreciates the sweet-savory combo, she finds that it overpowers the other pizza components. But for Ashley, it’s a definite no: “If there's pineapple on pizza I won't eat it—like even if I take out the pineapple, I can't eat it. It penetrates the crust and cheese and ruins the whole pizza.” Truly, pineapple on pizza is a love-hate affair.
7. Ham (25 points)
Ah, ham. You have cured, aged, or smoked kinds that are good on its own or on sandwiches. And while meat tends to be a more well-accepted pizza-topping choice, ham ranks relatively low for us at SPOT.ph. Our News + Features Section Editor Christa happens to be a huge meat fan and rates it highly, as does Mike—but the others consider it to be more or less meh.
“[It] depends on the ham; some are better than others,” says Ashley. “But I feel like, why get ham when you can just get pepperoni which is 100 times better?” (We'll get to that later!) Meanwhile, Mia dislikes ham especially when it’s the sweet sort. And for Cara, it’s an “Auto-pass. Hard pass. No.”
6. Anchovies (26 points)
This preserved fish has a characteristic salty and, well, fishy flavor that's bursting with umami. It's a must for any proper caesar salad—or with pasta puttanesca, where it's used in small amounts to add depth to the brighter mix of the tomatoes and other ingredients. With pizza, though, it can be notoriously polarizing.
Christa, for one, thinks it's “just weird to have something (way) too salty” on her pizza, while Jo says it’s acceptable in small amounts but can be too salty that “you'd have to take several gulps of your drink after each bite—which would leave you too full to have as much pizza as you'd like.”
Mia, on the other hand, likes the saltiness in small amounts, and Trish adores its umami punch (“It’s the patis of the Western world!,” she says). Ashley sings praises for the ingredient as well: “Obsessed. Amazing. So good. No fail. Chef’s kiss.”
5. Onions (27 points)
Onions are one of the most versatile vegetables around. You'll find them raw—and slightly pungent in burgers and salads. But they also develop an earthy sweetness when cooked. The team is split as far as how they fare on pizza. Jo, MM, Christa, and War give it high ratings, with Christa adoring the “flavorful crunch” that they contribute to the flavor mix.
Ashley admits she can do without it, but enjoys it “when it suits the specific flavor—e.g. [in] Philly Cheesesteak pizza.” Trish thinks similarly, finding that it works beautifully in some applications (e.g., “When it’s caramelized and there are fresh mushrooms in the mix”) but also tends to get overpowered easily.
The other members of the team just generally don't like onions, like Mia. “[I’m] not a fan; I remove it if it overpowers the other toppings,” adds Cara. And Mike cuts straight to the chase: “Onions on pizza make me cry.”
4. Bacon (30 points)
Is it even possible to not like bacon? Well, apparently it does when it comes to pizza. Trish thinks bacon is an odd choice for pizza unless it’s deliberately meant to be breakfast-themed.
The rest of us are fans: Christa says she’d give it a 10 out of five points if she could (“Give me all the meat,” she says), and MM calls it the kind of pizza topping you “can’t go wrong with”.
But for all we know, it's more on how bacon doesn't shine as bright as it should be on pizza. Mia isn’t a fan of how bacon gets “too greasy and limp” when reheated, but thinks it’s fine when fresh. Ashley thinks bacon “doesn’t shine the way it should on pizza”—but overall it’s “pwede na”. Aw, man, we can't believe we could shun bacon at all.
3. Sausage (31 points)
In the context of pizza, the sausage is usually the Italian kind—either sliced or crumbled as a topping, giving you a flavorful—and sometimes spicy—bite. Granted, it does have its share of non-believers on the team—namely Jo (who says sausage “tends to be chewy [or] tough and generally unpleasant” in her experience), Mia (who admits she isn’t the biggest meat person as a whole) and Cara (who says she’d eat it if it were part of a good combo of toppings, but generally says it’s a “no”).
Outside that, we dig it: MM loves how it “adds more depth to each bite” especially when it comes to sausages of the spicy and peppery sort, while Trish says that when done right it contributes a distinctly tender and juicy profile compared to other meaty pizza toppings.
2. Pepperoni (32 points)
When you think of pizza, the pepperoni-topped sort is likely one of the first that comes to mind—after all, it’s a well-loved topping in the States, and almost every American-style pizza spot makes their own version of pizza topped with the flavor-packed cured meat. It seems that "well-loved" might not be the case for us at SPOT.ph: Christa, who generally loves meat, finds that it has “no taste”, while Mia says it has “no appeal” for her personally. That's a whole lot of nos.
But those of us who love it really love it: Ashley calls it a “classic” that she can always eat, while Cara calls it her “go-to pizza topping”. “Joey Tribbiani would approve,” says Mike, citing the Friends character’s infamous pepperoni-pizza obsession. And for Trish, it’s basically a “flavor bomb.”
1. Mushrooms (39 points)
First, let us clarify—with mushrooms, there’s a big difference between canned and fresh versions; the fresh kind delivers a distinctly earthy flavor like nothing else. They also come in different varieties—from the relatively neutral white button mushrooms to the decidedly umami shiitake to the deeply-flavored portobello.
Whichever kind we’re talking about (canned or fresh, and so on), we at SPOT are fans: With the exception of War (who gave it a score of one as he doesn't like its texture and feels that it "doesn't add any flavor to pizza or any food for that matter"), this topping got the most consistent ratings of either four or five.
“[It] goes well with most pizza flavors,” says MM, while Ashley says it can be really good with the right kind of pizza (“e.g. truffle pizza”) and shares how she loves its distinct texture. Mia, on the other hand, raves about the combo of mushrooms, cheese, bread, and tomato sauce. “[They make for] the perfect mix.” Trish is a bit of a stickler for fresh mushrooms; when it’s fresh mushrooms we’re talking about, she adores how its woodsy, umami note pairs beautifully with cheese without taking over the way other pizza toppings can.
Either way, mushrooms are the kind of ingredient that you could pick out and enjoy plain, but it also melds well with just about any other savory pizza ingredient. For this reason, we’re hailing it as the best pizza topping in our book.
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Source: Spot PH
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