Dover Castle has joined forces with a leading pizza restaurant chain to bring back the tastes of the middle ages in the form of medieval inspired pizza at Dover Castle. Medieval variations of three of their most popular pizzas - with toppings including pigeon and eel - will be sampled at the Castle with the most popular making it on to the menu.
The classic Hawaiian pizza swaps ham and pineapple for boar and fig to become Henry's Hawaiian (named for Henry II who built the Great Tower at Dover Castle) whilst the Dover Castle Meat Feast features mutton, goat and pigeon. And for those who favour the Seafood Lovers pizza there is the Dover Castle Fishy Surprise which replaces tomato sauce with a medieval green sauce topped off with eel.
The pizzas have been created by Dover Castle with advice from Pizza Hut, using the restaurants' Italian base which is expertly hand-stretched in a traditional style, with historical guidance provided by food historian, Peter Brears. A public sampling will decide the most popular variety which will then be served at the castle on weekends for the rest of the month.
"Although it is unlikely pizza would have been served to King Henry II at Dover Castle there would have been a medieval version eaten at that time in Europe", said Debs Newman, Head of Visitor Operations at Dover Castle. "It will be interesting which flavours come out top - the boar and fig will probably be the most familiar in taste to most modern palettes. Mutton, goat and pigeon packs a powerful punch and the eel and green sauce may be something of an acquired taste!"
