Updated June 10, 2017 12:48:46

Photo: Who would have thought the Hawaiian pizza was created in chilly Cananda. (Flickr: Patrick Talbert)

The creator of the Hawaiian pizza, Canadian Sam Panopoulos, has died aged 83.

Mr Panopoulos invented the 'pineapple' pizza with his two brothers after they emigrated to Canada from Greece in 1954.

Photo: Sam Panopoulos is described as an "unforgettable personality". (Supplied)

The idea to put canned pineapple on pizza was born in one of their several restaurants in Chatham near Ontario.

Earlier this year, Mr Panapoulos told the BBC about the experiment that lead to the creation of what would become the most controversial pizza topping on the menu.

"We just put it on, just for the fun of it, see how it was going to taste," Mr Panopoulos said.

"We were young in the business and we were doing a lot of experiments."

Mr Panapoulos was an "unforgettable personality" and "respected by many for providing strong and dependable advice, and for his exceedingly generous nature", according to his obituary.

Hawaiian pizza has been harmlessly, or not so harmlessly some might suggest, dividing people while ordering pizza for years.

It is the poster child of one of the most divisive food conversations of our time: do you, or don't you, like pineapple on savoury foods?

Similar to Australia's internal struggle over the place of beetroot on a burger — but so much more global.

So widespread, in fact, Iceland's President Gudni Johannesson earlier this year told a group of students he would pass a law banning pineapple on pizza if he could, according to Iceland Magazine.

And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged as a fan of the dish on Twitter, saying he was #teampineapple.

Mr Panopoulous said at the time he did not understand Mr Johannesson's opposition to Hawaiian pizza and defended his invention, calling it "refreshing".

Topics: food-and-cooking, death, offbeat, canada

First posted June 10, 2017 12:31:46