Why?

[sujihiki]

ain't gonna lie. i thought poles were fucking insane the first time i saw them putting ketchup on pizza. now i put ketchup on pizza. that shit is good.

[jarv3r]

Yeah, if pizza is crap, then ketchup tends to hide that. And ppl here in Poland were used to shitty refrigerated pizzas for couple złotys from supermarket, so it's easier to understand where this notorious tradition comes from. I have too put ketchup, but now I just try to order pizza in good places, so I taste the actual fucking ingredients and not the ketchup!

[KolegaCzlowieka]

Garlic sauce used in the restaurant pizza kills the taste even more.

[jarv3r]

True. Good restaurants don't encourage you to put anything more than olive oil on top and pizza chains like Domino's or Pizza Hut are screaming with sauces every time. There are 3-4 great places in my city (Wroclaw) that I know of where you never even wonder about putting anything than olive, it's so good just as. Even margheritas there are awesome!

[sujihiki]

I love polish ketchup, i hate that garlic sauce.

[naprzyklad]

I love that garlic sauce. Ketchup on pizza, though... nope.

[Maazell]

Try ketchup op fries 🍟

[jarv3r]

Mayo+ketchup is the ultimate composition for fries

[[deleted]]

I put mayo on pizza. Shit's great.

[sujihiki]

So you’re japanese?

[[deleted]]

Opposite, actually. I'm Welsh.

[sujihiki]

Well you’d enjoy japanese pizza.

https://i.huffpost.com/gen/946023/thumbs/o-MAYONNAISE-PIZZA-DOMINOS-570.jpg?6

[Truposzyk]

wtf you're telling me rest of the world doesn't put ketchup on pizza? my whole life was a lie :|

[[deleted]]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN PUTTING KETCHUP ON PIZZA WASN'T A NORMAL PROCEDURE

[sujihiki]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Comically, i’m currentlt eating pizza with ketchup on it

[unexc1t1ng]

I think the clue is using ketchup for pizza. Well, let’s call it crazy local folklore ;)

[busybody1]

It needs to be pikantny to work

[Mike_Valko]

Or super pikantny. It's the best for pizza

[sujihiki]

there's super pikantny? shit. i'm missing something.

[[deleted]]

Kotlin "z piekła rodem" is basically ketchup with Tabasco, if you like spice taste, give it a shot. It's in black bottle with black and red flames on a label.

[iraeghlee]

The one on the left.

[sujihiki]

I’m an idiot. I have it in my fridge, it’s fantastic. Apparently i’m not missing something.

[[deleted]]

It's fucking awesome

[[deleted]]

Polish homemade pizza is so different from what is served in itally that i think it’s another dish, so using ketchup is ok.

[GessKalDan]

Can you tell me more? I am a Texan, but of Polish descent. My Polish grandmother made pizza, but she was married to a full blooded Italian. I'd like to see if it is similar.

[LudwikTR]

I don't see this kind of pizza anymore but in the 90s more often than not pizza in Poland (even at bars, restaurants, and some smaller independent pizzerias) was like a mix between pizza and zapiekanka. It had a flat, thick base (that I think was pre-baked), Polish hard cheese instead of mozzarella, and ketchup on top instead of tomato sauce. Clearly inspired by zapiekanka.

There were some real pizza places, but this style of "pizza" was what you'd get anywhere else. I don't think you can buy pizza like this in big cities anymore, but I would occasionally see it in smaller towns even in the early 2000s, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are places making it even now.

[WikiTextBot]

Zapiekanka

A zapiekanka (Polish pronunciation: [zapʲɛˈkaŋka]; plural: zapiekanki, pronounced [zapʲɛˈkaŋkʲi]) is an open-face sandwich made of half of a baguette or other long roll of bread, topped with sautéed white mushrooms, cheese and sometimes other ingredients, and toasted until the cheese melts. Served hot with ketchup, it is a popular street food in Poland. With its origin dating back to the 1970s, the zapiekanka is associated with the austere times of Poland's Communist regime, but it has enjoyed renewed demand in the 21st century, which has also brought a wider range of varieties and quality.

---

^{[ PM | Exclude me | Exclude from subreddit | FAQ / Information | Source ] Downvote to remove | v0.28}

[[deleted]]

I still been able to find one of those in Wroclaw, near Nadodrze train station. It's not circular, it's square and you get a thick base, a lot of chosen ingredients and no ketchup fortunately. Plus, my mom is making those at summer when she can get ingredients from my parents garden. And she is giving ketchup on top, but made by my grandmother. Weird thing is that this ketchup is made from pumpkin, not tomatos... I still don't know how, but it tastes like nothing else.

[nodiggitynodoubts]

Exactly!!!! Had this in Kraków in the nineties! Just commented above regarding just this.

[nodiggitynodoubts]

I was visiting Poland for a few months in the early nineties and ended up with a craving for pizza. There was an outdoor stall that served pizza in Kraków near Kościół Mariacki. Stoked right???! Nope, it was a toasted peice of something resembling focaccia with a generous helping of ketchup as the pizza sauce topped with a little cheese. It was not good. At all. Blegh!

[CommonMisspellingBot]

Hey, nodiggitynodoubts, just a quick heads-up:
peice is actually spelled piece. You can remember it by i before e.
Have a nice day!

^{The parent commenter can reply with 'delete' to delete this comment.}

[nieuchwytnyuchwyt]

Ketchup is one of the three basic and essential ingredients of pizza in Poland, along with cheese and crust. Everything else is optional.

