World Pizza Championship

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The World Pizza Championship is an event held annually for three days in April since 1991 in Salsomaggiore Terme (Parma), Italy, although several other cities likewise claim to be the home of the ultimate international pizza games including Naples and Paris. Organized by Pizza E Pasta Italiana magazine, the 30th edition of the competition (which was briefly paused in 2020 and 2021) was held from April 18-20, 2023. More than 700 chefs from 52 countries compete in 12 categories. The World Pizza Championship includes six categories in the baking competition, three categories in the pizza game competition, the pizza team award, the Heinz Beck trophy awarded to pizzeria chefs, and the triathlon award given for the highest average score in 3 separate categories [1] . All culinary scores are figured from 800 as perfect, with each contestant rated by cooking prowess, sanitation, presentation, taste, and knowledge of the pizza. [2] It is the largest pizza show in the world with over 6,500 independent chain and franchise owners from all around the world attending. The winners are inducted into their Hall of Fame [3] and are sometimes invited back to judge the next World Pizza Championship. [4]

Contents

Competition categories

Baking

Games

Special Categories

Previous Winners [3]

Winners from 2023 [5]

Classic Pizza - Criminisi Giuseppe

Neapolitan STG Pizza - Mansi Vincenzo

Pan Pizza - Valentino Clemente

Roman Pizza - Di Tella Antonio

Gluten free Pizza - Vassallo Domenico

Freestyle - Tolu Botella Francis

The Largest - Pasini Daniele

The Fastest - Bandinelli Andrea

Triathlon - Di Tella Antonio

Heinz Beck Trophy - Caliolo Alessandro

World Pizza Team - Di Stasio Raffaele - Tolu Cristian - Pizza a due

News and noteworthy

In 2016, French chef Ludovic Bicchierai, won the Pizza Classica competition with his pizza topping inspired by the traditional bouillabaisse fish soup which involves sea bream carpaccio, mozzarella, prawns, Tabasco sauce and courgetti flowers. [6]

In 2019, chef Filippo Rosato, from the UK pizzeria, Purezza, won the Pizza Classica category with a vegan pie. His creation was made using IPA-infused wholegrain dough topped with stir-fried cavolo nero, Italian-style marinated tempeh, pioppini mushrooms, a borlotti bean sauce, a vegan mozzarella, and a fermented cashew cheese with sundried cruschi peppers. The creation was finished with a garnish of ginger purée, agave syrup, and vegan caviar. [7]

Notable repeat winners include Tony Gemignani who holds 13 world championship titles, seven for acrobatics and six for baking. He also holds several pizza-related Guinness World Records and has opened more than 40 pizzerias across the United States. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizza</span> Italian dish with a flat dough-based base and toppings

Pizza is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients, which is then baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York–style pizza</span> Large hand-tossed thin crust pizza

New York–style pizza is pizza made with a characteristically large hand-tossed thin crust, often sold in wide slices to go. The crust is thick and crisp only along its edge, yet soft, thin, and pliable enough beneath its toppings to be folded in half to eat. Traditional toppings are simply tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. This was a popular meal amongst poor Italians due to the ratio of product from the limited produce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Haven–style pizza</span> Regional Pizza Style from New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven–style pizza is a style of thin-crust, coal-fired Neapolitan pizza common in and around New Haven, Connecticut. Locally known as apizza, it originated in 1925 at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area, most notably Sally's Apizza and Modern Apizza. This geographically limited pizza style has been favorably regarded by national critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizza Margherita</span> Pizza topped with tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil

Pizza Margherita is a typical Neapolitan pizza, made with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, salt, and extra-virgin olive oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of pizza</span> History of the food known as pizza

The history of pizza begins in antiquity, as various ancient cultures produced basic flatbreads with several toppings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit-style pizza</span> Rectangular pan pizza with a thick crust

Detroit-style pizza is a rectangular pan pizza with a thick, crisp, chewy crust. It is traditionally topped to the edges with mozzarella and/or Wisconsin brick cheese, which caramelizes against the high-sided heavyweight rectangular pan. Detroit-style pizza was originally baked in rectangular steel trays designed for use as automotive drip pans or to hold small industrial parts in factories. It was developed during the mid-20th century in Detroit, Michigan, before spreading to other parts of the United States in the 2010s. It is one of Detroit's iconic local foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Malnati's Pizzeria</span> American pizza chain

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is an American Chicago-style pizza restaurant chain headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. It was founded by the son of Rudy Malnati, who was instrumental in developing the recipe for Chicago-style pizza, and it has become one of the Chicago area's best-known local lines of pizza restaurants. Lou Malnati's operates a division of its company called Lou Malnati's Presents Tastes of Chicago, a partnership with Portillo's Restaurants and Eli's Cheesecake, which ships Chicago-style cuisine nationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neapolitan pizza</span> Style of pizza made with tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese

