A fish finger, a pizza and a certain day in April

Now if you are serious about pizza, there are certain toppings which are beyond the pale. 

Of these I class pineapple, beetroot and chocolate as abominations, and while at the end of the day it is anyone’s choice what to place on their pizza, I stick to that simple rule that tomato, cheese and basil are best.

To which I can add fried pizza, but for me it has to be the simplicity of the traditional Neapolitan pizza that wins out.

So, I was intrigued when a friend of a friend posted a picture of “Pizza Bastoncini di pesce”, which if my google translate is correct is Pizza Fish sticks.  The accompanying caption reads “Here comes the pizza with fish sticks”, suggested it was following a request and would be available on April 1st.

And here of course alarm bells should have rung, but when pineapple can find its way onto a pizza why not fish fingers?  

At which point I have to say that before I became a vegetarian, I would happily eat fish finger sandwiches.

But maybe not so, because back in February La Repubblica carried the story “From joke to reality: pizza (frozen) with fried fish sticks”.*

Going on to explain, that the German food company Dr. Oetker, had bowed to customer requests on Twitter to introduce the new pizza line after it had announced two years ago on April Fool's Day that “the pizza with fish sticks” would be on the shelves of German supermarkets from 1 April.

The new pizza that raises more than an eyebrow , and which has already sparked not exactly benevolent comments from the Italian community in Germany, will be produced by Dr. Oetker in collaboration with Capitan Iglo (Findus) regarding the six fish sticks. which will rest on a base 'topped with tomato sauce, a mixture of mozzarella and Edam and spinach', as explained in a note which adds that 'the spices complete the Mediterranean-maritime recipe'*

So, a slow burn silly story or a reality?

I shall have to ask the Italian side of the family to go and check out the new range in the local Esselunga supermarket, and in the meantime trawl the net for more information on Dr. Oetker's new product.

We shall see.

Picture; Neapolitan pizza, 2017, from the collection of Saul Simpson, and Fish sticks, 2022, courtesy of Alessandra Natali

* From joke to reality: pizza (frozen) with fried fish sticks by Jeanne Perego, La Repubblica, February 18, 2022, https://www.repubblica.it/il-gusto/2022/02/18/news/pizza_con_bastoncini_di_pesce_fritti-338265785/#:~:text=%22This%20is%20no,world%20of%20distribution.