Very young, determined, and aware: who is the pizzaiola from Bergamo who swept at the World Pizza Championship

Apr 12 2024, 18:12
The World Pizza Championship in Parma has come to a close after three days of international competitions. In the Classic Pizza category, twenty-year-old Giulia Vicini stood out, winning the special prize for the Pizza of Change for the second consecutive year

Giulia Vicini, at the age of twenty, along with her partner Giulia Zanni, runs with vision and competence the Giuly Pizza pizzeria in Castelli Calepio (Quintano, via della Conciliazione, 48) in the Bergamo area. She is a born pizzaiola: her father Marco started the business in 2012, and over the years, he has taught the trade to his daughter and Giulia Zanni. With studies in chemistry, alongside her profession as a pizzaiola, she delves into agricultural issues firsthand, working personally in organic farms.

Her victory is one achieved with tenacity: in the 2023 edition, she had already placed third in the Classic Pizza category and won the "Pizza of Change for Sustainability" award (in collaboration with 5 Stagioni by Agugiaro & Figna), introduced for the first time in 2023, with the Terra-Terra pizza, created together with her partner, with whom she shares the philosophy of research, primarily ethical: ingredients entirely from organic sources, from flour to the vegetables used (sorrel and asparagus), fondue with local milk, as local as the Bagoss cheese, self-produced extra virgin olive oil, almonds, and honey. This year the challenge was even more significant, with the podium of the previous year behind her: yet, in addition to the repeat in the special prize - with a vegan pizza based on vegetables from their own garden and Bergamo products, such as red corn from Val Seriana - she also took first place in the most prominent discipline of the Championship, along with that of the Neapolitan STG pizza.

The World Pizza Championship

Over a thousand competitions took place in the historic venue of the Palaverdi in Parma, with over 700 pizza makers from 53 nations around the world: the XXXI World Pizza Championship concluded yesterday with the announcement of the official rankings for the various categories involved in the competition (there are 12, from gluten-free pizza to freestyle). For the classic pizza, as we mentioned, Giulia Vicini takes the first place, ahead of Nicolas Ribera and Nicola Staropoli. For the Neapolitan STG pizza, the podium features Lorenzo Carletti, David Ortigoza Ezequiel, and Adriano Aurelio Ricciardi; for the tray pizza, Domenico Sancamillo, Antonio Saviana, and Chiara Petrucci take the podium. In the Pala Pizza category, the podium goes to Salvatore La Porta, Luigi Timoncini, and Antonino Militi.

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