Sveba Dahlen on jury for Campionato del mondo di pizza – Pizza Senza Frontiere, Italy

It was with honor, pride and ambition that our colleague Mikael “Pizza-Micke” Lundgren accepted the invitation to participate as a jury member during the Campionato del mondo di pizza/Pizza Senza Frontiere, in Rimini, Italy, February 18–20, 2024. To serve on the jury, you must either be a former pizza master, trained in professional pizza making or have extensive experience of pizza ingredients, quality and taste. You must be well-versed regarding the taste and combinations of ingredients that make a pizza special. Mikael qualifies with extensive experience of ingredients, taste and pizza and is truly outstanding in the field.

The winner of Pizza Senza Frontiere, in addition to receiving the coveted title of World Champion and the nice trophy, will also appear on the TV show Master Pizza Champion, which is the first and only talent show dedicated to professional pizza makers from all over the world. The show is now in its 9th season. Winning the Master Pizza Champion competition, broadcast on Sky, means being the world's absolute “champion of champions" of pizza making.

Pizza Senza Frontiere strives to ensure that all pizza makers – from every nation and culture, in joyous friendship and harmony, and with the certainty of being treated with respect and on equal terms – have the opportunity to win the competition.

The competition has developed enormously over the years and in 2024, 650 pizza makers participated. For Mikael Lundgren, there were many pizzas to taste and judge during the three days of the competition. Not an easy task – even if you, like Mikael, really love pizza! During tasting, the jury is first given a presentation from the pizza maker, after which a pizza slice is served for assessment. As a jury member, it is important to have your taste buds properly readied and be prepared for the task at hand.

“I had a strategy for how I would taste each pizza to make the assessment as fair as possible,” says Mikael. “First of all, I always taste the crust by tearing off a piece to see if it is correctly baked. I then taste the topping together with the crust.” 

There were 17 different categories with both Neapolitan and classic pizzas, as well as dessert pizzas, all of which were to be tasted and judged. Besides the jury and Italian pizza judges, there were also 20 or so influencers in attendance. The role of the influencers was both to serve on the jury and to provide coverage of the Campionato del mondo di pizza competition on various platforms. This year, for example, Yuko Okuma from Japan was there, a well-known author whose passion for Italian cuisine and pizza ingredients is well known through his books. 

The assessments were made by studying the dough, the technical elements, baking, topping and ingredient lists as well as tasting the pizzas, of course! Each jury member submits their assessment with a maximum of 100 points per assessment category according to baking, taste, as well as combination and appearance. The maximum score is 300. Mikael Lundgren tasted many fantastic pizzas. How was that?

“Yes, there were a lot of pizzas to taste and I'm happy that there were so many of us on the jury who could agree on a winner,” says Mikael. Mikael sees that a lot has happened over the years when it comes to the culture of pizza, which has made its way into the higher echelons of parlors and restaurants.

“There has been a steady evolution in the world of pizzas,” Mikael continues. “Concepts and experts have changed in recent years and the quality is significantly higher today than before. Pizza has also become more recognized as a dish that requires a skilled chef.

“Pizzas are eaten around the globe and bring together people of all ages and social groups. Together we can make the world a better place, one pizza at a time!”

More information about the competition and winner can be found here: https://campionato.ristorazioneitalianamagazine.it/it/edizioni

We ❤ Pizza 

Team Sveba Dahlen