Australia takes world pizza crownNovember 04, 2004

AUSTRALIA today can boast being home to the best gourmet pizza in the world, after taking on the rest of the globe at the America's Plate competition in New York, and coming out on top.The double team of Theo Kalogeracos from Mundaring in WA, and Andy Parisi of La Trattoria restaurant in Adelaide, concocted a bewildering array of recipes to beat the best of the rest, including teams from Italy, the US, France and New Zealand.
The America's Plate competition – known as the America's Cup of pizza – has been traditionally held for more than a century between Italy and America, but for the first time this year other countries were allowed to enter.
Held at the inaugural New York Pizza Show, the Australian pair cooked up an Oyster Kilpatrick Pizza, a chocolate pizza known as Mud Honey and a pizza based on the traditional American desert Pecan Pie to take out the prize.
Mr Kalogeracos, who runs the Little Caesar's restaurant in Mundaring, 30km east of Perth, said fresh ingredients as used in Australia were the key to their victory.

"I think the difference in Australia is that we really rely on fresh ingredients. Over here, no offence meant, but the New York pizzas are terrible," Mr Kalogeracos told ABC radio in Perth.
"They are nothing compared to what we do. They fold them in half and oil dribbles out of them – if I served that in my shop, I wouldn't make any money like that.
"We don't realise how lucky we are in Australia to get fresh produce at a really good price."
Each contender won a national gourmet pizza contest in their home country to qualify, with Mr Kalogeracos having been crowned Australia's national champion for the previous three years and Mr Parisi taking the latest title this year.
Despite being crowned one of the best pizza makers on the planet, Mr Kalogeracos says he has no intention of moving away from the relatively sleepy suburb of Mundaring.
"I've been in Mundaring nine years and I don't think I will be going anywhere else," he said.