Pizzeria Purezza has claimed a sensational first ever vegan victory at the World Pizza Championships, coming away as an emphatic winner of the Pizza Classica category.

The Campionato Mondiale Della Pizza, held in Parma, Italy, featured the world’s best pizzas from across the globe.

Vegan company Purezza, which has sites in Brighton and London, UK, fought off competition from 6,500 classic dairy opponents to claim a top prize.

The competition has been running since 1991 and attracts entries from independent pizzerias from around the world.

Purezza, which has restaurants in Brighton and London, is the first vegan pizzeria to compete in the competition, and therefore the first vegan winner.

The Pizza Classica category is for traditional Italian style pizzas, baked with wood fired ovens similar to those found in Naples.

Competitors have up to 12 minutes to prepare and cook their pizzas using pre-selected ingredients, before presenting it to the judges. The judges proceeded to select a small number of winners.

The Promised Land

Purezza’s entry was titled The Promised Land. It uses an IPA-infused whole grain pizza dough, topped with stir-fried cavolo nero, Italian-style marinated tempeh, pioppini mushrooms, and a borlotti bean sauce.

It uses two different cheeses – Purezza’s own signature vegan cheese, dubbed Mozzarella 2.0, which acts and tastes just like dairy mozzarella but is allergen-free and contains half the fat, and a fermented cashew cheese with sun-dried cruschi peppers.

The pizza was finished with a garnish of ginger puree, agave syrup, and a vegan caviar.

Gold Standard

Purezza’s head chef, Filippo Rosato, who cooked for the judges said: “The Campionato Mondiale Della Pizza is the gold standard of awards for pizzerias and pizza chefs around the world.

“It’s the competition that every pizzaiolo aspires to compete in. To even be there as the first vegan pizzeria was an incredible experience, but to have come away with one of the awards for the Pizza Classica category is more than I could ever have hoped for, and shows that vegan pizza isn’t just possible–it’s the future.”

This award joins several others that Purezza won in 2018, including the National Pizza of the Year in the UK, where Purezza beat 15 of the UK’s best pizzerias with their Parmigiana Party pizza, and also the PizzAward 2018 in Naples for the Best International Pizza.

What do you think of Purezza’s award? Tell us in the comments section below!

Oli Gross

Oli’s career and personal ethical values both help shape his reporting of the diverse world of veganism. His background is in local newspaper and magazine journalism, and his work has included reporting court cases, celebrity interviews, business analysis, food and drink features and government legislation.

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