If you thought that you had to go all the way to Italy to try some of the best pizzas in the world, think again: a Victorian chef just took out the prize for the best pizza in Australia and the 13th best in the world. Now, instead of hopping on an 18-hour flight, you can just hop in the car and drive an hour out from the CBD.
The winner was chef Gagan Bhatnagar, the head chef at Ms Peacock, a restaurant on the lush grounds of the historic Eynesbury Homestead. It's here that Bhatnagar, who has more than 22 years of culinary experience from around the world, has been practising his pizza-making skills and perfecting his recipe.
With just a small number of ingredients and a bit of dough, Bhatnagar travelled to Parma, Italy for the three-day Campionato Mondiale della Pizza (World Pizza Championship) where he competed against more than 750 chefs from across the globe. And while he faced a few challenges, like having to adjust his dough to the climate of Parma and trying to keep it fresh in his hotel room, the result was pretty remarkable.
With his pizza de fruili, which features prosciutto di San Daniele, fior de latte cheese, stracciatella cheese, parmagiano reggiano and rucola leaves, Bhatnagar was the highest ranked Australian in the classic pizza category. He also won 13th in the world for his Roman-style pizza, featuring guanciale, crema de pecorino, fior de latte cheese and aged balsamic-glazed vine tomatoes.
If you'd like to taste the award-winning pizza for yourself, you can make a booking for Ms Peacock through the website.