A pizzeria named Mama Lena's Pizza House in Pennsylvania is
vying for a spot in Guinness
World Records for the world's largest commercially available pizza. The
$99, 150-slice pizza isn't a one-time deal. In fact, The Big One is
already available, though the pizzeria has had few takers so far.
The would-be recordsetter measures about 3 feet by 4 1/2 feet and
takes up nearly all the space in the shop's brick oven.
The current record holder is a 4-foot diameter pizza offered by Paul
Revere's Pizza in Iowa. Dubbed the Ultimate Party Pizza, it uses more than
10 pounds of dough, 48 ounces of sauce and about five pounds of cheese.
The Big One takes about 15 minutes to prepare and another 20 to 25
minutes to bake, said Rob Carrabbia, whose wife, Wendy, owns the pizzeria
in suburban Pittsburgh.
"The only way you're looking to order it is if you want a big pizza,"
Carrabbia said.
Mama Lena's was already offering a 30-inch by 30-inch, 64-slice pizza
when Carrabbia read about the current record holder in a trade magazine
and figured he could beat it.
The pizza has been on the menu for more than a year. So far, about 10
have been sold, including for birthday parties and to a school for its
basketball team.
Carrabbia said Guinness requires that the pizza's making be videotaped
and witnessed by a public official.
Besides the novelty, Carrabbia said anyone who orders The Big One is
getting a bargain.
"It's less than a dollar a slice" for a plain cheese pizza
, he said. Toppings are extra and a white pizza - no red sauce, but
garlic, cheese and marinated tomatoes - costs $120.99.
The category is different from the world's largest pizza. That record
was set in 1990 in South Africa, where Norwood Hypermarket made a pizza
122 feet, eight inches in diameter, using 9,920 pounds of flour, 3,968
pounds of cheese and 1,984 pounds of sauce.
For its 50th anniversary in 1994, Guinness named that pizza one of its
top 10 most astounding feats.
(Agencies)
