Off The Eaten Path

Pizza. Let's talk about it. I think we can all agree that it's a delicious food and has certainly prevented many college students from dying of starvation. That being said, allow me to talk at random of the pizzas cooked, served, and eaten in Korea.

The first thing I noticed about pizza here was the addition of corn. That's a default topping. It's not a bad thing by any means, but it's different. Potatoes are another favorite topping, but not quite as popular as sweet potatoes. It's the one variety that you'll find everywhere and it probably sells more than anything else.

In Korea, the sweet potato is king. How much so, you ask? Well, several children have told me it's their favorite flavour of cake. Enough said.

Sweet potato is such a common ingredient in pizza that you'll usually find it in a paste form. Sometimes as a ring around the toppings, or inside the crust. Whatever the case, it's usually lurking somewhere on the pizza whether you ordered it or not.

I've seen pizza with sour cream, almonds, fruit, shrimp, and nacho chips for toppings. I even saw a commercial for one with a tiny fondue pot propped up in the center of the pizza for your crust dipping pleasure. But of all the strange varieties, two in particular are simply stunning.

First, from Pizza Hut Korea, is the "Cheese Volcano Pizza". I didn't make up that name. Go see the thing for yourself . The outer crust is so positively packed with bright orange-yellow liquid cheese, that it's erupting out of it. This lava-cheese can flow down into a moat of what looks like ... ranch dressing? But luckily it can't and won't contaminate the central topping area as it's protected by a wall of sweet potato mousse.

Secondly, are you ready everyone? Please brace yourself for this food concoction. From the Mr. Pizza chain restaurants we have the "Grand Prix Premium Pizza". So you got your standard fair of tomato sauce, cheese, and vegetables. That's fine. But then half the pizza is covered in potatoes, and the other half is covered in shrimp. It's sprinkled with black olives, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and raisins. And the whole thing sits on a crust made of European cookie dough.

The 'pizza' even comes with a blueberry sauce to dip your crust in. I couldn't possibly make this up.

I'm not saying this is wrong. I'm just saying, dear sweet Jesus, that's different. American pizza innovations have always been about one thing: more cheese! Let's put it in the crust, underneath, five types on top, and here's a cup of cheese for dipping. No one ever thought to combine pizza with cookies.

So, all in all I have to give credit to Koreans for trying something different. It looks like they're leading us to a new age of flavour combinations. And they will call it... The Blueberry Shrimp Dynasty.