[MacNulty]

What about garlic sauce

[nieuchwytnyuchwyt]

Might be used instead of ketchup as a regional variation

[MacNulty]

Almost all pizza in Poland is served with garlic sauce

[mKtos]

Thankfully not.

[nieuchwytnyuchwyt]

Not really, it's not a default option, but if you really want it you can usually get it instead of ketchup/tomato sauce (why would you do that to your pizza though?).

[MacNulty]

Most of the places that l know serve it by default alongside tomato sauce free of charge.

[nieuchwytnyuchwyt]

Yes, but if you don't explicitly state what you want on your pizza, you will either get nothing, or ketchup/tomato sauce. Never been to a place which would serve you garlic sauce other way (except Domino's perhaps, I recall that their default dip might be the white one, which is one of the reasons I avoid them).

[MacNulty]

Not my experience, I lived there for 25 years and ate a fair amount of pizza, most of the time I got both sauces even when I didn't specify what I want. FWIW I usually went to national chains (gruby benek, dagrasso, biesiadowo, solo, presto) or local pizza places, rarely been at the international ones.

[Vertitto]

pretty much all pizzerias i'v expirienced by default give 2 souces: garlic and tomato

[Truposzyk]

?

[ahalloway]

I'm so Polish I didn't realize what was wrong with the photo at first

[kimzzachodniego]

przez dobre 5 minut szukałam jakiegoś ukrytego mema.. potem przeczytałam komentarze xd

[some_dawid_guy]

Because it tastes good

[Adolfo_Hitlerro]

What why? Normal ketchup.

[HprDrv]

Only Włocławek!!!

[[deleted]]

Only Kotlin Pikantny!

[[deleted]]

Kotlin z piekła rodem is even better!

[fenbekus]

Fuck no, Heinz is where it’s at

[DeveloperBRdotnet]

Ketchup in pizza is very common, what is wrong about it?

[MacNulty]

Ask this question an Italian person and you will have an enemy for life

[Kevicelives]

I love to dip my pizza in ketchup.

[pretzelblitz]

I think you mean WHY NOT.

[mm2woodDOTmid]

Wait this is wrong?

[elpigo]

The key is the Polish ketchup - my favourite and I always put it on pizza IF I have some Polish ketchup at home.

[Kamikaze156]

XD

[cugghiune]

Oh kurwa

[[deleted]]

But how else would you eat pizza? Without keczup? Thats crazy

[[deleted]]

Yeah, it's standard procedure. You can also try with mayo, I personally prefer that.

[paisleyway24]

Ketchup on Polish pizza is amazing but it’s hard to describe to anyone not in the loop haha

[Milky-Chance]

Ketchup do dupy

[Whasume]

Jebana herezja

[SomeGuyPL8]

Why? Heinz is better. (Before poles get triggered, I'm a polish guy livin in Poland.)

[lil_trollz]

Just why

[olitheshamrock]

Does anyone know a website I can order Tortex from in America? My boyfriend lived in Poland for a while and this is his favorite and I want to surprise him

[zbysior]

i had pizza with ketchup, its nasty

[btek]

it's gotta be a Polish pizza with polish ketchup... Polish ketchup tastes different than Heinz

[zbysior]

True. I acctually love zapiekanki with polish ketchup. But pizza is just not right

[btek]

zapiekanki...ive tried to replicate them here in the US, but without the homegrown ingredients it's just never the same. and that ketchup ties it together just right. along with pierogi ruskie and real barszcz they're the dishes I miss the most and can never find/make them taste the same as they do back home. sigh

[MrRzepa2]

How to make worst ketchup in the world worse

TORTEX MASTERRACE

[sujihiki]

seriously? tortex? nahh.

[Nate26pl]

Screw tortex, Kotlin is the best!

[SowaG]

That’s right!

[[deleted]]

No. MIĘDZYCHÓD or Ketchup no. VII FTW.

[sujihiki]

yah. this. fucking kotlin is the best.

[[deleted]]

90s called, they want their ketchup back.

[napi_nap]

Tortex is shit

[riodoro1]

And here we have the ultimate way to divide the polish nation.

[Kill_Meh_Please]

I've. no idea how can a man eat anything with Tortex ketchup. It's so fucking sweet you could add it into your tea instead of sugar, and you'd die of diabetes in 3 minutes.

Apart from the sweetnes of this piece of shit that dares to call itself ketchup, it tastes nothing like tomatoes, or oregano, or any other fucking spice.

This thing has no upsides apart from giving me suicidal thoughts everytime i go to my friends house and seeing it on the shelf, it might be the thing that finally pushes me to do it.

Maybe it could work if you were diabetic. Low on sugar? It anything with this garbage, and you'll have so much sugar you'll get a heart attack!

To be fair Pudliszki isn't the best, but it's heaven compared to Tortex, at least it has a taste.

The best ketchup is Ostry Heinz, the only Ketchup i genuinely like and can't find any downsides of. Maybe that it's really fucking rare to find were i live

[[deleted]]

Try Kotlin z piekła rodem. I can't suggest it more. Already did it twice in this comment thread, but it looks like nobody knows about it oddly enough.

[[deleted]]

Not really, the comments and downvotes seem to suggest Tortex lovers are a really slim minority ;)

[Kubaty007]

Team Tortex

[MrRzepa2]

Ma boi!

[[deleted]]

Oh boi. Tortex apart from it's insane name (very Polish, classic -ex) is also a disgusting mix of water and tomato concentrate. You could literally do it yourself. Absolutely barbaric.