Credits to Gi.Metal for this photo
n.119
2022
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f it goes out of his way to make you happy, it’s a pizza. A perfect beginning for this article: pizza makes consumers happy as well as it is an ever-increasing source of satisfaction for professionals. In 2021, one out of 3 citizens increased their consumption of pizza, with 23% relying on takeaway or home delivery and 8% opting for do-it-yourself. Despite the covid-19 crisis, the high cost of living, inflation, pizza seems immune to everything bad that happens in the world. In Italy the total number of enterprises that produce fresh pizzas to be consumed immediately are about 63,000, among them artisanal pizzerias, pizza restaurants places dedicated only to take-away and home delivery, pizza in slices. A problem that needs to be tackled urgently by focusing on training is that there are no pizza chefs. The problem could be solved by investing state institutions to include training courses for this professional figure as chefs and maitres in the study programs in hotel establishments. It is a paradox that the art of the pizza maker is an intangible heritage recognized by UNESCO and is instead disowned by the institution of the country (Italy) that invented it. And it is therefore evident that pizza, artisanal pizza, this symbolic dish of Italy, if it is to continue going out of its way, to give happiness to its consumers and operators, must be the object of protection and promotion and serious training and formation. It must keep away, from production, those robot pizza chefs who are increasingly seen in pizza chains abroad. We can’t accept the robot pizza maker! No, please. A robot pizza does not make us happy. Click and watch the video with an interview with Marco D’Annibale, Francesco Matellicani, Davide Civitiello.
Pizza robot... never!
Giuseppe Rotolo
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by the Director Giuseppe Rotolo
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MARCO D’ANNIBALE For over 35 years, Gi.Metal effort has been the creation of products and equipment improving and helping the pizza chef 's work.
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n this issue of Pizza&core we are interviewing Marco D’Annibale, founder and CEO of Gi.Metal, one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the world of pizza and catering. Here’s what he told us... Let’s start talking about the recent crisis: for the first time in his life Gi.Metal has lived through a pandemic era, how did you deal with this hard period, how did you manage to stay close to your customers?
«They were certainly difficult months, we all had to face something that never happened in the past: lockdowns, quarantines, the anxiety of infections, an experience that, not only from a human point of view, has forced us to new challenges. It was a very difficult period where, however, we had the confirmation of important values». What values are you referring to? «The value of getting together, of teaming up, of selfmotivation without in times of difficulty. I take as
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example what happened in Gi.Metal where the Covid crisis, rather than bringing depression, triggered a special desire to do, highlighting an adaptability on the part of the whole work group that pleasantly surprised me. A reaction that led us to rapidly find out new solutions for our customers, such as separators among the tables. A reaction that confirms that the customer and his needs are always the first thought of a company like Gi.Metal».
tors will be more aware and professionally more and more prepared. In this context, pizza makers will be at the forefront, their ability to adapt and improve is proverbial».
A reaction to the crisis that I think chefs and restaurateurs also had? «I am not surprised by the reactivity of the operators, the pizza world has always been proactive, I know too well who works there: desire to do, passion for work, combativeness, in addition to their proverbial spirit of sacrifice, from this point of view the pizza makers Italians have a lot to teach». So, will this crisis ultimately bring something good? «If I could have chosen, I would certainly have avoided it, but we must be conscious that, since the world began, in every critical situation there is always more than one opportunity. I am a radical optimist and I am convinced that the change that the Covid pandemic has induced, will lead us indeed towards a more sustainable consumer market, where opera-
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Well, but let’s take a look at the future: what idea did you have about the human aspect? how much this will still count? And what about pizza? Will it be just a machine food, as we see in some videos? The question comes from the fact that you produce equipment for pizza chefs.
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«Absolutely, I do not think that pizza, the artisan one, I mean, can do without its” human “genesis, despite the fact that equipment and automated solutions are available at the most, I am convinced that a pizza made with the human contribution of the pizzaiolo gives that value an indispensable addition for that customer, who wants to live a top consumer experience. Going to a pizzeria, immersing yourself in certain atmospheres, sharing a food like pizza are all emotions that are enhanced by a pizza made at the moment by the knowledge of the pizza maker and baked steaming and fragrant». Maybe baked with a Gi.Metal shovel? «Why not? It would be a perfect pizza. But joking aside, Gi.Metal commitment has always been to create products and equipment that complete, improve and help the pizza chef’s work, he is our reference at the center of Gi.Metal strategy and mission. his needs and requirements, we have been working for him for over 35 years, and we are happy to do so».
