Pippuri.fi met Albert Sapere, the founder of the well-known pizza guide.
The pizzeria Villa Severino, specializing in Neapolitan pizza, opened in Helsinki Outlet at the beginning of December. The opening of the restaurant also attracted an Italian pizza critic Albert Saperen. Sapere is the founder of the world’s most famous pizza guide, 50 Top Pizza.
The large pizza guide’s team includes more than 1,000 people, of which 300 work in Italy and 800 in other parts of the world, so the arrival of Sapere himself in Finland speaks volumes about the development of our country’s pizza culture.
– Finland, like the other Nordic countries, is currently a very interesting pizza destination, because a lot of development has taken place here. There are pizza masters who have studied in Finland, thanks to which pizza has risen to a whole new level here, Sapere tells Pippuri.fi.
According to Sapere, there are currently two foods in the world that unite people around the world: sushi and pizza.
– Finland now has an alliance with real pizza, and it’s wonderful, because we all want to eat high-quality pizza. The next step is to form an alliance between Neapolitan pizza and Finnish ingredients. It would be great to see, because Finland has a lot of great ingredients, the food critic praises.
The secret to a perfect pizza
This year alone, Sapere has eaten pizzas in sixteen different countries on four different continents. What does a man think makes a perfect pizza?
– The first thing is the smell. Pizza should smell like pizza, not bread, because pizza is not bread, but a combination of dough, tomato and mozzarella.
– Another thing is quality. Pizza can only be perfect if you use high-quality Fior di latte, tomato and extra virgin olive oil. And in the end, all the work done with the dough and the ingredients is decided by the last 30 seconds. A good oven plays a very important role.
Three Finnish restaurants listed
Forza and Pizzeria Luca from Helsinki and Pizzeria 450°C from Turku have made it to the Top 50 Pizza list. The most recent guide has listed Via Tribunal, which was chosen as the 25th best pizza chain this fall. There is no registration for the competition, but anonymous inspectors visit restaurants around the world.
It remains to be seen whether Villa Severino, which opened its doors at the beginning of December, will also be listed on the list in the future, whose pizza master is a person who moved from Italy to Finland Severino Salzano.
Salzano has been developing his pizza dough for years. It is made from spelled and whole wheat flour, and the dough is allowed to rise for three days.
– The product is good and has nice innovations. The drinks list is of high quality. The concept has clearly been thought out carefully, which makes the experience very good, Sapere answers the question about how the pizza expert who flew to Finland tasted like Villa Severino’s pizzas.
Villa Severino is expected to become a popular destination for Helsinki Outlet. Wind Lindgren