Neapolitan pizza, also known as Naples-style pizza, is a style of pizza made with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The tomatoes must be either San Marzano tomatoes or Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio, which grow on the volcanic plains to the south of Mount Vesuvius. The cheese must be Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, a protected designation of origin cheese made with the milk from water buffalo raised in the marshlands of Campania and Lazio in a semi-wild state, or fior di latte, a cow's milk mozzarella created according to the procedure for which it was registered as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG). Pizza napoletana is a TSG product in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and the art of its making is included on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizza in the United States</span> American cuisine variant

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizzeria Bianco</span> Phoenix, Arizona pizza restaurant

Pizzeria Bianco is a pizza restaurant in downtown Phoenix, Arizona established in 1987 by Chris Bianco, and has earned very positive reviews by notable food critics. Nationally recognized for its pizzas, the restaurant's small seating capacity can lead to wait times that sometimes surprise casual patrons. The restaurant features a wood-fired oven and homemade mozzarella cheese used in pizzas primarily fashioned by the owner himself. In 2013, the restaurant established a second location in the Biltmore Area of Phoenix. In 2022, the restaurant opened a third location, in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Gemignani</span> American chef and restaurateur

Anthony Felix Gemignani is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 2009, Gemignani opened Tony's Pizza Napoletana in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Gemignani is a pizzaiolo and chef, having won 13 world titles in pizza making and opening numerous restaurants. He has appeared on multiple reality television series including Food Network Challenge, Bar Rescue on Spike TV, as well as on The Travel Channel and CNN.

Peter Reinhart is an American baker, educator and author. He is most known for writing Bread Revolution, American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza, The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking and The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Four of his books have been nominated for James Beard Awards, with three of them winning, including the "Book of the Year" in 2002 for The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Cybulski</span> American chef

Glenn Cybulski is an executive chef, restaurant consultant, and certified Pizzaiolo with over 100 national and international culinary awards, including World Pizza Champions 2009 Member of the Year and winner of the "Best Pizza in North America Award" at the 2007 Citta Di Napoli world pizza competition in Naples, Italy. Chef Cybulski became a certified pizzaiolo at "Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli in Italy." Cybulski is the Founder and former CEO of Persona Wood Fired Pizzeria and former President and Chief Culinary Officer for Stoner's Pizza Joint. Currently, he is the Founder of the Chef inspired brand Tossed Sauced and Baked, a culinary Cannabis company based out of Northern California.

Purezza is a vegan pizzeria operating in Brighton, London and Manchester. It is Europe's first all-vegan pizzeria, opening its first branch in Brighton, UK, in November 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manitoba flour</span> High gluten flour of common wheat

Manitoba flour, a name chiefly used in Italy, is a flour of common wheat originating in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is called a "strong" flour to distinguish it from other, weaker flours. The flour strength is indicated by the value of the coefficient W measured with a Chopin alveograph: the higher the value, the stronger the flour. A weak flour has a W value lower than 170, while the manitoba has a W value higher than 350.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Candle (Portland, Oregon)</span> Defunct bakery and pizzeria in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Roman Candle Baking Co., or simply Roman Candle, was a bakery and pizzeria–restaurant in the Richmond neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Duane Sorenson opened Roman Candle in 2013, with a menu offering wood-fired pizza and other Italian cuisine, including sandwiches, breads, green salads, pastries, and baked potatoes. Dan Griffin and Joshua McFadden served as the baker and chef, respectively. The bakery started supplying select menu items to Sorenson's Stumptown Coffee Roasters locations in late 2015. Roman Candle received a generally positive reception, with the pizzas and kouign-amann receiving the most praise. The restaurant closed in April 2018 for renovations, ahead of a rebrand as a gluten-free and vegan cafe called Holiday, which Sorenson launched one month later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baby Blue Pizza</span> Defunct pizzeria in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Pepe</span>

Franco Pepe is an Italian award winning pizzaiolo, internationally recognized as one of the best in the world. He is the owner of Pepe In Grani restaurant in Caiazzo, Italy, and is featured in one of the episodes of Netflix's docu-series Chef's Table: Pizza.

References

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  6. Rome, Philip Willan (2023-08-09). "Mama mia! French fish soup pizza wins world championship". ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  7. "Your guide to what's hot and what's not this week". The Independent. 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  8. Page, Sydney (1 Mar 2023). "Pizza Acrobatics Is an Actual Sport. This Man Has Won 7 World Championships for It". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved 28 Jul 2023.