If you want to stand out with pizza, pepperoni — America's favorite topping — just isn't going to cut it.
Wolfgang Puck started the California pizza revolution with his smoked-salmon pizza in 1982. But as Americans have discovered new cuisines — and American pizza chains have taken their brands international — the range of toppings (and crust-stuffers) has exploded.
In some cases, the crust just seems to be a substitute for your dinner plate, as restaurants top it with curry, Thai — and fries.
"We're creative people, and pizza happens to be our canvas," said Jamie Woolner, the co-owner of Pizza of Venice, a restaurant north of Pasadena, Calif. He has made pizzas featuring sashimi, foie gras, red beans and crispy rice, and truffles (not all at once). One of his regular offerings echoes Greece, with braised lamb and a tzatziki drizzle.
Indeed, toppings that once seemed unusual can become mainstream, as happened with barbecue chicken, introduced by California Pizza Kitchen Inc. 30 years ago. That company is testing a pizza that echoes a Greek chicken salad and is debating whether a Peking duck pizza being sold in its Hawaii and Hong Kong restaurants could make it in the rest of the U.S., said Brian Sullivan, the company's vice president of culinary innovation.
It recently has added to the U.S. menu a habanero carnitas pizza, which uses shredded pork and with a "10-alarm" habanero salsa on the side, that was developed in the chain's Mexican operations, he said.
Still, some of the wackiest pizzas, at least to American taste buds, come from overseas, where U.S. restaurant chains are betting on growth.
Domino's Pizza Inc. said it opened a record net 662 stores abroad last year, far outpacing the net 81 stores it added in the U.S. On Tuesday, it said it expects same-store sales to increase 3% to 6% in 2015 outside the U.S., compared with gains of 2% to 4% domestically. International same-store sales climbed 6.9% in 2014, trailing the 7.5% gain in the U.S.
One new pizza introduced last year, in southern India, is a spicy banana pizza, with green bananas, chilies and bell peppers, dubbed the South Zesty Veggie.
At Pizza Hut, a unit of Yum Brands Inc. international sales grew 6% in emerging markets and 1% in developed markets last year, while U.S. sales declined 1%. More than half of the 465 new restaurants opened abroad last year were in emerging markets.
The international operations have developed some limited-time gut-busting options, including one in the U.K. that incorporated 10 cheeseburgers in the crust, and in Singapore, double-decker stuffed pizza (the top layer is a smaller, thin-crust pie) for a couple of Christmas seasons.
In the U.S., privately held Little Caesars Enterprises Inc. on Monday launched a bacon-wrapped deep-dish pizza — just one more way food companies are trying to capitalize on Americans' ongoing love for bacon.
Here are some other unusual pizzas, both in the U.S. and abroad. Some may one day end up at a restaurant near you:
Sweet-potato-stuffed crust
The Los Angeles Koreatown outpost of Mr. Pizza, a South Korean chain, offers some pizza toppings you're familiar with. And then there's a crust stuffed with sweet potato ("gold"). Or broccoli mousse. Or egg tart.
A bulgogi (Korean marinated beef) topping makes it even more unusual — though this blog writer describes that option as his "stab at semi-normalcy."
Black squid ink pizza
Black-tinted pasta, check. But a pizza with black dough, thanks to squid ink?
Singapore's Skinny Pizza makes what it calls "a seafood fest of fresh squid, prawns, tomato salsa, onions, basil and parsley on a special squid ink crust." Look to spend S$27, or about $21.60.
In the U.S., La Nebbia, a San Francisco restaurant, makes one with squid ink, anchovies, raisins, nuts and of course mozzarella for $16.
Thai pizza
California Pizza Kitchen, which has 196 restaurants in the U.S., launched its Thai pizza nearly 30 years ago, taking inspiration from chicken satay appetizers and accompanying peanut dipping sauce.
In the pizza version, the peanut sauce substitutes for tomatoes, and fresh julienne carrots, bean sprouts and scallions go on top once the pizza is baked.
In St. Louis, Pat's Thai Pizza has more than a dozen Thai offerings that riff on familiar Thai food such as pad Thai, red Thai curry and tom yum goong soup — with a combination of mozzarella, monterey jack and cheddar cheese. They cost $8.95 or $9.95, depending on the crust.
Dean's Pizza in Long Beach, Calif., is another place to find several versions of Thai food in pizza form. Expect to pay $12.
Now that Rachael Ray has a version of this, perhaps Thai pizza will become the next mainstream topping. Her version uses peanut butter, soy sauce and a bottle of duck or plum sauce, among other ingredients.
Peaches at Pizza Hut
In Hong Kong, Pizza Hut's website is promoting a flower-shaped 7-cheese pie with a two-color-cheese stuffed crust and cornflakes among the toppings. The "Fortune Crayfish and Clam" pizza also has peach and cucumber, among other ingredients, while the "Fortune Pepperoni and Peach" adds on roast chicken and a mango mayonnaise sauce.
A regular-size version of either costs HK$150, or about $19.34.
Fries on that
Canadians love their poutine — fries, cheese curds and a brown sauce — and find ways to incorporate it in all kinds of dishes. Including pizza.
Bannock, a Toronto restaurant that pitches itself as offering Canadian comfort food, uses roast duck in its version that sells for C$18 (about $14.50). The 10″-12″ pizza, made on a traditional Canadian flatbread, is a "real showstopper" and one of restaurant's the top sellers, says Anthony Walsh, the corporate chef for Oliver & Bonacini's 13 restaurants.
"It's one of the dishes that will never, never come off the menu," he said. "There would be a revolt."
Just expect to take some home, or plan on sharing it at the table, he cautioned.
In a riff on another Canadian dish, Bannock sometimes sells a tourtiere pizza, a deconstructed version of a Quebecois meat pie with venison, an old Gouda cheese and cranberry chutney.
Vegemite Down Under
Pizza Hut first stuffed Marmite into a pizza crust in New Zealand last year. This year, it did the same with Vegemite in Australia, in a temporary offer to mark Australia Day in January, though it did get in some hot water with Vegemite owner Mondelez International Inc.
Vegemite is an Australian icon made from leftover brewers' yeast extract and other ingredients. Marmite is a bit sweeter.
For most of the rest of the world, both are an acquired taste.
Here's how one Australian summed up the pizza (right).
Chili paneer in a cone
This is one of three Indian-style options from Kono Pizza in Leicester, England. Paneer is an Indian cheese, and the other main ingredients are peppers and onions. The spices, of course, are Indian rather than Italian. And the cone is made from pizza dough.
The restaurant, a franchise of an Italian chain, also does a pau bhaji version, which includes spicy cauliflower, peas, potatoes and carrots. Meat lovers who want a mix of Indian and pizza can opt for the chicken tikka version.
Owner Raj Morjaria says the cones, about 7 inches or 8 inches tall, equal about 2 1/2 slices of pizza. Cones begin at 2.99 pounds (about $4.63) for a margherita (cheese).
The first Kono Pizza in the U.S. has opened in Edison, N.J., but it doesn't offer any of those three items. On the other hand, its menu includes breakfast pizzas in a cone, which Italians might consider equally wacky.
This article originally appeared on Marketwatch.
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