Sangrigoli was in Riyadh as a guest chef recently at the city’s hip Italian restaurant, La Cucina, located in the Al Faisaliah Hotel South where he demonstrated his unique flair. The 10-day pizza extravaganza, which began on May 28, continues until June 6. Sangrigoli’s visit to Riyadh also includes a number of workshops for a variety of groups keen to learn the art of creating the perfect pizza — from eager schoolchildren to high profile women’s associations in the city. 
The demonstration on May 29 at La Cucina was an experience to remember. Sangrigoli, flamboyant and cheerful as only an Italian could be, welcomed the chance to present a lecture-demonstration of his skill in pizza making. He demonstrated his intricate and deep knowledge of food by helping all understand why and how the ingredients are chosen to make the perfect pizza, the resting time given for the yeast in the dough to grow and show its magic and then the art of selecting the toppings, which bring out the flavor of every ingredient without smothering it with cheese.
That a thin crust pizza with unassuming toppings such as eggplant, zucchini and a little sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and lemon peel could bring out such beautiful flavor could only be possible in the hands of a master chef. Sangrigoli is a three time World Pizza Champion in Speed and Quality Baking and is the first competitor in pizza history to win both acrobatic and baking titles in Italy's Championships. A certified master from the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli, Sangrigoli was also the European Champion at the 2006 World Pizza Cup in Barcelona. His mastery does not end just here, however. He was inducted into the Guinness Book of World records for making 504 Pizzas in 103 minutes!
After spending the better part of his years in the food industry, Sangrigoli has now taken up the job of teaching aspiring students the art of pizza making. At his training school and consultancy in Thailand, students get certified in Classic Italian Pizza making, Pizza Acrobatics and Pizza in Teglia (Pan Pizza). For all these courses, they work hands on and really dissect the fundamental theory of dough and pizza, learn wood firing and electric oven skills and prepare authentic sauce recipes.
The certifications come directly from Italy and the course is available several times a year. Special non-professional courses are also available for home chefs.
“The importance of our courses is to highlight the history, quality and authenticity of pizza making and to make our students understand the importance of our studies, ingredients, recipes and equipment used throughout the course," says Sangrigoli.
Sangrigoli comes across as a very friendly, easily approachable and amiable person, but that exterior hides a dedicated and disciplined Italian man who is very proud of his culture and cuisine. He believes that pizza is the only food everyone likes — no matter what nationality, creed and age. “Even if you are vegetarian or don’t like gluten, I will make you a pizza. The possibilities are endless,” he says.
“I have started making pizza at the early age of four, when I watched my grandmother mix the dough with her strong fists,” says Sangrigoli. This interest gradually turned into a passion and thus began his lifelong association with the mysterious round ball of dough. It became his mission to showcase, around the world, the authenticity and purity of the original pizza.
“I am not a modern cook, I am more of a classic chef,” he explains in his simple manner. “People who make pizza dough in an hour and then bake them in an oven with unimaginative toppings and kilos of cheese, are actually killing pizza. That is how we fall sick when we have pizza from a fast-food restaurant. The yeast inside the dough does not get enough time to multiply and work on the flour, so when it goes to our stomach, we feel heavy and bloated. The real pizza dough should be given 24 hours to expand and undergo all its chemical reactions. Only then, is it ready to be baked and eaten.”
The intrinsic food researcher in Sangrigoli comes to the fore when he starts talking about food culture. “Italian kitchen is very healthy. People in remote towns and villages live for very long. This is because we follow a technique for cooking. Like the Indians and Japanese who also live long, our cuisine is very scientific and has a lot of age-old wisdom as well. But then, it has to suit the palate of the person depending on where he comes from. For example, a man growing up in the Mediterranean will easily digest any form of olive oil, but a north European or a German who is brought up on butter will find it hard to digest. For him, only extra virgin olive oil will do,” he adds.
It is hard to believe but Sangrigoli seemed very comfortable spinning pizza high over his head as he talked. “I find it easy to move the pizza than to move myself,” he jokes.
His demonstration was liberally interspersed with lots of tips and suggestions that everyone found to be of immense value. He spoke of the use of salt to bring the temperature of the oven down, the proportion of olive oil to that of the flour during dough-making, using a light sprinkling of olive oil instead of cheese, and most importantly, the role of yeast in pizza making.
Sangrigoli comes from Sicily, and when there’s a Sicilian, can seafood be far behind? The pizza he took out of the oven with squid, mussels and shrimp topping drew a gasp of admiration from all present. He had just put a few drops of olive oil on it. It was easy to understand why he shudders in distaste at the way a seafood pizza is loaded with layers of cheese in popular restaurants these days. In his words, “it kills the pizza.”
He believes in simplicity. He feels that is where the authenticity lies. That is perhaps the reason he prepares all the sauces he uses. Sangrigoli described a strange experience in Abu Dhabi, which took place not so long ago:
“The head chef came to the kitchen and asked me to come out immediately and meet a diner. I went to the table fearing the worst and found the man crying. He said the tomato sauce reminded him so much of his mother. She was an Italian lady and made these real sauces at home.”
One hopes that his kind of pizzas will soon catch up with the population and it would cease to be just another form of “junk” food that needs to be avoided. A little bit of imagination, a little knowledge of technique and loads of passion can go a long way in reviving an age-old favorite like the pizza.
Sangrigoli’s stint at La Cucina was his first foray into the Kingdom, but the keenness with which his demonstrations were being attended seems to suggest that it won’t be his last.