interview
WHO IS GI.METAL Professional pizza peels, pizza pans, small stirrers, trolleys, pizza holders and much more. For over 35 years, Gi.Metal has been designing and manufacturing professional items for pizzerias and trolleys for the catering sector: all ready for delivery for the more than two thousand distributors scattered all over the world. Gi.Metal is an Italian company based in Montale, in the province of Pistoia, and has two foreign branches: one is in the United States, in Chicago, and one in Brazil, in Curitiba. The company’s mission is to work alongside professional and non-professional pizza chefs, understand their needs, the problems related to their way of working and develop solutions so that they can work better and in a faster and more productive way. WHAT GI.METAL DOES Gi.Metal produces over 1000 references for pizzerias and the catering sector. The products are for the most part 100% Made in Italy: synonymous with quality, functionality and beauty. The production techniques and the materials used are constantly tested and updated to obtain maximum functionality, comfort, strength and safety, with yes, as evidenced by the ISO 9001: 2015 quality certification obtained through TÜV Italia. There are three values that guide the action and behavior of the company: quality, passion and innovation. gimetal.it 7
Spunti of view by the Director Giuseppe Rotolo
What is a
CONTEMPORARY PIZZA
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ow many types of pizzas are there in Italy? Neapolitan, Roman, Pugliese, the one with the high boarder, the one without, thin and without a boarder … Concerning the doughs there are pizzas with old and new grains, mixed in every way, and also very sophisticated leavening techniques, a thousand and more fillings, methods of cooking… Certainly it deals with a not boring world. Furthermore, in recent years there is more and more talk of contemporary pizza, there is no shortage of articles, treatises, journalists and insiders talk about it.
Let’s see what is a contemporary pizza? Let’s get into the technician aspect. We asked the experts, the first contribution comes from a young and very well-trained Neapolitan pizza chef, Vincenzo Iannucci, here’s what he told us: «Contemporary pizza is a new vision of the concept of pizza, which evolves, takes on a renewed interpretation, finds an identity in the absolute centrality, starting from the use of yeast, I suggest Mulino Ca-
puto with his thin line between sweet and salty. In short, with the concept of contemporary pizza, we continue practicing the profession of Neapolitan pizza chef (Unesco unmaterial heritage), but it is a question of thinking about pizza in a completely new way. Sometimes you work on the doughs, on the raw materials, on the preparations, on the shapes, on the way to serve and therefore to consume proposals that do not fit into the known patterns. Thus was born his “contemporary Neapolitan pizza” which combines elements together to obtain “balance” which is the keystone together with research, study, pizza is not simple in reality and complex, to balance, to know how to dose and not to exceed in short. to be cause and not effect».
Spunti of view
As we have heard, Iannucci’s is a precise and highly qualified technical evaluation. But is contemporary pizza just a matter of technique? Or maybe there is more? Maybe other factors much closer to human nature, such as passion and feeling? For example Luigi Veronelli said “Pizza is a dish full of feelings”, while Mario Folliero, historian of Neapolitan pizza, whom I was lucky enough to know, called “Vivanda Scugnizza“ a beautiful quote that highlights its popular soul, pizza it was a food for the poor, the less abject, which then becomes a dish for a king, and for a queen. Margherita of Savoy Docet. Therefore, the “Vivanda Scugnizza”, the pizza, the only food that is divided to combine (another nice quote), a dish that knows how to be simple and social, informal and practical, concepts that actually have little contemporary because they are concepts which can always be valid, right? Yesterday, like today, like tomorrow. Don’t you find? But returning to the concept of contemporary pizza here is the thought of a historic Neapolitan pizza maker, one of the undisputed masters, Enzo Coccia of the pizzeria “la Notizia” in Naples. «What do I mean by contemporary pizza? I would not dwell much on techniques, doughs, handling and cooking, but I would make a wider discourse of contemporaneity, I mean a speech addressed to customers, with healthy food, a direct relationship with farmers with those who give us the raw material, whether a short supply chain, without intermediaries and exploitation. In this way,
pizza can become sustainable food. Sustainable for the environment and for the people who collaborate on this product, who make it excellent ... » Here is a very interesting interpretation, contemporaneity is in knowing how to be food that respects ethical canons, very current in the age of pandemic, food that is able to satisfy contemporary needs and at the same time being a dish with sentimental, passionate values. Pizza is a food that evidently not only serves to nourish the stomach, but also capable of being an inclusive product, satisfies different senses, stimulates positive feelings, in fact during the pandemic it was the most requested food at home, but what happens now in the pizza world after the pandemic? Here is what Enzo Coccia replies: «After the pandemic, the world of pizza is wondering where to go, I think we must start with the professionals who must know how to blend artisanal work with modern technologies, they must continue to do training, doing training for ourselves and for our collaborators we increase the quality and therefore there is an economic
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Spunti of view by the Director Giuseppe Rotolo
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future for our commercial activities, for our pizzerias, we must be able to enhance what we do abroad and in Italy in this way we will indirectly welcome many more tourists and we will increase Italy’s GDP. This means that a personal conscience becomes a collective conscience for the common good, contemporaneity is nothing more than looking to the future today in our pizzerias». Let’s ask again: what is this contemporary pizza, isn’t it that pizza is divided into only two categories? The good one and the one that isn’t, as it claims always wisely my friend Antimo Caputo, super expert in the
ture indicates to us as precisely that of sustainability, genuineness, being ethical food. And so if a pizza like this is contemporary today, it will also be tomorrow and maintaining its identity, its quality, its values, its sentiment, its ability to be food friendly, social, it will be contemporary even in ten years and also in a hundred. In short, it will always be contemporary. And if a food, or something, or someone is always contemporary, then it means that it is always current, in any era. As it was contemporary in 17th century Naples, where you think of Masaniello’s time, the first pizza men-
field… of wheat. Of course the new techniques, the mix of flours with old and new grains, old and new leavening systems; we all agree that pizza evolves and improves also thanks to food science, technology, the contribution of professionals, more and more prepared, but for a food, being contemporary does not only mean this. What does the word contemporary mean? On our vocabulary it is written that it is what takes place, happens, develops, lives, works in the same period of time. Contemporaneity, as Enzo Coccia said, is also looking to the future, following the trends that the fu-
tioned in the annals was stuffed with lard, some pork greaves, it’s called Mastunicola, it was a very caloric, energetic pizza, and it was precisely the snack that the masons took to work. Mastunicola, stood for master Nicola’s pizza. From here it was customary to give a name to the pizza according to the category of customers who preferred it, in fact then the Marinara pizza arrived which was the one preferred by the sailors, the Capricciosa perhaps for the girls who make tantrums ... maybe. In short, it was contemporary even then. In short, pizza is and will always be contemporary. And this is all.
