40 years ago, Horacio Chuychuy was left in charge of his three younger brothers, when he was only 8 years old, in a humble house in Salvador Mazza. Only with his father, a railway worker, they had to get ahead no matter what.
That specific event marked the life of Horacio, the pizza maker on Independencia Avenue in the city of Salta.
“I attended primary school at the República de Bolivia school, in the town of Salvadora Mazza, better known as Estación Pocitos,” Horacio said nostalgically.
“I had two teachers (from that school) who changed my life. One was Teresita Aparicio who appeared at the most critical moment. When I was 8 years old my parents separated and we stayed with my father who had to go to work every day. days to the railroad. My brothers were 5, 3 and one year old. And I had to take care of them, feed them, dress them, clean the youngest one and prepare the 5-year-old and take him to school. There appears Mrs. Teresa, calming me down and teaching me things. of life. She supports me at the right moment,” Horacio said with tears in his eyes. Nobody imagines themselves in that situation.
Teachings
In fourth grade he already had María Elsa Aguirre. “She opened my mind, she enhanced my possibilities. Teresa taught me life in advance and María Elsa gave me the confidence to improve myself in school. When I entered high school at the Antártida Argentina school I passed it without much effort. At 18 years ago I was in Salta, at UNSa, wanting to eat the world,” said the gastronomic.
In every part of his life story he refers to these two teachers.
At the National University of Salta (UNSa) he entered the Business Administration degree, from the Faculty of Humanities. There he got to know the uncontrolled pace of the course at the public university and Griselda, his classmate, who would later become his wife.
With her they had three children; Horacio also has the oldest with another couple. There are 4 in total and he was able to raise all of them in the best way.
Keep the family
But Horacio had to start working and studying, to support the family. It was all uphill. He sold newspapers, cars, worked in a supermarket, until he started working in a sandwich shop in San Martín. There he discovered the magic of cooking for people.
He returns to that childhood marked by feeding his brothers. “For me, cooking went from being an obligation to a passion,” she defined.
“The same bosses from the sandwich shop took me to another location they had in Tres Cerritos. They took me to a pizzeria and there I started from the lowest position. I was a glass washer, an assistant, a potato peeler, until I started to get my hands on the dough,” he laughs. “There I began to experience the passion for pizza and I began to perfect myself. Then I moved to another pizzeria in Moldes and Alvarado. I was already a well-known pizza master,” she said.
But the work of the salaryman was not for Horacio. He was faced with something that made him uncomfortable. He wanted to work for himself and knew that he already had the conditions to open his own pizzeria. He just lacked the capital.
He returns to childhood and rebuilds himself.
“I didn’t have any money, but I thought that with money anyone could start a business. I told my bosses that I was going to start my own business. So I started walking around the street. At that time I found a man in Peche Miter who He sold me the oven without a peso in advance. I went, I talked to him and I told him with all my confidence that I was going to set up my place, that I was going to do well and that I would pay him. That’s how he gave me the oven, a freezer and a refrigerator. “he recalled.
He also appreciated his in-laws Víctor and Griselda who made the allowance for the kneading dough. Jesús Rios, a tata he has, rented him the first place in Villa San Antonio, at 700 Delfín Leguizamón Street. It was a small place with an unfavorable location. Friend Raúl Paredes went out to distribute serials and at the inauguration he had to amass more because he sold everything. This is how the already famous pizzeria “Pizza Pizza” began.
The place, over time, became too small for him and he went out to look for a bigger space. On Independencia Avenue, corner of La Florida, there was a place that was in all areas and that failed in all of them. The last business was a motorcycle workshop that left the property in misery full of grease and peeling everywhere.
So it was that the troop of friends began to work on cleaning, as they were already accustomed to challenges, to start everything from nothing. They demolished a part, they learned at noon how to put durlock and in less than 2 months the move to Independencia took place, where it operates to this day.
Always with the same amount of sales, Chuychuy says: “Although this area is disqualified, poorly labeled as an area of drugs, prostitution and crime, I found here the best neighbors I ever had. They are excellent people and it is a neighborhood that I love.” said the pizza man.
To have an idea of how it became embedded in the neighborhood, it should be mentioned that there they formed the famous “Independence Commission” made up of housewives, merchants, police officers and various workers on the avenue. In 2014 they organized the first children’s parade. In 2015 they organized the first July 9 parade. In 2016 they began to present the award to the Outstanding Teacher called “María Elsa Aguirre”. In 2022 they gave an award to the outstanding student. They also carry out the May 25 parade. The entire organization is from the Independence Commission.
What you search
“What do I want for the future? For more kids to go out and take on the world on their own. We are working for that from the Commission. We are close to being old and new generations of neighborhood managers have to come. And I will continue in the pizzeria doing what I like. My children are grown and now I enjoy my grandson Alexis. The only thing I need is to go back to university to study Protocol and Ceremonial, for pleasure. How long will I continue cooking? give your hands to knead,” he said.
