Onishi went to Naples two years ago to learn the art of pizza making and now works at a pizzeria on Ischia Island, about 30 km southwest of Naples.

Big Booger wrote:... potato, corn, mayonnaise.....

Big Booger wrote:

Ajinomoto mayonnaise is the best IMHO.

GargoyleTS wrote:...do they have a Miracle-Whip equivalent? Cause....REAL MAYO SUX!!!

REAL MAYO SUX!!!

Kurofune wrote:That's not "Japanese pizza." That's proper Italian pizza made by a Japanese guy under the tutelage of an Italian pizza maker.

Taro Toporific wrote:MSG and mayonnaise in the same package.
Massive amounts of Ajinomoto MSG and poodle poo mayonnaise on my favorite food-of-the-gods, pizza. Arrrrrrrg. Truly you are an agent of Japan Inc. trying to kill me before my early retirement next July!

Snapped wrote:

Kurofune wrote:That's not "Japanese pizza." That's proper Italian pizza made by a Japanese guy under the tutelage of an Italian pizza maker.

The day Japanese pizza becomes the "best in the world" is the day hell freezes over. You can't beat real Italian pizza, and I can't eat any other kind of pizza after living in Italy.

Jack wrote:Sorry, can't stomach real Italian pizza. I prefer the American version.

Frank wrote:In Naples there's an organization called either Vera Pizza Napoletana (True Neapolitan Pizza) or "Pizza Police" whose members travel the world to find which pizzerias, in their august opinion, serve real Neapolitan pizza. Here is the list of the ten pizzerias in Japan they have approved. Please note that Japan has as many as the whole of the US.

ramchop wrote:

Frank wrote:In Naples there's an organization called either Vera Pizza Napoletana (True Neapolitan Pizza) or "Pizza Police" whose members travel the world to find which pizzerias, in their august opinion, serve real Neapolitan pizza...

GomiGirl wrote:I haven't seen a pizza vending machine around for a while.. have they all been de-commisioned?

"Would you like salmonella with your corn and mayo pizza?"

Caustic Saint wrote:Best pizza I ever had was in Chicago. Double deep dish stuffed pizza about 4cm thick. Nothing has ever compared to that.

my mother would say..." Shibuya Me! Why did you eat the last cookie before dinner?"

AssKissinger wrote:

my mother would say..." Shibuya Me! Why did you eat the last cookie before dinner?"

I'm wondering what the hell was in those cookies.

Makoto Onishi, the winner of the title of best pizza maker at the annual Naples pizza festival in 2003, busied himself kneading dough and topping pizzas with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese before welcoming hundreds of pizza lovers at Omotesando Hills, Tokyo's newly-born commercial-residential complex which opened last Saturday. About 71,000 visitors flooded to the complex on its grand opening day and many shops were jammed with people. The Italian restaurant "Trattoria & Pizzeria Zazza" on the third floor of the complex, where 30-year-old Onishi works was no exception. Many pizza aficionados were lined up in front of the pizzeria waiting to have a bite of the high-profile Onishi's freshly hand-made pizza...more...

ANSA.it wrote:
Naples, September 14 - A Japanese pizza-maker beat the best of Naples to claim the title of world's top pizzaiolo for the second time in three years .

Makoto Onishi, 31, a master chef who learned the art of true pizza on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples, outperformed pizzaioli from 24 pizzerias - most of them here in the home of pizza .

In a three-hour tasting at Naples' annual Pizzafest, a jury composed of experts and journalists judged Onishi's work to be the perfect incarnation of "real Neapolitan pizza." Onishi brings a touch of Zen to the art of pizza-making. "To make a good pizza, the chef must be free of stress," he explains .

The young man from Japan came to Italy in 2002, looking for a job in a pizza restaurant .

He says fate took him to the Da Gaetano pizzeria on Ischia, without knowing he would meet his master there .

"I arrived at Naples station and a guy who turned out to be a doctor gave me three euros, saying 'get yourself some pizza.' He must have thought I was some kind of bum" .

"Then I ran into him again and I asked him where I could learn how to make a good pizza. He told me, 'Head for Ischia'" .

Onishi proved to be a fast learner. Under Gaetano Fazio's tutelage, he quickly outgrew the homegrown talent at Ischia's famous eatery, which put him up for the 2003 Pizzafest contest .

To widespread amazement, he won .

Onishi became a Japanese media celebrity and was snapped up by a popular Neapolitan pizzeria in Tokyo, run by Naples native Salvatore Cuomo .

"He's a true artist, and as hard-working and dedicated as the day I hired him," Cuomo says .

His teacher Fazio says: "Onishi is a great lad. He's just as humble as the day he knocked on my door". In the Pizzafest competition, contestants are free to be inventive with their creations as long as they stick to the traditional ingredients .

This year's winner can flaunt the title of Neapolitan Pizzaiolo 2006 and the recipe for his award-winning creation will be reproduced in other pizzarias under the name Pizzafest 2006 .

Pizza-makers and lovers from all over the world, including Neapolitans who have rolled dough into big money in the United States, Australia and Japan, have turned up for the annual festival .

Each year, Pizzafest turns out hundreds of pizzas made by pizzaioli from all over the world .

The only qualification is that they must comply with guidelines laid down by the city's Real Neapolitan Pizza Association.