The second edition of the Arla Malta Pizza Challenge seeks to award the top local pizzaiolo by bringing together a number of pizzaioli to compete in a culinary showdown of technique, skill, style and creativity.

The competition, consisting of a junior group and a separate group for professionals, will take place between today and tomorrow at Melita Gardens in Balzan, with a reception and presentation ceremony on Monday at the same venue.

Contestants will be given 20 minutes to impress the judges with two pizzas each: a margherita and a mystery pizza.

The mystery pizza will provide the participants with the opportunity to combine the traditional principles of pizza baking with their own creative taste combinations based on ingredients revealed on the day of competition.

A panel of three international judges will assess and score each step in the pizza-making process.

This includes the preparation, baking, taste, visual presentation, creativity and even the overall hygiene of the contestants’ workstations.

This year’s competition will be bigger and better, with great prizes lined up for the top three winners from the professional group, as well as the main ITS winner.

The winner of the senior category will get an all-expenses-paid professional pizza course at the Accademia Pizzaioli in Italy while the runner-up will win an all- expenses-paid full-day course with Master Chef Antonino Esposito in Italy.

• For more information call 2385 0700 or visit www.applecorefoods.com.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.