Third Place, Autumnal Velvet

Pizza with tomato and mozzarella has long been the food most firmly associated with Naples. Until around twenty-five years ago, it was nearly impossible to find on a menu north of Rome. Thus, at first the jury's verdict might seem at the very least unexpected, if not outright revolutionary or heretical.

    Angelo Conforti, center, and staff

Third prize for 2002 went to a strong and silent Calabria-born Piemontese: Angelo Conforti — Pizzeria "La Casita", Piazza Vittorio Veneto 1, Borgaretto di Beinasco, (Torino), tel. 011-39-011-2589944, closed Tuesday. He garnished his "Autumnal Velvet" with truffles, porcini mushrooms, capriolo and Castelmagno cheese.

    Runner-up, "La Cima Bianca"

The runner-up was gregarious Pugliese, Leonardo Todisco — Pizzeria Poquito Mas, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 5, 70052 Bisceglie (Bari), cellphone 338-4695151. His toppings for " La Cima Bianca " or "White Summit" were turnips greens, sausages, tomato, ricotta, and Alta Murgia cheese.

Leonardo Todisco, left, and staff

  The winner and National Champion was a self-effacing, youthful Ligurian grandmother, Anna Maria Garoscio, one of only two female contestants. Her Tavernetta " La Rampa " is located in Via Barberis Colomba, 18035 Dolceacqua, (Imperia), tel. 011-39-0184-206198, closed Monday. She garnished her "Dolce Elba" with purée of watercress, pesto, valeriana, pine-nuts, and black olives.

 National Champion: Anna Maria Garoscio

  This first ever Pizza competition in Italy confirms recent statistics: pizza, popular in the USA since the end of the Second World War and then gradually worldwide, has finally gained national recognition in Italy. Second only in popularity to their beloved pasta, Italians eat more than 2.5 billion pizzas a year, more than 45 per person, in over 38,000 pizzerie for a profit of over 6.3 billion dollars. To accomplish this, according to CIA - La Confederazione italiana agricoltori (The Federation of Italian Farmers), every year Italy's pizzaioli consume 7,500 tons of olive oil, 90,000 tons of mozzarella, 45,000 tons of tomatoes ( San Marzano, Pachino , and Ciliegino ), 135,000 tons of flour, and 300,000,000 basil leaves.

    The Winning Pizza: Anna Maria Garoscio's "Dolce Elba"

"Every year Italians are eating more and more pizzas," explained Duvilio Nardi, secretary of NIP and, with his sister Fabiola owner of the "Pizzeria del Corso" on Corso della Repubblica in Forlì, tel. 011-39-0543-32674. "They used to eat only the "classics": la margherita, la marinara, ai funghi, ai quattro formaggi, and la capricciosa , to name a few. Now, in keeping with the finalists' and winners' pizzas, my fellow pizzaioli and my clients have much more imagination and choose their own toppings. On our most popular pizza, " Fabiola Uno " they are tomato, pineapple, crustaceans, and mushrooms."

In alphabetical order by region, Elba's other sixteen finalists were:

Abruzzo: "Peter Pan", Piazza della Repubblica 6, Magliano dei Marsi, (L'Aquila), cell. 338-7447076

Basilicata: "Da Clemente", SS 481, Monticchio Bagni, (Potenza)

Calabria: "Graticcio", Piazza Dante, Rossano Scalo, (Cosenza), tel. -0983-510605

Campania: "La Pagliarella", Via Panoramica, Castellammare di Stabia, tel. -081-8026896

Emilia-Romagna: "Pizzeria Maté, Via Leonardo da Vinci 3, Castelfranco Emilia, (Modena)

Friuli: "Piazza Italia", Via Cotonificio 22, Matignacco (Udine), cell; 347-2934993

Latium: "Margò", Viale Regina Margherita 168, tel. -06-8841224

Lombardy: "La Corte di Re Artù", Viale Umbria 21, Milano

Marche: "La Ruota", Via Barbarigo 62012, Civitanova Marche, (Ancona), tel. -0733-702773

Molise: "Oasi di Nazzaro", San Nazzaro, (Isernia), tel. -0865-493856

Sardinia: "Lo Spiedino d'Ogliastra", Via Zinnias 23, Tortoli, (Nuoro)

Sicily: "Faro", Via Puccini 29, Canicatti, (Agrigento), tel. -0922-852550

Trentino-Alto Adige: "Maso della Pieve", Via Maso Pieve, Bolzano, tel. 0471-258197

Tuscany: "Antica Trattoria", Piazza Signorelli 30, Cortona, (Arezzo), tel. 0575-631191

Umbria: "La Casetta", Via Aroldo Pedini 9, Castel del Piano Umbro, (Perugia)

Valle d'Aosta: "Pizzeria Moderno", Via Eduard Aubert 21, Aosta, tel. 0165-35669

Veneto: "Meridiana", Via Milano 7, S. Maria di Sala (Venezia), 041-5760084.

About the author:

A former editor at the American Academy in Rome (1970-1980) and consultant for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (1981-1986), Lucy Gordan has been a member of Associazione della Stampa Estera in Italia (Foreign Press Association) since 1988. Besides Bookdealer, She is a regular contributor to United's Hemispheres, EgyptAir's Horus, Food & Beverage International, Travel World Interntional, Epicurean Traveler, and La Madia.

Lucy is EWNB's Rome Bureau Chief and a member of IFW&TWA (International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association). Her free-lance articles have appeared in Art & Antiques, The Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News, The New York Observer, The European, Denver Post, Cucina italiana (the English edition), Qantas's Australian Way, Book, Antiquarian Book Monthly, Gulf Air's Golden Falcon and Bahrain Gateway, Singapore Airlines' SilverKris, US Air's Attaché, Sabena's Passport, Diversion, Europe, Travel Agent Magazine, Period Living and Traditional Homes, Delta's Sky, There, Wilson Library Bulletin, and Biblio. In 1997 Italica Press in New York City published Sparrow, her translation of Giovanni Verga's first successful novel.