The most delicious mozzarella pizza in the world is in Salta and is from chef Félix Arturo Sandoval, one of the three people from Salta who went to compete in the Pizza and Empanada World Cup that took place in Buenos Aires.
Felix, who had already participated in 2022 and took 5th place in this category and 3rd place in empanadas, this time became champion among hundreds of participants.
“They told me I made a perfect pizza, it had a good base and it was even on all sides. The score was 10/10,” he told El Tribuno.
The champion told every detail of the preparation of his pizza: it was aged for 36 hours, with a hydration of 45%. On top I put their tomato sauce, mozzarella, a chimichurri prepared with 50% sunflower oil, 50% olive oil and seasoned it with ground chili, pepper, rosemary and paprika.
He also said that there they were given the necessary tools to make the pizzas, except for the ingredients, which they spent two days before looking for everything they needed to prepare them. “We had 20 minutes to prepare the pizza and present it to the three jurors,” said Félix.
13 years in the ovens
“I have been a pizza maker for 13 years and I handle different types of dough: Neapolitan, mold and stone,” said the pizza maker who represents the firm “Il forno di Hugo”, a location located between Ituzaingó and Rioja.
Felix comes from a string of participations in major competitions. Since 2019, he has collected several awards for his pizza and empanada recipes. “For me, being champion and representing my province is the most beautiful thing there is,” he expressed.
“I started as a dishwasher”
“I have been a chef for 20 years, I have always liked cooking and I am the only one in the family who is a gastronomic worker. I started out of necessity in the field, as a dishwasher and from there I moved up little by little and that led me to become more professional each time. more,” the chef recalled his beginnings.
Guinness Record for pizzas
Felix also said that in 2019 he obtained a Guinness Record with the Association of Pizzerias and Empanada Houses: they made 11,287 pizzas in 12 hours and 11,472 empanadas in 8 hours.
