Nearly One Fourth Of Icelanders Will Eat Pizza With Kokteilsósa

A new poll from Market and Media Research (MMR) shows some interesting divisions over the use of the popular ketchup-and-mayonnaise condiment known as kokkteilsósa (which literally translates to “cocktail sauce”, causing no small amount of confusion for foreign guests to Iceland).

According to the poll results, 24% of Icelanders order kokkteilsósa with their pizza. Whether they dip the crust in it, spread it on the pizza itself, or something else entirely was not specified, but the demographic breakdown paints an interesting picture.

Icelanders who live in the countryside were more likely than Reykjavík area Icelanders to order kokkteilsósa with their pizza, at 30% to 20%. The use of kokkteilsósa with pizza also decreases with age; the 18-29 years old demographic were the most likely (35%) while those 68 and older were least likely (6%).

Amazingly, there was also disparity by political party affiliation. While the majority of voters for every party do not order kokkteilsósa with their pizza, the Pirates had the largest proportion who did, at 30%. Least likely to use the sauce with their pizza were Social Democrats, at 14%.

Kokkteilsósa is fairly ubiquitous in Iceland, typically as a de rigueur condiment on hamburgers, but some people do put it on their hot dogs. Why anyone would use this with pizza is a mystery that will likely never be fully understood.