Italy bakes the world's longest pizza at Expo
The World's Fair returns to Milan after a century
21 Jun 2015, 17:17 GMT
In 2015, for the second time, the World's Fair is taking place in Milan. It returns after a century away – the Northern Italian city hosted the international event for the first time in 1906.
Today’s exposition has the same expanse the old one (2 km), but the location has shifted (from Fiera Milano to the nearby newly built Rho Pero site) and it takes a different theme: technology is replaced by nutrition.
Expo Milano 2015 was widely criticised in Italy before opening due to corruption scandals and construction delays. Nevertheless, the opening ceremony on 1 May 2015 was a great success, showing that Italians were able to build in 6 months what other countries prepare for 6 years, even if some smaller parts of the exhibition were finished later.
Here you can find the first stage of my tour of Expo Milano 2015. My journey starts from the Pavilion Zero and the host country.
Pavilion Zero
The first thing you see when entering Expo are the Food People, human figures inspired by Arcimboldo portraits, created by the famed Italian production designer Dante Ferretti.
The second one is the Pavilion Zero, with the Latin phrase: “Divinus habitus est”, a quote from Pliny the Elder that stands for “The divine earth breath”.
This pavilion was designed by the architect Michele De Lucchi and curated by Davide Rampello. It is the starting point of Expo Milano 2015, not only from a numerical, but also from a conceptual standpoint, since it provides an interpretation of the entire exhibition. The pavilion explores the relationship of humankind with the environment: the domestication of plants and animals, the industrial revolution, food exchange (see photo below) and waste, concluding with the pursuit of a balance between tradition and innovation: an implicit call for sustainable development.
Italy at Expo 2015
The main attraction is the Lake Arena, located at the Cardo, the 350-metre street that crosses the long Decumano (1500 metres). Lake Arena is dominated by the Tree of Life (Albero della Vita), a 37-metre tree at the centre of a series of fountains. In the evening, the tree is the scene of a spectacular lightshow, music and fireworks: here you have flavor of what you may see later.
The Italian Pavilion (Padiglione Italia), designed by the architect Marco Balich, occupies entirely the Cardo (see photo below). While you are on a very long queue, you can see what happens in four Italian markets. Once entered, you can visit three floors representing the Italian powers of know-how, beauty, limit and future. The main topic of the pavilion is the nursery, which indicates the nurturing of projects and talents. You can also sign the Milan Charter, which will be given to the UN at the end of the Expo 2015.
The Holy See Pavilion also represents Italy, and contains the remarkable painting “The Last Supper” by Tintoretto (1561). The pavilion shows a series of photos with the faces of hunger (e.g. discrimination, conflict, slavery). After visiting, you receive a small keepsake with an image of Pope Francis, and there is the opportunity to make a donation.
The Guinness World Records pizza
Expo Milano 2015 is also the ideal location for special events related to food.
For instance, on 14-21 June 2015 there was the International Tomato Week, whose climax was the Pizza Festival of 20 June 2015, with the official attempt to beat the Spanish record for the longest pizza in the world. As the Italian Minister of Agriculture Maurizio Martina said: “The pizza is the symbol of Italy and Italian food, an extraordinary strength”. The pizza was measured by the Guinness World Records officer Lorenzo Veltri in the presence of Giuseppe Sala, commissioner of the Italian government for Expo Milano 2015; Maurizio Martina, Italian Minister for Agriculture;Pierfrancesco Majorino, deputy mayor for social policy in Milan; Paolo Dosi, mayor of Piacenza.
Several people were involved in this event. Italian Minister of Agriculture Maurizio Martina had the idea for the record pizza and was supported by:Paola De Micheli, chairman of the International Tomato Week and Italian Undersecretary for Economy; Dovilio Nardi, president of the National team of pizza-makers (NIP); Sante Ludovico, founder and sole director of the company La Pizza +1 srl, a Piacenza company that produces pizzas and focaccias since 1996.
Here you are the numbers of the record pizza:
- 1700 kg of wheat;
- 150 kg of extra virgin olive oil;
- 30 kg of yeast;
- 1500 kg of tomatoes;
- 1700 kg of mozzarella cheese;
- 5 mobile ovens, built for the event;
- 1500 metre-long baking tins;
- 800 iron tables;
- 80 pizza makers;
- 200 supporters of the event.
Mr Ludovico (La Pizza +1 srl) explained to me: “The event was organised in May 2015, as a special project for the International Tomato Week. It was difficult to cope with health and safety of workers involved in the project and of the 150,000 visitors of Expo 2015: it was like we moved the company to Expo Milano 2015”.
Are you still wondering whether the Spanish record - 1141.5 m - was beaten?
Well, it was: the Italian pizza made in Expo was 1595.45 m long. It was given for free to Expo visitors and the rest was donated to the Italian charity Banco Alimentare Foundation, making the pizza also “a solidarity symbol”. So declared Mr Ludovico (at the centre of the above photo): announcing another record for the most popular Italian dish.
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