São Paulo hosts 'Pizza Week' between July 7th and 13th

Between July 7th and 13th, São Paulo will host the 5th edition of Settimana della Pizza, an event that seeks to celebrate one of the dishes most loved by Brazilians and that best represents Italian cuisine in the world.

For a week, the public will be able to try pizzas selected or created for the occasion in 19 pizzerias in the capital of São Paulo and one in Sorocaba.

The participating restaurants will offer a "regionale" pizza, linked to one of the Italian regions and with at least one typical ingredient, and a "tradizionale" pizza, represented by the classic margherita with the colors of the Italian flag: the red of the peeled tomato sauce, the white of the buffalo mozzarella or fiordilatte and the green of the basil.

Held on the occasion of Pizza Day, on July 10, the event is promoted by the Italian Chamber of Commerce of São Paulo (Italcam), the Consulate General of Italy, the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in the capital of São Paulo and the Italian National Tourism Agency (Enit).

"Pizza is one of the greatest symbols of our gastronomic culture and of the affinity between Italians and Brazilians," said Consul Domenico Fornara. The president of Italcam, Graziano Messana, highlighted that "the quality of Brazilian pizza has improved a lot in recent years with the import of ingredients created especially for the preparation of the dish and the use of long fermentation techniques."

In turn, Gerardo Landulfo, delegate of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina and curator of the event, highlighted that the "Settimana" will value the creativity of pizza chefs. "Traditions must be respected, but nothing prevents a classic recipe from being revisited or new ingredients from being proposed," he said.

Among the "regional" toppings proposed at the event is one with wood-roasted pumpkin cream, guanciale, smoked caciocavallo, ricotta cream and pistachio, made by Rural Pizzeria, from Sorocaba, which will represent Basilicata.

La Crosta pizzeria will pay homage to Lombardy with a topping of grana padano cheese, caramelized onions with Franciacorta sparkling wine, mascarpone cream and bresaola, while .it Pizza will highlight Piedmont with a flavor made with two types of gorgonzola (dolce and traditional), buffalo mozzarella, pear slices and walnuts.

The initiative takes place amidst the candidacy of Italian cuisine to be considered intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO and is a preview of the traditional Settimana della Cucina Regionale Italiana, scheduled for October 20 to 26 and which brings together chefs from all regions of the "Belpaese" in São Paulo.

Check out all the participating pizzerias: Foglia Forneria (Abruzzo), Rural Pizzeria (Basilicata), Soffio Pizzeria (Calabria), Leggera (Leggera Pizza Napoletana), Bráz Pizzaria (Emilia-Romagna), Andrea di Lucca Arte & Pizza (Friuli Venezia Giulia), La Braciera (Lazio), Oli Pizzas Artesanais (Liguria), La Crosta Forneria (Lombardia), Temperani Trattoria (Brands), Trattorita Evvai (Molise), .it Pizza (Piedmont), Qui o Qua (Puglia), A Pizza da Mooca (Sardinia), Unica Pizzeria (Sicily), Veridiana Pizzaria (Tuscany), Maremonti-Campo Belo (Trentino-Alto Adige), Napoletana Forneria (Umbria), Ombra (Aosta Valley) and Diavola Pizzeria Italiana (Veneto).