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company
Passion and Sustainability
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assion, commitment and sustainability. These are the solid bases on which the long experience of Farm Frites is grounded. The company has been growing for fifty years the tastiest potatoes and transforming them into delicious potato-based products. Sustainability has always been a priority for Farm Frites, whose production chain starts from the land, with the purpose of exerting positive effect on nature and environment. In fact, leaded by a strong sense of responsibility concerning the impact of commercial business on the environment, the company is determined to contribute to a greener and more sustainable world. Farm Frites has often worked hard to be a sustainable partner in the food chain, creating initiatives such as Green Clubs, CO2-free Potato Chips, Flower Field Borders, Strip Cultivation, the Wall of Nature and the creation of a Solar Park. And the sustainability of Farm Frites always looks to the future. To combat climate change and gases emissions,
Farm Frites intends to reduce energy consumption by 10% and carbon emissions per ton of product by 50% by 2030; increase the share of renewable energy to 15% by 2025. By this year, the company aims to make 100% of packaging recyclable and to optimize transport. Furthermore, recycling throughout the supply chain and among end users through clear communication activities, sustainable agriculture with 50% of potatoes with the FSA gold level and the reduction of water consumption per ton of product in factories by 15%. These ambitions go hand in hand with adequate monitoring and accountability. This is the reason why Farm Frites publishes an annual sustainability report, in order to give visibility to the impact of efforts in synergy with business partners. The idea is that of communicating the achieved results as a type of guide on the path to a more sustainable world, that can be reached thanks to a highly specialized staff and synergy with partners within the chain. www.farmfrites.com/it-it/
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ingredents
presents the “Puntarelle” chicories sautéed Puntarelle (chicory sprouts) seasoned with capers, basil, garlic and mint and sauté in sunflower oil. Ready-to-use product, they are suitable to accompany salami, grilled and boiled meats or to garnish pizzas.
Pizza with Puntarelle INGREDIENTS - 40 g Demetra Pecorino Cheese Cream - 70 g mozzarella fior di latte - 70 g Demetra Sautéed Chicory - 3 slices of bacon - 10 beans - q.b. Pepper Cuvée Wiberg - q.b. some pecorino flakes PREPARAZIONE Spread the pecorino cream on the pizza disc then add the mozzarella, the Puntarelle and cook in the oven. In exit garnish with the flakes of pecorino, broad beans and crispy bacon.
Demetra is WIBERG official importer for Italy and France DEMETRA SRL - Via Roma, 751 - 23018 TALAMONA (Sondrio) ITALY Ph. +39 0342 674011 - Fax +39 0342 674030
demetrafood.it
wiberg.demetrafood.it
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A cream for every taste
The new creams from PreGel Pastry
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he line dedicated to PreGel pastry laboratories is enriched with new types of creams with original flavors and specially designed to fill, glaze, flavor and decorate your desserts. The line is divided into four categories of creams: Covermax Decor, Covermax Top, Farcimax, and Cookiemax. Covermax Decor are post-oven creams designed to glaze and decorate various pastry products such as donuts, biscuits, cream puffs and éclairs. They come in solid form, but by gradually heating them up to 45-50° C and mixing them carefully before covering the desired products, you will obtain a perfect dry coating for covering sweets to be packaged, such as Colombe, Panettone and dry biscuits. After 1015 minutes, the cover at room temperature will be dry and will not stick to the packaging. In addition, Covermax Decor covers ensure a clean cut without burrs. These creams are available in the following flavors: Choc, with an intense chocolate flavor, Chocowhite, with a refined taste of white chocolate and Pistachio, with a good pistachio flavour. Covermax Top are the creams indicated for those looking for a versatile product that allows you to fill, glaze and flavour various pastry preparations thanks to their creamy and enveloping structure. They are perfect for obtaining a soft and shiny coating, but they are also excellent for filling baked desserts or for flavoring custard creams. The Covermax Top are available in four flavors: Chocowhite, with a satisfying white chocolate flavor ideal for filling breakfast desserts, Hazelnut, with an exquisi-
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