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Italian pizza championship: the finals. Sforno vs. Michele from Ale
Italian pizza championship: the finals. Sforno vs. Michele from Ale

Video: Italian pizza championship: the finals. Sforno vs. Michele from Ale

Video: Italian pizza championship: the finals. Sforno vs. Michele from Ale
Video: Premio Miglior Artigiano del Territorio 2010 2024, March
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The Italian Pizza Championship today knows the winner of the Rest of Italy draw. After thousands of tastings, they reached the finish line of the final: I take it out And Michele from Ale. Rome vs Senigallia, round pizza napolitan style vs pizza by the meter as from the University of Pizza, that of Vico Equense.

Imitations? No, these are our own elaborations, and we are talking about flours, doughs, techniques, manual skills that look to Naples as the beginning of history but then write other chapters. Let's say Rome, for example, which a few years ago (a quarter of a century ago) was the kingdom of the scrocchiarella and that's it, translated by the Neapolitans as frisbee.

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Then Stefano Callegari arrived in one of the most populous districts of the capital, Tuscolano, and it was Sforno. In other words, the soft pizza which is not the classic libretto but has its leavening, its thrust, its honeycomb (because there is a cornice). A discovery for those (me) who had to endure long periods of pizza abstinence.

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We played the final with different pizzas. Reference benchmark, as usual, is the Margherita which in this case is Super, that is tomato, fiordilatte, basil, parmesan. Then two house specialties.

Mindful of the last episode, I would like to state an important notation: Stefano Callegari is for “extreme” cooking, a point in addition to seeking crunchiness. This does not mean that the pizzas are burnt as some have understood by looking at the photos. A flushed microchip area is not a burn. Put (perhaps) to silence the first criticisms from a photographic glance, here are the results of the tasting.

- Visual aspect. It immediately returns what it is: soft pizza with a crunchy seal, some flaming.

- Cooking. At the right point

- Dough / texture. You are not in Naples and you cannot fold pizza. The slice stands almost straight on its own, the bite is sincere.

Specialty of the house.

You say Sforno and you can't think of Cacio e Pepe and Greenwich. Stefano Callegari has tried to bring the voluptuousness of pasta, which is one of the symbols of the cuisine of Rome, back to pizza. Greenwich, on the other hand, is a tribute to trips to London and to one of the cheeses that best identify the selections of the British capital: Stilton.

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Cacio e Pepe is the result of a series of tests that allowed Callegari to identify the way to keep the cheese on the pizza without melting it. You use the ice on the disc of dough and that's it. It sounds simple enough.

- Visual aspect. The Cacio e Pepe is served in wedges and the pepper mill stands in the center to allow diners to dose the desired quantity. The appearance is between the inviting and the salivating. The intense aroma is part of the presentation.

- Cooking. I am re-evaluating the use of the concept of millimeter.

- Dough / texture. The same consideration applies to the Supermargherita. Elastic and tenacious dough. The slice does not fold and the cornice is beautiful alveolated.

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Greenwich is a pizza with mozzarella, blue stilton and port reduction. It is another of the successes of the restaurant that cultivates exoticism as well as the Fisherman tied hand in glove with balsamic candies. The skill of the pizza chef is to keep the presence of the stilton within the limits, which could tragically cover every flavor.

- Visual aspect. The Greenwich is distinguished by the concentric circles drawn by the reduction of port and by the bows of the English cheese.

- Cooking. Always perfect, in this case the extreme point is further away.

- Dough / texture. Also in this case the dough is characterized by its toughness which offers the right resistance to the bite. Priceless.

Menu, Sforno, Rome
Menu, Sforno, Rome

- Judgment: Sforno pizza is not the classic Roman scrocchiarella but not even the Neapolitan one to fold in four. A middle ground that is very popular, and also in the Capitoline interpretation of the condiment stands out for the quality of the ingredients.

- Average price: € 9, 50.

