BBC spaghetti recipe sparks outrage online

The British Broadcast Corporation, BBC for short, publishes recipes from all over the world on its website in the Food category. In most cases, they are well received by users, as the reviews on the website and on social networks show.

But now a recently published recipe is causing a real shitstorm on the internet.

If there’s one dish you won’t find in any restaurant in Italy, it’s Pizza Hawaii. A recipe for spaghetti Hawaii, which the BBC put online at the beginning of April, is currently providing new fuel in this regard. “A family-friendly pasta recipe that makes the best of canned food,” writes the BBC editor of the quirky creation.

And not everyone likes it by far. “An insult to Italian cuisine, I’m out!”. “Disgusting.” “God in heaven, what kind of horror recipe is that?” – that’s what most of the reactions on Facebook and Twitter are to the dish, in which, in addition to ham and pineapple (both from a can), butter, Onions, garlic and a “fat cream cheese” are included. “BBC has declared war on Italy,” writes a Twitter user of these ingredients. The BBC community is also merciless on the website, giving the Spaghetti Hawaii recipe only 1.5 out of 5 stars.

And even those who like to eat pizza with pineapple dismiss the recipe with the spaghetti variant. “I like Hawaiian pizza, but the thought of Hawaiian spaghetti doesn’t appeal to me at all,” writes one Facebook user. “I like pineapple on pizza, but pasta has reached my limit,” said another user.

What do Italians say about Spaghetti Hawaii?

But do the Italians themselves really find the dish so awful? Obviously yes. “That’s absolutely not possible,” says Rita Santomauro, who runs a hotel on the Italian island of Panarea. For us Italians, neither pizza Hawaii nor spaghetti Hawaii exist. Pineapple has no place in salty dishes, only in desserts.” Some Italians also spoke on Twitter under the BBC post. “Something like that is just criminal,” writes one. “More proof that ‘British’ and ‘food’ don’t mix,” says another.

After all, there are some benevolent comments among the users. “Why not, I would try it,” reads a Facebook comment. “I love it,” writes another user. Whether Spaghetti Hawaii will ever make it onto the menu of Italian restaurants remains more than questionable.