“Ibrahim Songne’s pizzeria, Ibris, located in the upmarket city of Trento, has been ranked 46th in the list of the best pizzerias in Italy by the specialised website 50TopPizza.it, in the category “The 50 best pizzas by the slice and to go” (Le 50 Migliori Pizze in Viaggio in Italia – da taglio e asporto – 2021).
50TopPizza.it said that “Ibris’ pizzas are fantastic. The dough is perfectly risen, digestible and the toppings are rich and delicious. Fine ingredients have been used for the very imaginative combinations in each pizza or focaccia. The chickpea pie is very good and goes perfectly with the focaccia. This establishment is a convenient and economical culinary reference point in the historic centre of Trento. An interesting feature is the possibility to leave a paid pizza for a following customer. The limited choice of drinks is our only demerit.
Ibrahim Songne arrived in Italy at the age of 12, where he first tasted pizza. But the young boy at the time did not like it. “I had never heard of pizza before I came to Italy. I took one bite and found it disgusting and completely tasteless,” Ibrahim Songne told the American website npr.org.
Nevertheless, since 2018, the entrepreneur has founded and runs “Ibris” which is now ranked among the best pizzerias in Italy and is located in the city of Trento, considered one of the richest cities in Italy and often ranked among the cities with the highest quality of life.
Overcoming prejudice
“IBRIS” is a contraction of “Ibrahim” and “Songne”, his first and last names in capital letters. Before opening his pizzeria in downtown Trento three years ago, Ibrahim Songne told npr.org that locals warned him, “A black man behind the counter will scare away all the customers.” Those fears, npr reports, seemed to come true when, on the first day of opening, Ibrahim stood behind the counter and a middle-aged couple entered. In silence, the couple examined the pizzas on display, he recalls. Then, he says, they probably assumed someone of African descent didn’t speak Italian and remarked, “This pizza looks amazing. Too bad they let black people work here” and left.
In 2022, it’s a very different scene. With only three small benches to sit on, customers crowd the narrow IBRIS window at lunchtime, shouting their orders over the sound of Afrobeats.
A recipe for success
Ibrahim’s success, says npr.org, is not due to a lack of competition. Two other pizzerias are in the same neighbourhood and seven others are within walking distance. For Ibrahim Songne, his pizza stands out for “intensity, texture and a sense of experimentation”. Over the past decade, it is explained, “crunch pizza” has become a trend in north-eastern Italy. Crunch pizza usually consists of a light but multi-layered dough – sometimes fried – and makes a loud crunching sound when bitten. Ibrahim Songne has created a more subtle version of the crunch. As for the experimental toppings, says npr.org, they reflect Songne’s belief in Italy’s “zero mileage” food movement, which is to use fresh, local and seasonal ingredients wherever possible.
Ibrahim Songne works with his younger brother on a daily basis and changes the pizza menu every day, including non-traditional ingredients such as purple potato cream, saffron and chickpeas.
Learning period
On arriving in the mountainous north of Italy in 2004, Ibrahim Songne told Npr that he was the only black pupil at school and that his stammering further isolated him. His desire to undergo speech therapy led him to take part-time jobs as a teenager, which led him to work in a bakery. It was there that he developed a passion for baking. Later, he learned to make pizzas. “I arrived in Italy at the age of 12 thanks to family reunification, I wanted to go to university and study economics, but my studies were too expensive for my family and so after graduating from ENAIP as a car repairer, I went to work, but the company went bankrupt. Until three months ago I was a baker, then I quit my job and here I am. And if Ibris has been very open, it’s thanks to the Relod Project of the Association of Artisans. I liked working, but I also liked inventing to make recipes of my own creation. I was looking for a way to market them and one day. At the employment office I found a leaflet promoting a course to become an entrepreneur. It was free and I didn’t let it go. Then, thanks to the help of Confidi and Cassa Rurale di Trento, I managed to open”, Ibrahim Songne told the Italian website giornaletrentino.it
“Lievito madre”
In his quest for the best pizza recipe, npr.org explains, Ibrahim Songne’s roommate served as his “guinea pig” and Ibrahim was “obsessed” with coming up with the best pizza dough recipe, the site continues. He knew he had found the best formula when he came across one based on lievito madre – “mother dough”, a natural yeast where the same leaven is used over and over again. So Ibrahim Songne has been using the same mother yeast for over five years now. “I make a sponge focaccia and a Roman pizza that is more hydrated than Neapolitan with the mixture I invented of dough and mother yeast. Basically it’s a dough with two natural yeasts, but lighter and more digestible than the one with brewer’s yeast. Apart from the flour, all other products are from Trento. The locally produced flour is not very strong, in the sense that it retains little water. I use a Type 1 produced in Piedmont”, said Ibrahim Songne giornaletrentino.it.
Today, Ibrahim Songne defines himself as 100% Italian and Burkinabe, but above all, as resilient. “Once I overcame my stutter, I was free. After that, I knew I could face anything,” he explained.
Caffè sospeso (Suspended coffee) Vs Pizza sospesa (Suspended pizza)
Because of the pandemic and the crisis it created, Ibrahim Songne decided to help those in need. Inspired by the Neapolitan tradition of caffè sospeso (“hanging coffee”) – where coffee shop customers pay for an extra coffee which the bartenders then donate anonymously to people in need – Ibrahim Songne extended this custom to pizza. Pizza sospesa has now spread to restaurants all over Italy. In addition, Ibrahim Songne has always donated unsold products to the Trentino Solidale association, which distributes them to people in need.
Ibrahim’s positive personality and fluent Italian (with what locals describe as a “perfect” Trentino accent) have won him the affection of customers.
