New Zealand PM grilled after spaghetti pizza outrage
[WELLINGTON] New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English defended his love of pizza topped with tinned spaghetti and pineapple on Friday after the recipe sent fans of the Italian treat into an outraged frenzy.
Mr English posted pictures of his unorthodox tastes on Facebook this week, saying he prepared the dish for his family.
The Internet melted down faster than buffalo mozzarella as purists poured online scorn on his spaghetti speciality.
"Why on earth would you promote such garbage? Would you serve this stuff to your international guests??," one user posted.
Another said: "Sorry Bill, any man who puts spaghetti on a pizza is not fit to run my country, you cannot count on my vote come election time."
Even US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel got in on the act, urging New Zealanders "impeach that man immediately!".
"That is so offensive. That is an act of war. I think he just declared war on Italy, and maybe Hawaii too," Kimmel told his audience.
English was unfazed by the criticism, saying his recipe may have cooked up strong opinions but plenty of people were on his side.
"Everywhere I go now I meet people who put spaghetti and pineapple on their pizza," he told NewstalkZB.
"They come up to me spontaneously when I'm walking through the airport and tell me."
The culinary kerfuffle comes after Iceland President Gudni Johannesson revealed in February that he hated pineapple topping on pizzas and would ban it if he could.
Mr English was unaware of that controversy but admitted he had been puzzled recently about how many times he had been asked whether he liked pineapple on pizzas.
"We answered the question, the nation was clearly interested, but they'll probably move on pretty quickly now," he said.
AFP
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Lifestyle
Former Zouk morphs into mod-Asian Jiak Kim House, serving laksa pasta and mushroom bak kut teh
Massimo Bottura lends star power to pizza and pasta at Torno Subito
Victor Liong pairs Aussie and Asian food with mixed results at Artyzen’s Quenino restaurant
If Jay Chou likes Ju Xing’s zi char, you might too
Mod-Sin cooking izakaya style at Focal
What the fish? Diving for flavour at Fysh – Aussie chef Josh Niland’s Singapore debut