'An insult to his culture': Italian chef loses job after refusing to put pineapple on pizza

Euronews · David Mouriquand · 2026-11-06 10:05 UTC

Chef Davide Tamburella refused to put the tropical fruit on pizzas at a restaurant in Brisbane, Australia, calling it "an insult to his culture". Having been fired from his job, he has lost his legal battle against the establishment.

Chef Davide Tamburella refused to put the tropical fruit on pizzas at a restaurant in Brisbane, Australia, calling it "an insult to his culture". Having been fired from his job, he has lost his legal battle against the establishment.

In 1962, a Greek restaurant owner by the name of Sam Panopoulos threw caution to the wind. He was running a restaurant with his brothers in Ontario, Canada, and decided to shake the culinary world by adding pineapple to pizza.

Since then, the Hawaiian pizza – not named after the US state but the canned pineapple from Hawaiian Pineapple Company – has become the heated debate that refuses to die, one which divides friend groups when ordering an Italian classic.

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