Shine OnSt. Catharines pizza restaurant breaks calzone world record
That’s a lot of calzone.
On Sept. 30, 2014, Roberto’s Pizza Passion in St. Catharines, created a calzone measuring 38 feet, 10 1/4 inches by 2 feet, 3 3/4 inches, breaking the world record for longest calzone.
The previous record was set by Loveshack restaurant in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2003, when it built a calzone a mere 9 feet, 4 inches long.
Outside Roberto’s Pizza Passion, the calzone-builders pieced together 71 pieces of dough atop a 40-foot-long baking sheet, topping it with cheese, pepperoni, bacon, tomato sauce, olive oil and spices.
It took about an hour to build and an hour to bake.
By the time it was completed, the massive calzone likely weighed over 500 pounds.
Roberto Vergalito, owner of the pizza shop, did a trial run last week, making a 53-inch-long calzone.
"It came out spectacular," said Vergalito.
When the giant calzone was completed, staff sold pieces of the record-breaker with proceeds going to the United Way.
“I’ve always been in favour of helping your local community and giving back, which is a major part of anybody’s business. I think this is a great way to raise money for a great cause,” Vergalito told the St. Catharines Standard.
Apparently Vergalito isn’t stopping at 38 feet.
“This is a practice run for what is going to be coming in the new year. We are scoping out airport hangars for his next big idea,” said Nadia Vergalito, co-owner of Roberto’s Pizza Passion.
Big food always gets our attention.
Two summers ago, at the ninth annual Torta Fair in Mexico City, a record-breaking 173-foot-long torta, topped with hundreds of litres of mayonnaise and 70 different ingredients, made headlines — and likely expanded many waistlines.
Unlike the calzone and torts, the world’s largest hamburger is actually commercially available. The 777-pound, 1,375,000-calorie Juicy’s Outlaw Burger costs $5,000 and required 48 hours’ notice.
And in February of 2012, Australian chef Andy Wrobel built the tallest tower of stacked pancakes, measuring 76 centimetres high.
On a lighter note, a team at McGill University created the world’s largest fruit salad in 2012, weighing in at 5,038 kilograms ‚ roughly 2,250 kilograms of watermelon, 1,012 kilograms of pineapple and 162 kilograms of strawberries.
After McGill students had their fill of the massive salad, leftovers were shared with local homeless shelters. Peels and stems from the fruit were tossed into what was called the “world’s largest compost heap" on campus.
Check out other record-breaking foods here.
P.S. We also like really small food.
