Toms River Man Wins 25 Grand In National Pizza Contest
A 45 year old Toms River resident who took up pizza making as a hobby during the Pandemic, has won the prestigious Perfect Your Pizza Competition from The Francis Ford Coppola Winery.
Sean Duffield didn’t want to make sourdough bread like everyone else was while locked down at home in the Spring of 2020 during the Covid 19 Pandemic, so he built a pizza oven in the backyard of his Toms River home. He ordered a pizza oven kit from Australia, and once it was built he started cooking! Sean began making all sorts of pizza creations, including his favorite style, Margherita.
However, it was a pizza that he created for his niece Payton’s party, that changed everything. Payton was leaving for college in another part of the US, and the family was throwing a going away party for her. Upon asking Payton what type of pizza she would like to have at her party, they came up with a recipe for what Sean named “The Chance Seedling”. Payton wanted fall flavors, Sean made a fruit based pizza!
Duffield says the recipe was inspired by caramel apples, and was created by combining sliced apples, fennel, and walnuts with Mozzarella, Parmesan, and a farmer’s cheese called Toma. The pie was such a hit, he entered it in the contest, and next thing he knew he was flown out to California to the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, to make The Chance Seedling!
Sean went on to say he was nervous making the pizza in front of the judges, but just to hear the feedback from them was quite an honor. Sean, who works for Verizon, said he and his wife will use the prize money for their children’s future. At 11 and 15, driving and college are not far off, and Sean says they are going to try and be smart with the money.
I do wonder though if the thought of a gourmet pizza shop in town is ever crept into the back of his mind? Hmmmm. Great job Sean! Making Toms River proud!
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GALLERY: Downtown Toms River- Comfort Food Festival
