In Italy, home of the Neapolitan Pizza, a UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity, we have the best pizza makers in the world. But if we talk about homemade pizza, things change considerably and to taste the best you have to go to Poland. In fact, it is here that Agnieszka Eem lives, winner of the VeraPizzaContest, the international challenge for pizza makers at home promoted by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana - AVPN which this year saw 726 pizzas from over 50 countries compete, recording further record numbers compared to the 2020 exploit.
To partially compensate for the insult suffered by our country in the creation of one of the iconic dishes of Made in Italy in the world, comes the silver medal won by the Roman Davide Cormaci. But the satisfaction does not last long because the third place went to another Polish citizen Adrian Gromek, bronze medalist.
“A result – explains the president of AVPN, Antonio Pace – which in addition to confirming the extraordinary ability of true Neapolitan pizza to capture the growing interest of amateurs and professionals on every continent, also demonstrates the golden moment that this authentic excellence is especially living in Poland. A sort of golden age that our Association has already intercepted for some time, inaugurating a school for professionals in the heart of the city of Poznan in January 2020, where, despite the pandemic, eight literally sold-out training courses were held, thanks to the precious work of director Ewelina Przygocka and Brand Ambassador Marcin Garbowski.
And now, also driven by the results of the VeraPizzaContest 2021, we are about to launch amateur courses precisely for the many Poles who are becoming more and more passionate about Vera Pizza Napoletana".
Enthusiasts who, looking at the overall numbers of this year's race, were mostly men (68% of the competitors) and of 51 different nationalities, including above all Italians, Poles and Brazilians. But among the countries of origin of the participants, it is also worth mentioning Mexico, Macedonia, Algeria, Jordan, India, the Philippines, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru.
With an increase of +60% compared to 2020, a total of 1.280 pizzas were presented at the VeraPizzaContest 2021, of which 726 (351 more than last year) admitted to the competition, generating a massive tam tam on social networks (overall 87.000 likes/ I like it on the AVPN Facebook profile @verapizzanapoletana). And of these, only 20 finalists had access to the second phase of the challenge, which brought together an international jury made up of: Attilio Bachetti (Da Attilio, Naples), Johnny Di Francesco (president of the Australasia and 400 Gradi delegation, Melbourne), Pasquale Cozzolino (AVPN New York and Ribalta brand ambassador, New York), Andrè Guidon (President of the Brazil delegation and Leggera Pizzeria Napoletana, San Paolo), Antonia Ricciardi (AVPN Spain brand ambassador, Granada), Marco Casolla (Marco's factory, Toulon) , Emmanuele Cirillo (Malafemmena, Berlin), Marcin Garbowsky (brand ambassador AVPN Poland and Forni Rossi, Poznan), Aniello Beneduce (brand ambassador AVPN Russia and Pizzot, Omsk), Dareen Akkad (What the Crust?, Cairo).
Panel of experts who, based on requirements such as shape, cooking, palatability and filling, chose as the best pizzas of the 2021 edition of the VeraPizzaContest those created by Agnieszka Eem (a Traditional daisy), Davide Cormaci (“La PrimaVera” pizza with zucchini cream) and Adrian Gromek (“Cooked & Basil Pizza”) assigning them courses for pizza makers "signed" AVPN, together with the special prizes made available by the initiative's partners (technical tools and product kits).
