One of my favorite food combinations is pineapple on pizza. The salty and sweet flavor meshes surprisingly well. Biting into small bits of juicy tropical fruit evenly distributed over a pizza adds a variety in texture and surprises for the taste profile.

According to an article from the Hungry Howie’s Pizza Corporation, the origins of the controversial food pairing was created by a Greek Canadian immigrant named Sam Panopoulos. He had experience in cooking Chinese cuisine and one of the most commonly known items in Chinese-American restaurants is sweet and sour chicken. Many people might not know this, but pineapple is used in Chinese sweet and sour sauces. This ultimately gave Panopoulos the idea to put pineapples on pizza.

A plain old pepperoni or cheese pizza just doesn’t cut it anymore. As humans, we crave sugar. Eating only something salty can get boring, which is why pineapples create a perfect balance.

Not only is the flavor balanced, pineapple can also be really healthy. This gives the illusion that the pizza I’m eating is just a little healthier, and I end up eating more.

Other than pineapples on pizza, weird food combinations people swear by has become a trend across different social media platforms. One of the most popular combinations is a dill pickle stuffed with takis. People have added their own additions like cream cheese, chamoy and Mexican candies. This has become so popular that people create pickle and chamoy kits to sell.

According to a 2020 New York Post Survey, 55% of people enjoy the classic combination of french fries dipped in ice cream and chocolate shakes. Another popular combination is cottage cheese and fruit, which 50% of people enjoy. Cottage cheese reminds me of yet another trend that has overtaken the weight loss community on social media that I would love to partake in. This includes a cottage cheese and mustard platter with a variety of fruit and vegetables and most importantly, a chicken apple sausage.

Overall, controversy in regard to weird food combinations are often overdramatized. If pregnancy cravings are accepted, so should regular weird food combinations. Some just work perfectly and the best one happens to be pineapples on pizza.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Lily Hao at [email protected].