At 14, Lele Scandurra played football, dreaming of becoming a professional. In the meantime, he attended catering school and delivered pizzas to scrape together what he needed to keep from burdening his family. After putting aside his footballing ambitions due to an injury, the pizzaiolo-patron of L'Evoluzione in Catania began to search for his place in the world.

"I grew up in Librino, an Etnean neighbourhood where many people think school is useless. When I was 16 I thought so too and I stopped studying because I wanted to make my fortune as a footballer until a physical injury changed things and I started to put my life in order: I tried working as a dishwasher, a pastry-cook's assistant and then as a cook's helper in a hotel, " says the pizzaiolo as he moves confidently in front of Moretti's Neapolis oven and, at the same time, supervises the service in the dining room.

Where it all began. His career as a pizzaiolo began at Flora Pizza e Cucina, a now defunct restaurant in Nicolosi, the last town on Etna's southern slope before starting the ascent to Rifugio Sapienza.

"Every day I went by scooter from Librino to Nicolosi, I earned 20-30 euro a day but I knew I had found my way. So I began to study and to see pizza in a different way," he recalls. Dozens of books read and courses attended on pizza and sourdough made Scandurra a professional who came to be an instructor for the Italian national pizza team and a consultant for various projects. Meanwhile in Catania he contributed to the success of Ikebana/Botanike: "We went from zero pizzas in the first two months to 500 guests per night: it made me realise that I didn't want to work in a pizzeria with those numbers, that in a pizzeria of mine there would be no room for chips."

L'Evoluzione. Innovation, research into raw materials (from fiordilatte by Latteria Sorrentina to a selection of Sicilian oils), 4 types of doughs with Petra Molino Quaglia flours (the main one, the organic semi-wholewheat, the one with semolina from ancient Sicilian grains and a blend with toasted malt and sprouted rice and barley), and just as many cooking variants...


Mariella Caruso
source: https://www.identitagolose.it/ermes/newsletter/?id=705

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