Facundo Pomponio knew the Neapolitan pizza during a trip to Italy, although I didn’t know it at the time. He only had the memory of a delicious pizza, different from the ones he used to eat in Argentina. It was only when he went to dinner at a City Bell restaurant, Paesano, that it clicked and he was able to give it a name. Soon, almost on a whim, he decided dedicate your days and nights to your new love. She locked herself in the kitchen, set up a small restaurant in her house. Berazategui and now he traveled to Naples to certify as pizzaiolo and compete in a world championship.
“The main difference with Buenos Aires pizza It is in the dough, light, alveolate and light, which leaves you with a more subtle, more gourmet pizza– he said to TN Pomponius. “You can eat two and then you can run as soon as possible,†highlighted the former gymnastics teacher and marathon runner.
Read also: The story of MasterChef’s “heavy pastaâ€: now he conquers Palermo with his surubà tortelli
For the dough, Pomponio uses a mixture of three types of flour with high strength, high hydration, and a twenty-four-hour fermentation. Also carefully select the main ingredients: tomatoes, olive oil, fior di latte or buffala mozzarella and good quality burrata.
“The vera napoletana pizza it’s an art «That depends not only on the raw material, the oven, and respect for the processes, the main ingredient is passion,» said the man from Berazategua, who was fascinated by the rituals and gestures of the pizza makers, such as turning the dough in the oven. air, stretch it, and see how the edges rise in the oven.
As a true passionate, Pomponio seeks to convey his love for Neapolitan pizza, its culture, so that customers «sharpen their senses and understand it step by step.»
The beginnings of Pomponius were pure trial and error. “I started in 2019. I bought two kilos of flour, two kilos of tomatoes and I took the plunge,†he said. One night he prepared 15 pizzas for 15 friends. “They tasted good, but the shape was a disaster.†the pizza maker recalled with a laugh.
The feedback from his loved ones was positive and he decided to create an Instagram account to promote his creations. She put him Michellein tribute to his father, Michelangelo, who died in 2018. A way to remember him and connect with his ancestors from Piedmont and Abruzzo.
A barbecue area with an oven and a table in the family house served as a pizzeria. At first, Michele opened its doors every 15 days, but thanks to word of mouth the frequency increased and, After a year, he permanently stopped teaching physical education classes.
Read also: Pablo Piñata, the bartender who led the best bar in the ’90s and reinvented himself with the first «listening bar»
To perfect himself, Pomponio volunteered to work in one of the few Neapolitan pizzerias that existed at that time. But the answer was not what he expected: â € œThey cut me off and told me: «No, I’ll learn at your house.»â€ . That obsessed him even more and Pomponius took advantage of a trip to Italy with his nonna to train with pizza masters at the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, at the Accademia della Pizza DOC and in some pizzerias in Naples and Salerno.
When he returned to Argentina, the coronavirus pandemic broke out and although he was convinced that Neapolitan pizza, which cooks in just 90 seconds in a 450°C oven, “you have to eat it on the spot to preserve the flavor,” he opted for delivery “so as not to throw away the merchandise.” First, shipments were made on Thursdays and Sundays. A few years later, demand forced him to do it from Wednesday to Sunday.
“That was when I learned the most about pizza, how to perfect the dough, which is very difficult to handle,†Pomponio explained.
Bet on the neighborhood
When restrictions eased, he put more tables on the patio and soon saw them filling up. The place was already too small and there were two paths open to him: go to the center of Berazategui or Quilmes or bet on the neighborhood.
Facundo opted for the second route and in Sourigues built a 150 square meter premises, with a Neapolitan oven that he made himself following the advice given to him by a Chilean friend, Pato, video call. For Neapolitan pizza, the oven is key, since the traditional Neapolitan oven allows make three types of cooking at the same timewith fire, convection and conduction.
“In Italy, good pizzerias are in the towns«That’s why I didn’t want to leave the neighborhood,» he said. Pomponius also states that The best way to eat a Neapolitan pizza is “well folded and with your hand” to «enjoy it more» since that’s how it feels with taste, smell and also touch.
Read also: The last shoe shine salon in Buenos Aires turns 100 years old: a unique “time capsule†for one dollar
To make his gastronomic dream come true, the last four years were a lot of sacrifice. Pomponio lived almost confined there. “I missed many birthdays«I stopped going out at night,» explained the father of three children.
The focus was always on making Michele grow and that is why he is more than grateful to his family, who supported him at all times. In his networks he also never fails to remember “the love of the two nonnas, Ester and Irma” who instilled in him “the passion and respect for Italian culture and work.”
Now, the pizzaiolo traveled to Naples To try to get certification that the AVPN grants to Neapolitan pizzerias. For this, very rigorous requirements must be met. “It was a two-year process, in which I sent them videos about how I worked. You also have to do training, they evaluate you in Naples and, if you do things well, they certify you as a pizzaiolo,†he explained.
To form Michele’s team, Pomponio decided to hire all young people with no experience, a way to become a teacher again. “I put it in my head that I wanted guys who don’t know how to do anything. I started with one and it turned out well, then another, and so on… Now there are about 15 that they learned everything from scratch and if it were not for the equipment I have, it would not be possible to go on a trip,†he highlighted.
The certification is not the only thing that Facundo went to Naples to look for. The pizza maker and athlete will also represent Argentina, Michele and Berazategui in it 21st world championship by pizzaiolo which is organized by the Caputo flour brand from June 17 to 19, one of the largest events of its kind in Italy, with the dream that “Michele is internationally recognized†.