The Rest of the Most Disliked Pizza Toppings
Beyond anchovies and pineapple, a number of other toppings consistently generate negative reactions from pizza lovers across the country. Understanding why each of these toppings falls short helps explain what actually makes a great pizza — and what tends to ruin one.
Eggplant
Eggplant on pizza is a choice that confuses even committed food adventurers. It offers no remarkable flavor enhancement to the pizza — in fact, the relatively neutral, slightly bitter taste of eggplant tends to be overwhelmed by the sauce and cheese rather than contributing anything interesting to the overall experience. What it does contribute — unfortunately — is texture. Eggplant becomes mushy and waterlogged when baked in a hot pizza oven, contributing an unpleasant soft mass on top of what should be a satisfying, chewy slice. Unlike anchovies, which are polarizing but at least make a strong impression, eggplant on pizza tends to be simply bad without even being interesting about it.
Mushrooms (for Their Detractors)
Mushrooms occupy an interesting place in the pizza topping landscape — they are genuinely popular with a significant portion of pizza eaters, but they are also consistently named among the most disliked toppings by those who cannot stand them. The complaint is almost always about texture rather than flavor: mushrooms, if not properly cooked before being added to a pizza, release significant amounts of water during baking. The result is a soggy pizza with mushrooms that have developed a slimy, unpleasant consistency rather than the firm, meaty texture that makes a well-prepared mushroom genuinely satisfying. For mushroom haters, even a small amount can compromise an entire slice.
Spinach
Spinach on pizza suffers from a problem that the high-heat, fast-cooking environment of a pizza oven makes essentially unavoidable. Raw spinach leaves, placed on a pizza before baking, wilt completely during cooking and release water onto the surface below them. The result is a soggy, limp, somewhat slimy pile of greens that has lost virtually all of its texture and most of its flavor. The taste contribution to the finished pizza is minimal — spinach’s mild flavor disappears in the presence of assertive tomato sauce and melted cheese — while its negative contribution to the pizza’s texture and moisture level is quite real. The nutritional argument for spinach on pizza is genuine, but nutrition alone has rarely been enough to make people excited about a topping that turns their crust soggy.
Raw Sliced Tomatoes
There is something almost philosophically perplexing about putting sliced raw tomatoes on a pizza that already has tomato sauce as its base. The redundancy alone might be enough to question the choice, but the execution makes matters considerably worse. Raw sliced tomatoes placed on a pizza before baking do not have enough time in the oven to develop any caramelized, roasted tomato flavor. Instead, they release water, shrink, and end up as mushy, hot, wet pieces of tomato sitting in a puddle of their own juice. The net result is more moisture and less flavor — exactly the opposite of what any good pizza topping should contribute.
Olives
Olives on pizza have their devoted fans, but they also have vocal opponents who find them among the most difficult toppings to tolerate. The most common complaint — particularly about canned black olives, which are the variety most frequently used on pizzas in American pizzerias — is that they taste more like the tin they were packed in than like actual food. The briny, metallic quality of canned olives can be assertive enough to dominate nearby bites, and their somewhat rubbery texture after baking does them no favors. Like anchovies, olives are a topping that tends to spread their flavor influence beyond their actual location on the pizza through the oils they release during baking.
