Photo Gallery
Cross-cultural cuisine: Local teen wins national pizza contest by blending Italian and Spanish
At the age of 17, Hixson High School junior Zachary Schreeder might see his secret recipe for chorizo become a staple for more than 600 restaurants from San Diego, Calif., to Ann Arbor, Mich., and on to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and India.
Schreeder won the $1,000 prize in last year's contest in which employees of Marco's Pizza were asked to create a new menu item for the chain. Schreeder bought pork, added a special blend of spices and made his own chorizo - a type of Spanish pork sausage - for his topping. Lo and behold, his Chicken Chorizo Pizza won.
Company spokesman Elida Coseri says Marco's is taste testing the homemade chorizo pizza in several locations across America but she's not sure when the research will conclude. Ironically, the pizza will not be tested in Hixson because the restaurant is only about 18 months old. Instead, Knoxville customers will have the chance to eat it.
Schreeder isn't overly concerned about the when or where.
"No matter what happens, I can always make it at home for my family and friends," he says.
He's been cooking since he was 13, when he would whip up scrambled eggs for his family, but the modest Marco's cook quickly points out that the parents of his many Latino friends taught him how to make chorizo.
"The recipes had been in their families for years and they were nice enough to let me hang out in their kitchens and watch them mix the spices, grind the meat and make the chorizo," Schreeder explains. "They bought some of the spices from local markets that specialize in Hispanic groceries. But they also grew a lot of the herbs right in their gardens."
Schreeder's freshly made sausage meshes well with Marco's emphasis on fresh ingredients, says regional Manager Lonnie Worley who describes Schreeder as an outstanding employee. The chain's pizza dough is made fresh daily, he says, and the tomato sauce is a family recipe from Marco's owner Pat "Pasquale" Giammarco.
"The tomato sauce is based on his grandmother's recipe," Worley says. "The cheese is made according to a family recipe."
Worley relishes the idea of Schreeder merging the family recipes from two cultures - Mexican/Central American with Italian - that take pride in their vibrant culinary heritages. He initially suggested that Schreeder create a Caribbean pizza with Jamaican jerk rub for the chicken and perhaps pieces of tropical fruit like pineapple or mango as a topping. But then he tried Schreeder's chorizo pizza.
"The competition allows each contestant to add two additional ingredients to the list of toppings Marco's already offers to customers; when Zach let his coworkers and me try his pizza, I knew we had a good chance of winning," says Worley.
Schreeder tested his Spicy Chicken Chorizo Pizza on some customers. One said she liked it but suggested he delete the word "spicy" because Chattanoogans hear that word and think it describes a food too scalding and weirdly exotic for their tastes. Schreeder promptly took her advice. Actually, though, his sausage is more smoky with a hint of nuttiness akin to cumin and a citrus-y brightness reminiscent of coriander. Schreeder is keeping the spices secret.
His was invited to go to Marco's annual convention last year in San Antonio to make the pizza in the final contest. But Schreeder couldn't get time off school, so Worley asked a friend who is an experienced chef, Adam Klein, the manager of the Marco's in Little Rock, Ark., to execute the recipe at the contest.
The competition included a Reuben pizza with corned beef and shredded pickled cabbage toppings and a pizza that was an homage to the corndog, according to Coseri.
Like many millennials, Schreeder is too pragmatic to go on a spending spree with his $1,000 prize money. And he adds that he's blessed with a kind-hearted and wise girlfriend.
"She never suggested we spend it to go out; she told me immediately I better put it away and save it for college," he says with a grin.
Contact Lynda Edwards at ledwards@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6391.