Aspiring pizza chefs on the East Coast no longer have to travel halfway across the country—or even all the way to the Pacific Coast—to earn certification by Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli (SIP) since the renowned school recently opened a location in Miami.
Stefano Carniato, owner of Piola and P.Pole Pizza in Miami, oversees the prestigious Italian school’s Miami campus, which opened last month at 4421 NW Seventh Avenue. “The goal is to provide budding pizzaioli in South Florida with the skills needed to qualify for entry-level pizza baking jobs—and perhaps eventually go on to open their own pizzerias,” Carniato told the New Miami Times.
Founded in 1988 in Venice, SIP has trained more than 14,500 pizza makers from across the world. The Miami campus began offering its second course on Monday, February 17, after its inaugural class members earned their certifications on January 24.
In Chicago, the North American Pizza and Culinary Academy offers instruction from SIP’s curriculum led by Anthony Iannone, while Will Grant teaches the coursework at the Pacific Northwest School of Pizza in Seattle.
In Miami, the five-day Professional Pizzaiolo 1st Level course costs $2,500. The next dates for classes are March 17-21, April 7-11 and May 12-16.
The class includes 10 hours of theory and 30 hours of hands-on practice. The theory portion covers the main cereals and their differences; the chemical and physical characteristics of flours; water and temperature; the action of yeasts; the importance of salt and oil; tools like mixers, ovens and refrigerators; and the different types of pizza ovens and how they operate.In the practice section of the course, students learn how to prepare and manage dough; divide and shape dough balls; manipulate and stretch the dough; management of refrigerated dough controls; various stretching techniques; and oven management and baking at different temperatures.
Other SIP courses include gluten-free pizza, Neapolitan pizza, and Pizza en Pala and Roman-style pizza.
