Carmine Pellone, 37, a pizza chef with multiple awards from Gambero Rosso and 50 Top Pizza guides, and known as "The Artisan of Dough," confirmed his passion and mastery for the art of pizza making by winning the national "Pizza dell'Identità" championship. The event took place as part of the "Sfincione Fest" in Bagheria, in the province of Palermo.
Pellone, famous for his ability to blend tradition and evolution in the dough technique, is the face of "Fonderì Pizza Glamour," one of Naples' gourmet hotspots. The competition pitted four leavening masters representing different Italian regions against each other: Giuseppe Martinez for Sicily with his "Rianata Trapanese" (a pizza made with tomato, anchovies, plenty of oregano, and grated pecorino cheese), Antonio Minissale for Tuscany with his focaccia toscana (a typical street food dish), Christian Riccio for Lazio (with a dough characterized by its high hydration), and Carmine Pellone for Campania with his Casatiéllo.
It was precisely the Neapolitan Casatiéllo, a leavened savory product typical of the Campania tradition, that allowed Pellone to conquer the first place. This product, linked to the Easter period, received the applause of both the technical jury, composed of Andy Luotto, Nino Aiello, Gianni Paternò and Mario Liberto, and the popular one.
“I decided to make the Neapolitan Casatiello, a rustic bread typical of the Campania tradition, because it belongs to our gastronomic history,” explained Pellone. “It was an opportunity to propose it to an audience of experts and to make it known at a national level. A leavened product with an irresistible taste – little known but extraordinary both hot and cold. It is also perfect the next day and in fact here we usually eat it on Easter Monday,” added the master pizza chef.
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