A British chef fears he has been sabotaged by rivals who may have stolen his olive oil after he placed last out of 429 contestants at the World Pizza Championship in Italy.
Danny Child, 31, from Norfolk took part in the competition in the Italian city of Parma earlier this year.
The pizza maker noticed 15 minutes before the competition started that his olive oil had disappeared and he froze while the other chefs around him were busy preparing for the competition.
He told a reporter: “We’ve had a bit of an incident,” before asking him to fetch some oil from a vendor at the nearby fair, the Financial Times reports.
She set up her station by putting all her ingredients in the fridge, but left her olive oil on the counter, only to realize it was gone shortly after.
Danny Child (pictured), 31, from Norfolk, attended the World Pizza Championship in the Italian city of Parma earlier this year.
The pizza man noticed 15 minutes before the competition began that his olive oil had disappeared and sent a journalist to look for it from a vendor at the nearby fair.
Child said another competitor had warned him to avoid being the victim of foul play by never leaving his ingredients unattended.
The competition, where 429 chefs came together to find out who makes the best pizza, is prestigious and whoever places in the first places can turn their pizzeria into a destination for fans of the Italian dish.
The British electrician-turned-chef, who quit his job during the pandemic to open a pizzeria with his wife Lucy, wanted to experiment with a new recipe in the competition, using beer and honey on his pizza, which the judges “probably did.” . not appreciate,’ he wrote on social media after the event.
He said: ‘On second thought, I’m licking my wounds a bit. There were so many factors at play that I really hadn’t anticipated.’
He also ran into other hiccups at the event, such as the oven not being hot enough, not having a paddle to theme his pizza, and wearing black instead of the chef’s whites, which resulted in him presenting his creation to the judges while his jeans were stained with flour.
After coming in last, Mr Child said he was ‘gutted’ but admitted the Italian chefs he was up against ‘killed them all’: ‘I threw myself some pizza, saw those guys and then I I went to drink beer and sulk. They are so good,” he told the Financial Times.
He opened his pizza van in Norfolk after the pandemic shut down construction, which was so successful that he expanded it to a full restaurant in August.
After coming in last, Mr Child said he was ‘gutted’ but admitted the Italian chefs he was up against ‘killed them all’: ‘I threw myself some pizza, saw those guys and then I I went to drink beer and sulk. they are so good’
The British electrician-turned-chef, who quit his job in the pandemic to open a pizzeria with his wife Lucy, wanted to try out a new recipe in the competition, using beer and honey on his pizza.
When he told his social media followers that he had lost and vowed to return in 2024, they were overflowing with sympathy and congratulating him for participating, with many telling him how good his pizzas are.
He opened his pizza van in Norfolk after the pandemic shut down construction, and it was so successful that he expanded it to a full restaurant in August.
Despite his failure in the competition against mainly Italian chefs, Mr Child is determined not to give up and said he can understand why the judges rated him so low due to ‘walking around in jeans covered in flour’.
He also said the language barrier was a problem, as he couldn’t tell the judges what was in his money when they asked.
But the event and the other pizza joints in Parma have inspired the British chef to ‘add and change’ his menu, writing on social media: ‘Better prepare for next time. Be more confident in what you wanted to do and not change it at the last minute.
“I feel bad about it overall, but I feel like we’ll be twice as many competitors next time.”
When he told his social media followers that he had lost and vowed to return in 2024, they were overflowing with sympathy and congratulating him for participating, with many telling him how good his pizzas are.
I am Rakesh Sharma, I associated with Elite News as an Editor, since 2021. I take care of all the news operations like content, budget, hiring and policy making.