Sometimes I have a hankering for British food. And by British, I don’t mean just British but British-style Indian, Chinese or, dare I whisper it here, Italian.

For a couple of weeks now, I have had a yearning for an Hawaiian pizza. I know one place where I can (or could) get them – but I’d never find it. I only know the rough area of Milan.

Here, at work, our canteen, on a Friday, cooks fish. But for those who don’t like fish, you can order, the day before, something else. The something else includes meat or pizza. It’s not a pizza done in a wood oven but it’s quite passable. Now they have a list of the often-asked-for pizzas. There is even one named after me which, in most Pizzerias, is called a Bismark (that is boiled ham with a fried egg in the centre).

So, yesterday I asked if they had the ingredients for an Hawaiian pizza. They said they did. So I ordered one for today.

Of course, when I sat down, I got many “Is that pineapple?” questions in a kind uggh, how could you manner. As I expected. But it was delicious. The pineapple, being fresh, was sweet and juicy. Mmmmmm.

However, I noticed that there were a few differences that made it taste different from one in the UK. Obviously, the fresh pineapple. This is much sweeter than the tinned pineapple we usually use in the UK. Secondly, the boiled ham is very nice here but they do it in a thin layer, covering the whole of the pizza rather than cubes. Then there is the fact that there is no grated cheddar cheese on top. So, it’s different. In some ways, much, much nicer.

And fresh.

It’s OK though, it all adds to my ‘strangeness’ as far as my colleagues are concerned. And that never hurts.