September 20th is  National Pepperoni Pizza Day!

Americans really, really love pizza. Every day, we eat enough pizza to cover 75 football fields! And a lot of them have pepperoni on them.

One might assume that pepperoni reached American shores with the Italian immigrants just like pizza did, but that’s not what happened. Pepperoni was created right here in the good ole USA. Yep, it’s 100% American. The first time it appeared in print was in the 1894 Yearbook of Agriculture printed by the US government. But it didn’t really start showing up on restaurant menus until the 1920s.

It’s believed to have been made by Italian-American butchers in New York, but exactly who made it first? That is a history mystery.

This superstar sausage is the most popular pizza topping according to a survey of six thousand American adults. Pepperoni was the most “liked”, with sausage in second place and mushrooms in third.

So, we know most Americans like pepperoni, but what do they NOT like?  In the same survey, people were asked which toppings they don’t like and 61% of the respondents gave anchovies a thumbs down. Anchovies even got nixed from the pizzas with everything party. November 12 is National Pizza with the Works (except Anchovies) Day! I didn’t make this up. It’s a real day.

Poor Anchovies.

Survey results

Most liked in order: Pepperoni (64%), sausage (56%), mushrooms (54%), extra cheese (52%), onions(48%).

Least liked in order: Anchovies (61%), eggplant(52%), artichokes (44%), broccoli (39%), pineapple (35%).

Funnily enough, pineapple was on the liked list too with 26% approval rating.