French chefs create pizza with 834 different cheeses breaking record

By Connie Suggitt

Published 29 September 2021

A new record for the most varieties of cheese on a pizza has been set by three chefs in Lyon, France.

Morgan Niquet, François Robin and Julien Serri (all France) prepared the record-breaking pizza at the SIRHA exhibition on 25 September 2021.

The exhibition is described as "the global meeting place for hotels, restaurants, catering and gastronomy".

The pizza was topped with 834 different varieties of cheese, piled into a mound on top of the pizza dough.

The record was attempted to promote the large variety of cheeses that exist in France and to promote the French dairy tradition.

During the attempt, a onlookers gathered to peruse the different types of cheese and see the record-breaking action.

Preparation began at 11:30am on the day, with the chefs cutting the minimum quantity of each type of cheese - a minimum of two grams of the cheese is needed to count as a topping.

The chefs then layered all the different types of cheese in a mold before placing onto the pizza base for the first cooking phase. They then removed the mold and finished cooking to obtain the desired result.

Adjudicator Lorenzo Veltri was on hand to confirm the record and present the chefs with their hard-earned certificate.

This record smashes the previous one set by fellow Frenchman Benoît Bruel, also in Lyon, France.

The pizza chef made a pizza with 254 different cheeses on 22 February 2020 - watch the video below to see how he did it.

Other cheesy records

Largest display of cheese varieties: 730, achieved by Philippe Marchand (France) in Nancy, France, on 23 September 2016.
Largest cheese platter: 2,012.85 kg (4,437 lb 9.92 oz), and was prepared by Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (USA) in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, on 1 August 2018.
Oldest cheese: The oldest residue of solid cheese ever found dates from the 13th-century BCE tomb for Ptahmes, the mayor of the ancient city of Memphis in Egypt.
Smelliest cheese: Vieux Boulogne, a soft French cheese, matured between 7-9 weeks and made from cow's milk by cheesemaker Philippe Olivier (France). This was found in research conducted by Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, UK, in November 2004.