People we can be proud of - the Hungarian pizza chefs and chefs who bravely stood up to the world, László Damu, Zsolt Dömők, Márk Takács and Alexandru Paduraru, and of course Chef Lázár Kovács. This fantastic achievement also raises the gastronomic recognition of our country, also on an international level!
The pizza
Pizza is now an international dish that has spread around the world. Of course, its Italian roots are clear and it is undoubtedly the real, where you can find the original pizza. Since it has become a world food, it can be found in as many different forms as there are continents. The pizza dough and terms and conditions raw materials are also highly variable, as the raw materials that can be used you can find almost infinite variations. But the original pizza - as the Italians like it - is very simple.
Italians are very fond of pizza
Gianni Annoni: „What makes Italian pizza really good is its authenticity! We don't stuff the pizza with all kinds of toppings! You have to keep the flavours in balance. That means a small number of ingredients that go together to give the pizza harmony! Pizza is a simple product, but it is difficult to make it well. I personally, and Italians in general, feel bad and can't stand it when pizza is degraded. We find pineapple and corn toppings, or even the variations from one nation to another, sometimes pretty awful! Just a simple example, let's stop putting stew or fried meat on pizza! Too many variations ruin the simplicity of a perfect real Italian pizza. The three ingredients that you add should be of high quality (tomatoes, cheese, basil), because this will make the pizza light and pleasant to digest. If an Italian wants to know whether the pizza is good or not, he will taste a simple margarita or marinara!”
World Pizza Championship 5-7 April in Parma, Italy
The World Pizza Championship was organised. 36 nations, 700 participants which is a huge number and a very strong field. There were competitors from almost all over the world, with a great deal of knowledge in the field of pizza making. Obviously, the Italians are the best in pizza making, but this big competition has been going on for years. You'd think that the Italians would be hard to beat in this field, because with centuries-old traditions but many pizza chefs, including the home team, competed. The pizzas had to be prepared in front of an international jury, with each team consisting of two people, a pizza chef and the chef de cuisine. Of course, everyone had a booth at their disposal, where they could pizza chef prepares the dough, and the other member of the team, the chef, beautifully and in the shortest possible time, decorates and dresses it up. The atmosphere and the spectacle spoke for itself, as the greats of the pizza world and exhibitors also added colour to the event. There is no doubt, however, that the professional participants' hearts were set aflutter by the many fantastic ovens on display.
Photo: MATUSZ-VAD
The home team
The Hungarian team: Alexandru Paduraru, Chef László Damu, Márkot Takács a (owner of Circo Pizzeria), Lázár Kovács aka Lazarus Chef, Zsolt Dömők (Chef Zsolesz).
The competition Szabadfi Szabolcs (Szabi Pék) was also launched and has undoubtedly proved what makes its products so popular at home. Sabi Baker has just missed out on the podium and the honour of being fourth place could end up with a pizza poem.
The team had only a month and a half to prepare, which is very short before a world competition like this. The fact that they received very little funding to participate in the competition also made it difficult for them, so they were able to make it to the competition largely through their own financial means. Nevertheless, they proved that there is something for us Hungarians to look forward to at the World Pizza Championships. Kovács Lázár-Damu László 7. finished in second place, The pair of Márk Takács and Zsolt Dömők finished 21st.
Our winning pizzas
Lázár Kovács and László Damu kitchen chef - pizza in the so-called classic in the category. Their Green Cheese fancy pizza was dominated by grilled vegetables The interesting thing about the toppings was that they were made with mini vegetables from organic farms, micro salads and spices, topped with toasted pistachios, walnuts and of course cheese. The speciality was that chef Lazar wanted to consciously promote the cheese of Pálpuszta and to introduce the world to its flavours. And he succeeded, as it was completely unknown to the jury.
Zsolt Dömők and Márk Takács pizza was called the Asia Express, which is no coincidence - they used Asian spices. Hungarian yellow snack tomatoes are used to make the special sauce, with ginger, lemon, curry and some lime. The topping is based on unique strawberry tomatoes and caviar, with micro vegetables, squid and prawns.
Author: Tamás Budafoki