Vote: 95/100

Sforno, Via Statilio Ottato 110/116. Rome

MICHELE DA ALE

Michele has been a very successful venue in years when I was young and impressionable enough to send it to future memory. Then came Ale, that is Alessandro Coppari (but Ale is also Alessio, his brother) who turned the postcard-size pizzeria upside down like a glove, with so much success as to generate the sequel, the MezzoMetro Da Ale pizzeria opened in Jesi (AN).

I am making all these premises not to explain to you how pizza is made in a place that, due to its location - the Senigallia seaside holidaymaker - could happily disinterest in flours with a high W value (high gluten content), in pre-doughs, in long leavening, gluten-free cooking (on request bread, pizza, fresh pasta, desserts and spoon desserts are all delicious and gluten-free). Rather, I want to document that treasure of credibility that led an obscure pizzeria to the borders of the empire up to the final of the Pizza Championship, in the part of the board reserved for the "Rest of Italy" (Campania is apart).

Pizza by the meter, Michele da Ale, Senigallia
Pizza by the meter, Michele da Ale, Senigallia

Michele da Ale's pizza by the meter is quite unique in terms of flavor, softness and digestibility, cooked in a large "Ambrogi Forni" wood-burning oven lined with refractory stone, where the temperature is between 350 and 400 ° C, a compromise for make it possible in a large pizzeria (120 meters of pizza on a Saturday evening, corresponding to 450 round pizzas) the management of three different doughs: round pizza, kamut pizza and pizza by the meter.

For the final we tasted a Margherita, the most classic of round pizzas, and two versions of pizza by the meter, a simple Estiva, margherita with chopped tomatoes, and the more refined Parmesan and balsamic vinegar. Before moving on to the details, an applause for the recent restyling of the restaurant, which has improved its appearance and acoustics, which were previously decidedly infernal.

Michele da Ale, local, round margherita
Michele da Ale, local, round margherita

Visual aspect: the rectangles stoke more than the classic disc. Biting into the margherita is confirmed as good, but if different destabilizing elements do not enter the field with the pizza by the meter, let's call them superpowers, maybe we won't be here talking about Michele da Ale. The cornice? It's a show.

Cooking: homogeneous and fast.

Dough / texture: The flours with a high W value (with a high gluten content), the pre-doughs and the long leavening make the dough perfect for its softness and elasticity. For those intolerant to wheat there are organic rice or buckwheat flours processed in purity (such as Senatore Cappelli), or with additions that sweeten the flavor, see hemp sativa flour.

Lightness / digestibility: incredible. The best part after the taste, fragrance and lightness are perceived bite after bite.

Taste: Taliban blinded by tradition and gourmet exalted by leavening with sourdough let's make peace and shake hands. Michele da Ale makes everyone agree.

Beer / Wine: the Augustiner Malheur is excellent. Estrella Daura and Ambar to remind you that we are in the temple of gluten-free.

Service: led by Marco (known as Wolf, he solves problems), the service is precise and friendly even in the critical moments of the summer high season: between the order and the delivery of the pizzas, 5 to 10 minutes pass.

Michele da Ale, pizza by the meter
Michele da Ale, pizza by the meter

Judgment: Among the de-Neapolitan pizzas one of my favorites, if I were an enthusiast I could almost shout for a miracle.

Average price: 6 Euros.

Vote: 94/100

Michele da Ale Restaurant Pizzeria, Lungomare Da Vinci, 33 - Senigallia (Ancona) Tel. 07160578.

Epic clash between two different pizzas, both praiseworthy alternatives to Neapolitan pizza. I bake more attentive to the needs of gourmets, Michele da Ale is worthily committed to gluten-free cuisine. Both Stefano Calligari and Alessandro Coppari are bernoccolati pizza chefs, the first wins the championship of a gluing for the perfection of each dish served, while the other, author of a memorable pizza by the meter, loses something in the round. But to honor the finalists of the Rest of Italy draw, they have the great merit, in their respective cities, of not making Naples regret.

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