Akdeniz began his career at a very young age, making pide, a canoe-shaped dough filled with either meat, cheese or other ingredients, in Diyarbakır’s Silvan district. Now after his outstanding pizza performance, he will represent America on the international stage. Akdeniz, who has been making dough from the age of 13, is now getting ready to compete in the World Pizza Championship to be held in France. Akdeniz’s journey from Silvan to Canada and then to America was a long one. One of his biggest goals is to represent Turkey in the international community.Born into a poor family, Akdeniz began working at a local pide shop making dough when he was just 13 years old. He later moved to Canada, where he found a job at a pizza shop. After learning how to make pizza very well, Akdeniz traveled to the US and also worked at various pizza shops there. He worked very hard and people began to notice him. He then took part in a contest with talented pizza makers from around the world, including Spain and Italy, and won first place. He instantly became a big hit, and just last week he received a gold medal for his freestyle acrobatics and ability to make a 2.60-meter-wide pizza at the International Restaurant and Food Show held at New York’s Javits Center, winning him the chance to represent the US at the World Pizza Championships in France. With a total of 71 impressive performances in the competition, the young pizza maker became a nightmare for his rivals. He managed to twist and twirl the pizza dough even when his eyes were closed and hands were tied, creating breathtaking moments of excitement for the audience.
‘My biggest dream is to represent Turkey’
The young Turkish winner, who owns a pizza shop named “World Pizza Champion” in New York, does not spend all his time honing his dough-spinning skills, although he says the secret to success is practice. “I have been playing with dough from a very young age. It has become a very routine thing for me. But becoming a world champion in America as someone from Turkey is a huge success for me. My Italian rivals in particular envy me because they can’t spin dough like me.”
His goal is to represent Turkey and not America the best way he can. “There is still no team in Turkey that is involved in pizza shows. Once I go to Turkey, I will first appear on television channels to demonstrate what a pizza show is and then I am going to build a team and compete against every country. I am confident that I will be able to succeed.”
The Turkish pizza champion has appeared on the popular national television show “America’s Got Talent” and has received wide coverage in local newspapers and television channels. Akdeniz has all the medals and cups he’s won as well as photographs of him with famous people on display in his pizza shop.
