This time last year, Naples, Italy was the home of the world's longest pizza. Guinness World Records clocked in their achievement of dough, sauce, and cheese at 6,082 feet. I was actually in Naples on vacation at the time, obliviously and ironically unaware of the world record event taking place a just a few blocks over.
I was blinded by the delicious pizza I was inhaling curbside of an unmarked Naples alleyway at the time, but when I heard the good ole US of A was attempting to shatter the world record in Los Angeles, I made sure to show up the morning of to make sure I could see our patriots join the world ranks of pizza making.
This past Saturday, pizza history was indeed made in California. After renting out the outer border of the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, a group of pizza artisans had flown in from around the world to construct a new world record pizza, one that measured a tongue-wagging 6,331 feet long.
The pizza, which eclipsed a mile in length, used roughly 17,756 lbs of dough, over 5,000 lbs of sauce and 3,900 lbs of cheese.
The best part about the day was witnessing the custom-made-mobile oven that ran along the world-record-setting table scaffolding that held the pizza up. The gas convection oven on wheels followed the track like a disciplined monorail system, moving at a smooth 17 feet-a-minute. If you're up for an anxiety-ridden adventure, we live-streamed the entirety of the pizza monorails journey. You can even witness an official judge from Guinness World Records walking parallel the entire length of the pizza, scrutinizing every square inch for sauce, cheese and dough connectivity.
Ironically, it's our longest live-stream-to-date.
The entire effort took the work of over 23 companies and 200 volunteers, with setup beginning 8pm Friday and finishing touches on the pizza ending at roughly 4pm the following day. Close to 2,000 spectators attended the event and had a chance to sample the pizza, but a majority of the food was donated to local homeless shelters and food banks.
Kudos to all parties involved and for such a massive achievement and donation!
