If the Coronavirus forces us to stay at home why deprive ourselves of the pleasure of a nice and good pizza made in our kitchen? Of course it will never be as tasty and tasty as the ones we can eat in a professional pizzeria, but while waiting for better times, we can commit ourselves to improve the quality of those made in the home oven. To the rescue of pizza enthusiasts comes AVPN (True Neapolitan Pizza Association) who had already launched the "Vera Pizza Contest" last year, a challenge to "produce" the best possible pizza at home. An initiative greeted by an extraordinary success, as evidenced by the numbers of the first edition: 800 pizzas competing, from 38 countries and with a social following worthy of a top influencer.
And this year it repeats itself. “We have decided to give an encore – explains Antonio Pace, AVPN President with a smile – and we are ready to launch the second edition with the exact same rules and once again putting our coveted professional courses for pizza makers up for grabs”.
The rules of engagement are actually quite simple. The contest is free and open to all, amateurs and professionals.
The basis is the international AVPN specification and the participants are offered a wide choice of the type of pizza they want to offer: it could be a marinara, a margherita or any creative variant. Only requirement the use of a domestic type electric oven is mandatory.
The race is divided into two phases. The first, which runs from 25 February to 25 March 2021, provides for the competitors to send, via messenger and to AVPN Facebook profile @verapizzanapoletana, the photo of the proposed pizza and the home oven used. The photos will be published in the album "Vera Pizza Contest" inserted in Facebook page . of the association and can be voted on by everyone with a simple like.
The second phase, which will run from 26 to 29 March, provides for the evaluation, by a jury composed of 10 master pizza makers, of the 20 most voted pizzas. An absolutely international panel with judges from Brazil, Australia, Egypt and Italy who will take into account elements such as shape, cooking, palatability and filling. The vote will determine the 3 winners who will be able to take advantage, depending on their position on the podium, of three different levels of courses for AVPN “signed” pizza makers.
The 1st classified will win a 9-day basic professional course to be carried out at the AVPN School in Naples or alternatively a 5-day basic professional online course.
The 2nd will be entitled to a 3-day advanced professional course to be carried out at the AVPN School in Naples or alternatively a 3-day advanced online course
The 3rd place will go to a 4-hour amateur course to be carried out at the AVPN School in Naples or, alternatively, a 2-hour online amateur course
To all this must be added the special prizes made available by the initiative's partners, from "technical" tools to product kits, real excellence.
And, speaking of products, the new initiative put in place by AVPN should certainly be mentioned: it is about “Recommended for Domestic Use”, a line of products that the association "signs", guaranteeing its quality right on the home-made pizza front.
"Pizza is increasingly becoming a sort of common thread that unites peoples and cultures - concludes Pace - It is obvious that for us the place assigned to the preparation and consumption of pizza remains the pizzeria but it is nice to play with hundreds of enthusiasts all over the world who try their hand, in their kitchens, with this much loved product. But, precisely because of the respect we owe to pizza, we at AVPN we feel obliged to advise not only the techniques and methods of preparation but also the quality of the products to be used”.
