The Real California Pizza Contest Tournament of Champions foodservice competition is just one opportunity the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) creates for operators to shine a spotlight on dairy. The organization recently named Chef Leah Scurto as the Grand Prize winner of the event.
Chef Scurto, Owner of PizzaLeah, won for her interpretation of the REAL Californian pizza, The Nut-torius F.I.G. She will receive an all-expense paid trip to Italy to compete as a CMAB-sponsored chef in the 2024 Caputo Cup Pizza Competition.
The Nut-torius F.I.G. features Real California Mozzarella, Fontina, and Feta cheeses to balance fresh black mission figs, crispy Italian sausage, minced garlic, and olive oil. It is topped with raw chopped almonds and aromatic julienned sage leaves.
“California is the nation’s No. 1 producer of milk and Mozzarella, so the pizza industry is very important to our business,” commented John Talbot, the Chief Executive Officer of the CMAB. “We are committed to remaining national leaders in producing dairy products that pizza chefs trust nationwide.”
Scurto is a two-time Real California Pizza Contest Champion, winning the REAL Californian category in 2021 and the Plant-Forward category in 2022. The nine other returning champions each received $1,000 for their participation, a press release noted.
Mike Gallagher, Business and Market Development Consultant, also commented on this exciting announcement.
“We are always impressed with the vision and creativity of our chef community, and this was no exception. While we crowned one Real California Pizza Grand Champion, each returning champion brought a unique lens to their interpretation of a pizza representative of the Golden State,” said Gallagher. “Ultimately, California cheese and dairy products are the real winner in this showcase of how they taste and perform with some of the state’s most iconic ingredients.”
The competition, which was held at the Culinary Institute of America’s (CIA) Copia campus, was judged by a distinguished panel of pizza experts including 13-time World Pizza Champion and owner of 22 culinary concepts, Tony Gemignani; certified pizzaiolo and award-winning executive chef Glenn Cybulski; and award-winning Pizzaiola and 2019 Caputo Cup Champion Laura Meyer.
For more on this big win, check out the press release here.
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