Ready … Set …PIZZA DOUGH!

By Kim Hall

            Peter Fiorino, co-owner of New York Pizza World in Kissimmee, has earned a place on the U.S. Pizza Team, an accomplishment that is sending him to the 2007 World Pizza Championship in Italy. He earned his spot by stretching an 18-ounce dough ball to just over 47 inches in diameter in September at the Orlando Pizza Show, the largest foodservice event in the southeast this year.

            “There is a technique to making the pizza as big as possible; you have to make the middle as thin as you can first,” Fiorino said. “It’s very important to be gentle. My dough was so thin you could see through it.”

            Contestants were given a total of five minutes to stretch their dough balls in the air, on tables and on the floor. The key to stretching is not to make any holes in the dough. If there are holes bigger than a quarter, the dough is disqualified. Judges then measure the dough in two directions and average out the diameters. Fiorino made his dough almost completely round, a nearly impossible feat with dough stretched this size.

            “He didn’t believe he could do it,” Fiorino’s wife, Paz, said. “He didn’t think he was good enough.”

            New York Pizza World Manager Stuart Polanski kept trying to get Fiorino to participate in the event, but it was Paz who was finally able to convince her husband to enter.

            “It was the first time he tried, and now he’s going to the world competition!” she said.

            Only three people, including Fiorino, were selected from the Orlando Pizza Show to join the U.S. Pizza Team. Besides the dough stretch, contestants participated in a competition to make five small pizzas as fast as they could and a competition for pizza acrobatics. Fiorino suspects he will be participating in one of these other events, as well, when he goes to the championship. Additional team members will be selected at other pizza shows held in New York and Las Vegas.

            Fiorino’s dough stretch won him a gold medal, and he is hopeful that he can be an effective team member in Italy. The world record for dough stretching is 52 inches, not much higher than the 47 inches Fiorino did at his first competition.

            “Hopefully, we’ll bring some medals back from Italy, too,” Fiorino said. 

            Fiorino’s wife and their two children, Mia and Nicholas, will be joining Fiorino in Italy to cheer him on. More than 20 countries will be sending teams to the 17th Annual World Pizza Championship. Before going, it is likely the U.S. Pizza Team will call on Fiorino for other duties. In the past, the team has been featured on the Food Network and ESPN, as well as shows like Paula’s Party, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart and Oprah. Additional spectators interested in joining the U.S. Pizza Team in Italy and at other pizza related events can visit the team’s Web site at www.uspizzateam.com.

            Everyone at New York Pizza World is extremely proud to have Fiorino representing their business in the championship. Since 1986, New York Pizza World has been a family-run business in Kissimmee, with Fiorino joining in partnership with his father, Giulio Fiorino, 11 years ago. They try to employ mainly close friends and family members, including Fiorino, his wife, father, mother and sister. Even their daughter, Mia, plays hostess from time to time. Fiorino’s cousin, Charlie Lobosco, another family employee, really believes Fiorino deserves to go to the championship.

            “Peter’s great,” Lobosco said. “He’s the number one pizza maker in the world.”

            When Fiorino joined the business, his father gave him one week to learn how to make pizza. Now, Fiorino is so good at what he does, he actually has a clientele that requests pizzas made only by him.

            “I want them to be happy every time,” he said. “New York style pizza is just hand-tossed pizza. I tell them I guarantee my pizza. We make the dough, sauce and rolls – everything – everyday. Whole milk cheese, everything makes a difference in the pizza.”

            To have a personalized pizza made by Fiorino and to wish him luck at the championship in Italy next spring, visit New York Pizza World at 7531 Highway 192 in Kissimmee, or call him at 407-390-9664.