Sure, Portland’s pizzerias fire plenty of plain old pepperoni pies and true-to-form margheritas. But a few Oregonian standbys have become their own kind of classic: Portland-pickled peppers, house-fermented hot honey, spring goodies freshly yoinked from the ground. Below, a tour of some of the city’s most Portland pizza toppings, and where you can find them.
Hot honey
Spotted at: Pizza Kat, Red Sauce Pizza, No Saint
This fermentation-fueled city overflows with heat seekers, so hot honey holds court at condiment stations within several Portland pizzerias. A handful make their own, like Pizza Kat and Red Sauce; others lean on the industry standard, New York–made (and Brooklyn pizzeria–popularized) Mike’s Hot Honey.
Mama Lil’s Peppers
Spotted at: Pizzeria Otto, Apizza Scholls, Life of Pie
Chefs adore these Portland-pickled Hungarian Goathorns, folding them into aioli or slapping them on breakfast sandwiches. Pizza is no exception. The peppers are a common compatriot of fennel sausage or cured meats like soppressata. Real pepperheads and pizza freaks add them to pies with pineapple and pepperoni.
Wild Oregon mushrooms
Spotted at: Grana, Lovely’s Fifty Fifty, Paladin Pie
Oregon’s dense, damp forests have attracted mushroom foragers and truffle hunters for as long as people have lived here, and every chef in town has a dog-eared copy of All the Rain Promises and More. Mushrooms on pizza go beyond the button in Portland, as pizzaiolos load pies with morels, oysters, and Oregon’s state mushroom, the golden chanterelle—depending on the season.
Green garlic
Spotted at: Gracie’s Apizza, Lovely’s Fifty Fifty, Pizza Thief
Wander a farmers market in spring or early summer and you’re sure to come across green garlic, an early-harvest version of the allium that resembles a scallion with a larger bulb. Lighter, brighter, and milder than your standard husky head, green garlic gets blitzed into olive oil or shaved thin before it appears on Portland pizzas.
Published in the The New Willamette Valley issue of Portland Monthly.
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