With several thousand visitors, over 100 competitors from across South America and wide media coverage, the 5th edition of the “Campionato Scuola Pizzaioli” (Pizza School Championship) has come to a close. The event was organised by the Consulate General of Italy in Buenos Aires together with the Scuola Pizzaioli – the leading training institution in the sector in Argentina – with the support of numerous sponsoring companies and master pizzaioli specially flown in from Italy, including Vincenzo Capuano, a recognised figure of contemporary pizza and social media influencer.
The competition, held on 27–28 September in Buenos Aires as part of the International Tourism Fair, was a true celebration of Italian identity and culture in the Argentine capital, centred on one of the most iconic symbols of our gastronomic tradition: Neapolitan pizza, inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list since 2017.
Two main innovations characterised this 5th edition, which ideally anticipated the “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” – highlighting health, sustainability and innovation – promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and scheduled in Buenos Aires at the end of November. The event also provided an opportunity to support the candidacy of Italian Cuisine for UNESCO intangible heritage status. The first innovation was the Championship for “mini-pizzaioli”, which allowed children and their families to discover and nurture a passion for Italian pizza. The second was an act of solidarity by the Scuola Pizzaioli, which in the coming days will donate the pizzas made during its intensive courses to a soup kitchen run by the Community of Sant’Egidio in Buenos Aires.
