Elena Gocmen Rueda
TWO pizzerias in Barcelona have been crowned winners in Spain’s first National Pizza Competition during Madrid Fusion, the annual International Gastronomy Congress.
Judges awarded La Balmesina with the first national prize for the best Neapolitan pizza for its recipe ‘Rita’ while Can Pizza scooped the top prize in the freestyle category for its ‘Jerry Tomato’ creation.
La Balmesina’s ‘Rita’ pizza is described as an ‘alternative’ margherita that is on the menu in summer with seasonal tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil as the only ingredients and with a sourdough that takes up to 72 hours to ferment.
Can Pizza’s ‘Jerry Tomato’ combines three textures of tomatoes (dehydrated, candied and macerated) with yellow tomato, spring onion and fresh herbs.
“The dough fermented for 48 hours in two 24-hour blocks of time” its creators insist.
Twelve ‘pizzaiolos’ from a shortlist selected by the jury, took part in the final of the competition last month.
The preparation, the work done in the oven and the baking time, as well as the taste and the cooking of the pizza were fundamental in the final evaluation and qualification.
The jury was chaired by the renowned pizzaiolo Franco Pepe, several times distinguished as the best in the world, and by other gastronomic experts such as Alberto Luchini, Alberto Miragoli, Bárbara Guerra, Paola Freire Gómez-Chao, Fátima Gismero and Santiago Mora.
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