Ole Miss student Chris Green of Oxford, knows a thing or two about throwing pizza dough.
In fact, he is the tallest pizza spinner in the world. Although modest, Green proudly acknowledges that he just returned from the World Pizza Spinning Championship in Italy.
He did not do as well as last year, but said his dough was not as good as it should be. The kind of dough one uses is a vital factor in how successful one will be at spinning, he said.
“I have a special recipe that uses high gluten and high protein dough for spinning. I also use ice water that is really cold and that helps because if it’s cold, the yeast will soften the dough,” Green said.
Green stressed that he makes his own dough for competitions, but usually switches to something called throw dough for practice. He makes this change because it is easier and more efficient for practice purposes. A damp towel works just as well, Green said, because it feels like dough.
Green characterized his technique as the closed-hand technique, but not all pizza spinners find this the most effective way of spinning. Traditionally, the best pizza spinners are the Italians, who have several teams who participate in competitions, he said. They use what is known as the open-hand technique, which means that the hand is basically flat when spinning, instead of the fingers being close together, like most Americans prefer.
Many have taken notice of Green’s talent for spinning, including several morning talk shows, such as Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. He was featured on Good Morning America on Nov. 2.
While in New York, he also made appearances on ESPN’S Cold Pizza, Life and Style with Jules Asner and the Food Network, which is airing the World Pizza Challenge tonight at 8 p.m., in which Green competed.
Green is the United States Pizza Team trainer.
It may sound a bit strange that such attention is given to this sport, but don’t tell that to the Europeans, who take pizza spinning very seriously.
“Pizza spinning to Italians is like basketball to Americans,” Green said.
Pizza spinning is taken so serious, that children begin as early as five years old working to perfect their skill, he said. Green praised their talents and said he was amazed about how good they were, especially considering their tender ages.
In Green’s most recent pizza spinning competition, several different teams from six different countries were represented, including Italy. The best teams are from Italy, especially the Naples team, and Spain also excels in the sport, Green said. These teams use both styles of spinning, open-hand and closed-hand, which is recognized by the judges who reward them for this special talent.
According to Green, judges are looking for certain qualities in one’s routine, which include skill, performance, synchronization and music selection. If a stop in the middle of throwing dough and switch in directions is made, judges highly regard the move and generally up the total points.
Green’s trip to Italy was not just about the dough. He had fun, too.
He said the best part of his trip was going to Club Poggio Diana after the competition, where he hung out with other professional pizza spinners and team acrobats. They taught him a few words in Italian that they found very amusing.
It basically meant, “I don’t speak Italian; I wish I did, but I don’t, so please help me.”
Green will be on the Food Network tonight at 8 p.m. and more appearances in the future, like QVC features in the coming months.
Next year, he will star in the “Just for Laughs Festival” where he will do a stand-up comedy routine and a pizza throwing demonstration. Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld will also be performing.
