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Sead Mujanić learned culinary secrets from Italians: An economist who makes the best pizza in Sarajevo

When in 1994, as a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina, he began working in a pizzeria in Germany, Sead Mujanić did not realize that this would become and remain his occupation that he is still engaged in even today. The only difference is that this graduated economist has been preparing this planetary popular specialty in Sarajevo for 18 years.

Everything started in 1999, when he returned from Germany and opened the first pizzeria in the capital of our country, in Ilidža, and called it “Piccolo Mondo”.

Exile in Germany

-It was followed by another, and another … The business soon grew into a family business. Today we have three pizzerias, one near the center of Sarajevo, my daughter-in-law and I are in charge of it, the other in Bjelašnica, which is run by one son, and the third is in Klagenfurt, Austria, runby my  elder son – explains Mujanić.

The preparation of good pizza Sead learned while being a refugee in Germany when he was employed in a renowned hotel, owned by Italians. First, he says, the wife began to work, and then they engaged him to train him to be a pizza master.

– Everything I know I learned from those people, and then with my wife, after six years, I returned to Sarajevo and decided to continue what the Italians taught me. Of course, we did our best, and some of the recipes were ‘trimmed’ with our secret ingredients, and some pizzas were raised to a higher level. I have worked on some recipes for a long time, but the effort finally paid off – says Mujanić.

The secret of a good pizza is in a good pastry and sauces, a balanced amount of foods that are being put on, but also fresh and in our areas grown vegetables and spices, a dry meat that our masters have dried…

Of course, he did not reveal all the details, but he says how well is the dough depends on the type of flour, but also on the way of stretching.

-I fold my dough in a traditional way, using a wood rolling pin, not with my hands, as most pizza masters do today. In addition, near Sarajevo I have a farm where I grow tomatoes from which I make sauces, but also spice herbs. It’s good when a person has the ability to know where these foods come from – says Mujanić.

He reveals that it takes 10 to 12 minutes to prepare good pizza.

Morning Ritual

– Every morning I make a new dough and new sauces. Now it’s easier for me because I also have workers that I have trained to prepare pizza, but I am here every morning to try the prepared dough and sauces. People are accustomed to good taste and because of that they are coming back to me, so I would not want to let anyone down. Of course, I do that because of myself because I am used to this it, so I want to transfer it to my staff too – says Mujanić.

Guests at Sead’s catering facility can try 27 different types of pizzas. Each is specific and different due to something, but most importantly, each is a specialty for itself and is required by guests.

– I think that the most picky ones will find something for themselves. Of course, Sarajevans prefer Capricciosa, but there are many others, with dried meat, mushrooms, seafood … – he says.

Sead’s pizzas have been tried by many well-known figures, from politicians, local and foreign, university professors, to singers, actors, athletes … Many of them said only one sentence – they did not try better pizza in Sarajevo.

-I can boast with the fact that my guests were Bakir Izetbegović, Madeleine Albright, Haris Silajdzić, Zlatko Lagumdžija, Željko Komšić, Josip Pejaković, Emir Hadžihafisbegović, Halid Beslić, Enes Begović …- Mujanić recalled some of the names at the end of our conversation.

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