Sam Panopoulos, Canadian inventor of Hawaiian pizza, dies at 82

The Canadian restaurateur credited with the sweet and saucy idea of topping flattened dough with ingredients includingpineapple,a move that earned the wrath of pizza purists, has died at age 82in London, Ont.

Sam Panopoulos, inventor of the Hawaiian pizza,died suddenlyat University Hospital on Thursday.The cause of death isn't immediately known.

• Canadian inventor of Hawaiian pizza defends pineapple after Iceland's presidentdissestopping

"He was really proud of his relationship with his family," one of his two children, Bill Panopoulos, toldCBC on Saturday.

Married to Christina Panopoulos for 50 years, Sam Panopoulos also had a daughter and many grandchildren, and brothers who helped him operate restaurants in southern Ontario.

Bill Panopoulosnoted that his daddidn't drink, smoke or gamble, had "a magnetic personality" and was an incredible storyteller.

Canadian inventor of Hawaiian pizza dead at 83

7 years ago

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Sam Panopoulos, the Canadian restaurateur credited with the sweet and controversial idea of putting pineapple on pizza, has died

Born Sotirios Panopoulos in Vourvoura, Greece, in 1934, he was 20 when he immigrated to Canada aboard a boat, later operating several restaurants with brothers Elias and Nikitas Panopoulos.

After arriving in Halifax in 1954, he moved to Sudbury, then Elliot Lake, Ont., where he worked in the mines. He later moved to Chatham, Ont., and then finally made London his permanent home.

It was Panopoulos's culinary inquisitiveness that put him on the gastronomic map.

In a 2015 interview with the AtlasObscura,Panopoulosrecalled how he became fascinated with pizza during a boat stop in Naples, but thatthe Italian staple had a sort of mysticism in Canada.

Even Toronto didn't know anything about pizza in those days.- Sam Panopoulos, Hawaiian pizza creator

"Pizza wasn't known at all, actually,"Panopoulostold the AtlasObscura. "Even Toronto didn't know anything about pizza in those days. The only place you could have pizza was in Detroit."

Puzzled about pizza's lack of popularity,Panopoulosended up in Windsor and after watchinghow chefs in the southern Ontario city made their pies, he started experimentingat the brothers' Satellite restaurant in Chatham.

No choices on your pizza

"The pizza in those days was three things: dough, sauce, cheese, and mushroom, bacon, or pepperoni. That was it. You had no choices; you could get one of the three [toppings] or more of them together," the online article says.

In 1962, hethrewpieces of pineapple on top along with bits of ham and bacon, thinking thatthe sweet and savory mix would tantalizetastebuds.

His culinary instincts eventually bore fruit his creation became a staple of pizza menus the world over, though it did have a healthy portion of critics.

Iceland's PresidentGuoni Johannessoncaused an online frenzy in February aftertelling schoolchildren that pineapple did not belong on pizza, and suggested the combination should be banned.

Among those coming to the defence of the Hawaiian pizza was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who recognized this slice of Canadiana in a tweet: "I have a pineapple. I have a pizza. And I stand behind this delicious Southwestern Ontario creation."

A funeral for Panopoulos is set for Monday in London at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.