Pizza Today - December 2021 - 36

so I thought it would be fun. I used a
ricotta-tomato puree, red onion, mozzarella,
pre-cooked salmon, fresh avocado,
capers, dill, Peruvian pepper drops, arugula
and ricotta swirls and a white and mild
cheddar for a cheese crust bed. "
Laura Meyer crushed it with her
innovative, long pan-style with a Roman
crust. Her pizza was baked with crispy
jalapeño bacon, whole milk mozzarella,
candied figs in hot honey and topped
with a delicious avocado crema.
Alfredo Pappalardo wowed the crowd
with sophisticated simplicity using both
tipo 00 and tipo 0 flours with an autolyze
bulk fermentation at room temperature
then forming his dough balls five hours to
elevate his Napoletana pizza to the finals.
Anthony Scardino from Chicago chose
to compete with a New York-style crust
supporting an Al Pastor inspired pizza
because both styles, the New York slice
and the Al Pastor street taco, are both
icons and he married them to celebrate
the two worlds together.
One of the most impressive pizzas in
Las Vegas this year came from 18-year-old
Carmela Cataldo. (Yes, the daughter of
World Champion Paul Cataldo who owns
Antonio's Italian Restaurant in Elkhart,
Indiana.) The pizza was made with a 72hour
cold fermentation, light mozzarella
atop a pomodoro sauce made by her sister,
Gemma. It was topped with house-made
and thin-sliced honey hot sausage, grilled
red peppers and seasoned extra-virgin and
cupping and char pepperoni.
Chef Eric Von Hanson, blew several
judges minds with his pizza that was
inspired by all the wine-tasting dinners
he hosted. It included an IPA-infused
crust, black truffle-foie mousse, vanilla
bean poached pears and bison filet carpaccio,
and finished with a black currant
balsamic with orange-champagne
vinaigrette.
Ed Barbeau, who really impressed me
years ago - going first in the competition
with a chicken and waffle pizza - entered
a magnificent
Pacific Northwest inspired pizza
with Hood River cherries, duck
bacon and some local goat cheese.
Enzo Palombino says, " I look at
the simplicity vs complexity and see
if I can combine those two to have a
perfect balanced pizza. " He brought
on a fantastic Green Chili Chicken
Pizza that bowled the judges over.
He paired his cream cheese based
Tuscan cream sauce with his invention
- green chili jam and chicken
for a real winner but he didn't stop
there. All this was happening on
airy fried pizza dough.
Que Wimberly brought seafood
on with The Trap Pizza: A long
pizza with shrimp, lump crab meat,
mozzarella, green onion, parsley
drizzled with a combination of OG
Trap Buttah and sprinkled with
Young Bae seasoning, (as opposed
to Old Bay,) made in house by Chef
Oya.
Ali Haider made a spectacular
star-shaped pizza called " The Pride
of Dubai, " a honey-infused, spicy
Dakoos tomato sauce with three
types of beef, Emirati Akkawi
cheese, fresh mozzarella, onions,
roasted sesame, fresh basil with the
point of each star as the dessert
with dates and date syrup.
Tore Trupiano, who has been
competing since 1995, decided
to create a pizza that screamed
California. " Our kumquats caught
my attention - sweet in the middle
and tart on the outside. So, I paired
them with my own cherry woodsmoked
pork shoulder finished with
a peach preserve glaze. My base was
a white cream and cream cheese
with the peach and jalapeño dry rub
I used for the pork. "
Chef Eric Von Hanson really
sums up all it means to be in this
industry. " If you put love into
everything you do, it will pay off
one day. " n
JOHN GUTEKANST owns Avalanche
Pizza in Athens, Ohio.
36 / PIZZATODAY.COM / DECEMBER 2021
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Pizza Today - December 2021

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