Fabián Martín, who was the European champion of high-quality pizza in 2002 and acrobatic pizza in 2003, as well as the Spanish champion of the specialty in 2002, was on the microphones last Tuesday of the program "Balcón al Mar" of Radio Lanzarote, where he related that the achievement of these awards was the result of work, perseverance and dedication. Martín explained that his passion for pizza began five years ago, after a traffic accident that prevented him from continuing his career as a professional boxer. "After the accident I started to dedicate myself to hospitality and specifically I realized that I was quite good at making pizzas", commented Fabián, who revealed that at first he was a pizza delivery man, but that one day he got into the oven and they told him that he "did wonders". "I always liked to innovate and surprise customers with new flavors, and I think that's where the success I've had lies," explained the pizza maker.
Fabián Martín also stated that when he learned of the celebration of pizza contests, he did not hesitate for a moment and signed up for them, with the luck of having won some of them.
Martín explains that he has changed the traditional concept of pizza as a cheap and "fast food" dish, adding the best ingredients on the market, and treating them in the best possible way. "I make original pizzas with top quality products, with selected ingredients that people like because they have a great flavor," said the two-time European pizza champion.
Winning pizza
The former boxer invented an exotic pizza that is incorporated in powder and through the nose. "With so many neurons that have been crushed, I come up with strange things," he declared. Fabián Martín, left all attendees with their mouths open (or rather closed) when presenting his aspirable pizza. The cook, former boxer, was already known in Barcelona and throughout Spain for his remarkable juggling with pizza dough, but this year he broke the mold. With a canut -made of dough and edible- the interested party inhales the pizza through the nose, accompanying it with a fine cheese puree and a tomato coulis. To enjoy the dish to the fullest, Martín recommends taking a spoonful of the tomato coulis, sniffing a little pizza and then eating a little of the cheese foam. Not content with such an invention, the cook also presented a Coca-Cola pizza (which effervesces in the mouth), a jelly pizza, a white truffle pizza, chocolate mini-calzones and a pizza soup.Martín had to leave boxing eight years ago after a car accident and began helping his girlfriend who worked in a pizzeria. "Boxing helped me for something because, with so many neurons that have been crushed, I come up with many strange things," he explained.
Extensive curriculum as a pizza maker
Fabián Martín recognizes that as a result of obtaining the European and Spanish championships in 2003, his professional career took a 180º turn, since then he has been showered with proposals and work projects. In this sense, he relates that he is currently a partner of Fernando Arría, owner of one of the most important restaurant chains in Barcelona, as well as being one of the cooks of the "cuisine of diversity" of the Barcelona Forum of Cultures of 2004. He also commented that in the coming months he has a busy schedule of courses, because after Lanzarote he will travel to France, Madrid and New York, to explain the secret of his cuisine.
Finally, Fabián Martín explained that pizza itself is not fattening, and that it is even one of the healthiest foods known. In this sense, he related that what is fattening are certain ingredients and the soft drinks and complements that are eaten with it.
