I was recently invited by the Asociatia Culturala Euro-Est Alternativ (The Romanian Pizza Association) to attend the International Pizza & Pasta Championship in Bucharest, Romania, from March 11 to 13, 2018.

My mission was to represent the Bulgarian Association Pizzaioli on the judging panel and help select this year's winner. 

The level of the pizza chefs, in general, these days is very high.

A great number of countries took part in the competition, including Canada, Japan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Serbia, etc. There was so much creativity and innovation, as well as some great presentations and tastes.

We started with a slow-cooked rabbit pizza on beet root-colored dough and made it through to charcoal dough topped with 23.5 carat pure gold flakes.

The Bulgarian pizza chefs came out strong, all finishing with medals. Romanian chefs also won some awards, but the real glory goes to Canada, whose representatives won gold in a few different categories. It was a great experience at a well-organized competition and I am looking forward to the next time.