islandhippy

I was amused to read that Italy’s xenophobic Northern League party (whose leader Umberto Bossi once described African immigrants as ‘bingo-bongos’) are attempting to ban non-Italian food from Italian cities, starting with Lucca and Milan. Turkish kebabs, sushi, Thai and Chinese food are just some of the culinary offerings that are blacklisted. Apparently French restaurants are safe but Sicilian joints may have to close due their dubious Arab leanings.

Leading Italian chefs have tried to point out that Italy’s favourite tomato originated in South America, pasta may well have arrived from China with Marco Polo and oranges and lemons first appeared from the Middle East but the nice folks from Lega Nord are having none of it. The Minister for Agriculture even stated he refuses to eat pineapples. Obviously not a fan of Hawaiian pizza then.

I suggest the Lega Nord send a delegation to Asia. Pizza Hut—the cradle of Italian culture in Asia—regularly offers Asian-inspired pizzas. If they can fly to Singapore before the end of Chinese New Year, they could try the Ingot Crust Prosperity Pizza (‘richly stuffed with golden cheese, behold as the crust you love is transformed into precious ingots!’ reads the online menu) with toppings of crackers and, er, pineapple. Other gastronomic delights from Pizza Hut include Curry Chicken Pizza (Singapore); Royal Masala Pizza (Malaysia); Rice Crust Pizza (Korea); Abalone Sauce Pizza featuring seafood, abalone sauce, crayfish and crab roe dressing, chicken and enoki mushrooms (Hong Kong); Thai Seafood Pizza (Malaysia) and, shudders, Aromatic Thai Spaghetti—think spag bol meets sweet Thai sauce—from Malaysia. Italians could therefore get a taste of the East cunningly disguised as pasta and pizza.