The kebab pizza is Sweden's favourite

Kebab meat - yes, kebab meat - is the most popular pizza topping in Sweden, according to a new survey which also shows that pizza sales double on New Year's Day.

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The New Year's period is a busy time for Sweden's pizzerias and, according to a survey by pizza delivery company Online Pizza, many Swedes will kick off 2013 by digging into a meaty kebab pizza.

The kebab pizza is a Swedish invention which combines Italian and Turkish cuisine in a way that might horrify Italians and Turks.

In Sweden, however, it has been a big hit, particularly among the drunk, anecdotal evidence shows.

Sweden's first pizzeria opened in 1947 in Västerås, central Sweden after 300 Italian guest workers moved to the city. In the 1960s pizzerias started popping up around the country and pizza became the most common fast food in Sweden.

Kebab first came to Sweden in the 1980s and is often served with a dipping sauce made out of sour cream or yoghurt and a special spice mix. It is known as kebab sauce in Sweden and can these days be bought ready-made in supermarkets.

The standard toppings on a kebab pizza are tomato sauce, cheese, onion, fefferoni peppers, kebab meat and, of course, kebab sauce. Some people also like to add fresh lettuce or cucumbers to their kebab pizza.

Then there's the Viking kebab pizza, which is a kebab pizza folded before baking to resemble a Viking ship.

The kebab pizza has topped Online Pizza's survey for the past four years.

While 27 percent of respondents said that they prefer to make up their own pizza topping combinations or to get one made up by the restaurant, 12 percent said that, if ordering a standard pizza, they would go for one with kebab meat.

Sweden's second most popular pizza is the plainer Vesuvio (tomato, cheese and ham) followed by Capricciosa (tomato, cheese, ham, mushrooms) and then the Hawaii pizza (cheese, ham, pineapple).

Swedes planning to go for pizza on New Year's Day better get their orders in quick.

"January 1st is the most hectic day for Sweden's pizzerias. We get twice as many orders as usual, with most coming in between 11am and 6pm," said Anders Signell, CEO of Online Pizza.

Online Pizza plans to release a more comprehensive report on Swedish pizza trends in January 2013.

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