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Could Sweden make New Year's Day kebab pizza day?

Lee Roden
Lee Roden - [email protected]
Could Sweden make New Year's Day kebab pizza day?
Robert Hannah (left) wants a special day dedicated to the kebab pizza (right) Photo: Maja Suslin/TT & Anders Ylander/TT

You've probably heard of Cinnamon Bun Day, but what about kebab pizza day? That's exactly what one Swedish politician wants to see put into practice with a new motion proposed to the country's parliament.

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For the uninitiated (and with the foodstuff making global headlines, there aren’t many) the kebab pizza is exactly what it sounds like: a pizza topped with doner meat and finished with ambiguously titled ‘kebab sauce’. 

It also happens to be one of the most popular forms of pizza ordered by Swedes, who apparently have little concern for the culinary traditions of Italy and Turkey.

Now, Liberal MP Robert Hannah wants a special date set aside to pay tribute to the Frankenstein's monster-like creation. Not just any old day either, but January 1st – New Year’s Day.

There is a serious point behind the MP’s motion. The idea is to pay tribute to the Swedes of foreign heritage who brought pizza to the country in the 1960s and made it part of Sweden’s food culture, while at the same time highlighting the positive effects of immigration in a period where tensions are high regarding the subject.

Choosing January 1st is no coincidence either. According to pizza delivery company Online Pizza, Swedes order the food more on New Year’s Day than any other day of the year, with sales increasing by 25 percent on the first day of 2015.

To prove that kebab pizza day is no laughing matter, the MP's motion even refers to stats to make its case.

“The kebab pizza is the shining star among all pizzas,” the motion states. “According to Online Pizza, which releases statistics on the most ordered pizzas in the country, the kebab pizza is by far the most ordered pizza in Swedish pizzerias.”

The motion then goes on to highlight the fact that the humble food was even the subject of an entry to the 2008 edition of the Melodifestivalen – Sweden’s selection process for Eurovision.

READ ALSO: You'll never really be Swedish without trying this weird food

Hannah knows a thing or two about Sweden’s controversial culinary creation. His father is a pizza baker, and as a child the MP used to help the family business out by taking orders over the phone.

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