In praise of pizza!

In praise of pizza!

Organised by the Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Association, National Pizza Week, which took place from 21 to 27 November 2022, was sponsored by Stateside Foods and Caprinos, arriving in a timely manner for the World Cup and after the announcement of the winners of this year’s Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Awards (the “PAPAs”), and not least the winners of the yearly, and hotly contested, Pizza Chef of the Year Competition.

PIZZA PARTY

The annual event honours what has now become one of nation’s most well established and favourite meals by helping to celebrate pizza in all its cheesy, gooey glory, supporting retailers and food outlets to make a strong comeback and providing a much-needed boost to the economy (Caprinos offering 15% discount on orders with a special Pizza Week code during the promotion, for example).

Throughout the week, the spotlight was on pizza with consumers, suppliers and businesses in the sector all encouraged to celebrate by treating themselves to a piping hot slice of pizza and join in the fun.

Glanbia Cheese (pictured above), who supply a variety of cheese products to the pizza making sector, took the opportunity to have a pizza party at their offices in recognition of the pizzas they help to create.

PIZZA CHEF OF THE YEAR

It was Nicola Jackson-Jones from Two Cents Pizza who claimed the overall top prize of Pizza Chef of the Year this year with her extraordinary pizza, in the process demonstrating great skill, with complimenting flavours all arranged together with unrivalled precision and clearly making a very positive impression on the judges. Nicola left her job in insurance after 18 years in order to open her own pizzeria, despite never previously having made a pizza from scratch. Swapping her desk job for her dream job, she bought a pizza oven but readily admits that her first attempts at pizza making were “awful”.

After a few months of practice however, she opened Two Cents Pizza in Ormskirk in Lancashire, just seven or eight months just before the Coronavirus pandemic hit, teaming up with a local taxi driver during lockdown to deliver pizzas. Just three years later in 2021, she made it through to the live finals of the PAPA Awards where she received a ‘highly commended’ accolade.

At the end of May this year, Nicola took the decision to close the restaurant after three years trading, instead launching a luxury mobile catering service – still called Two Cents Pizza - from a converted horse box in a bid for a new challenge and more creative freedom.

Nicola Jackson-Jones with Theo Randall after winning one of several categories in the Pizza Chef of the Year Competition before going on to win the overall title.

A full list of this year’s winners can be found at https://itspizzaweek.com, as well as some of their winning recipes.