Identità+Harrods=Pizza Gourmet

Great pizza, in fact “Gourmet Pizza”, is planned for the now customary London event organised by Identità Golose. From Tuesday 27th till Saturday 31st October inside the Pizzeria at Harrods (with the annexed Canti Prosecco Bar) on the second floor of the great British department store, two among the greatest and most innovative Italian pizza chefs will hold the stage: Simone Padoan of I Tigli in San Bonifacio (Verona) and Franco Pepe of Pepe in Grani in Caiazzo (Ce). Each will present three pizzas, an extraordinary demonstration of their art and the technique supporting it.

The pizza chef from Verona will prepare La Margherita secondo i Tigli with Petra flour («A simple dish… Popular imagery identifies pizza with tomato and mozzarella; this is why in our menu we have to have an interpretation of this. The tomato sauce, cooked slowly with oil and a garlic clove, adding a little basil at the end, is perfectly matched with the hazelnut flavour given by buffalo milk mozzarella warmed up on the side»), L’Orto (the vegetarian version with Grana Padano) and Dalla terra al mare («Red prawns meet vegetables. A pizza based on my culinary origins. When pairing prawns, I enjoy enhancing their buttery flavour with vegetables that recall the same aroma but have a crispier texture»).

Pepe, "armed" with Molino Quaglia Special flour, will reply with Margherita Sbagliata («I wanted to enhance tomato by baking it with mozzarella but only after the cooking, with a cold reduction»), Sfizio ai pomodori (the vegetarian version with Grana Padano, which uses different varieties and colours of tomatoes) and Il sole nel piatto («A tribute to the homonymous short film by Roberto Gambacorta on a few historic families of pizza makers from Campania, including my own. I summed up the excellences of Campania from the inland to the sea: piennolo tomatoes from Vesuvius, oregano from Matese, buffalo milk mozzarella, olives form Caiazzo, anchovies from Cetara).

Here’s how Harrods itself presents Pizza Gourmet on its website: “Two Italian artisan pizzoolo chefs - Franco Pepe and Simone Padoan - one from the North of Italy and one from the South with different backgrounds and cooking styles will take control of Harrods Pizzeria for five days and offer their special gourmand creations to London foodies and pizza enthusiasts! There will be 6 Pizzas on offer (3 per chef) for 1 week in October”.

Timetable: Tuesday-Friday, 12am-9pm, Saturday 11.30am-9pm, with the support of sponsors Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano, Acqua Panna-S.Pellegrino, Lavazza, Birra Moretti, Molino Quaglia.