"I scream,You scream,We all scream for Ice Cream"
Everything you wanted to know about Italian Ice CreamIce Cream Is An International Matter
Throughout my blog I’ve talked about Italian ice cream,but I think it would be interesting to see if there are similar products in other countries. Here what I was able to find:
INDIA
In Indian subcontinent we have Kulfi or Qulfi,a popular flavored frozen dessert made from milk. Unlike other ice cream, kulfi takes a very long time to melt. It comes in various flavours, including pistachio, malai, raspberry, rose, mango, cardamom (elaichi), saffron (kesar) or Zafran, the more traditional flavours, as well as newer variations like apple, orange, peanut, and avocado. Unlike Western ice creams, Kulfi is not whipped, resulting in a solid, dense frozen dessert similar to traditional custard based ice cream. Thus, it is usually considered a distinct category of frozen dairy-based dessert.
SINGAPORE/MALAYSIA
In these countries ice cream is called ais krim potong,which means cut-out ice cream. It probably got its name from the way it’s served. The ice cream is molded into a large block. When served, the ice cream seller would cut it up into smaller rectangular pieces and insert between wafers or bread.
ARABIC COUNTRIES
Arabic ice cream (or bouzat haleeb) is a much different affair than the rich custardy treats popular in the Western countries. Simultaneously light and creamy, the ice cream has a bit of an elastic quality because it’s thickened with sahlab, an orchid tuber extract typical throughout the Middle East. Flavored with rose and orange blossom, the ice cream is floral without tasting soapy.
FRIED ICE CREAM
There are Mexican and Asian variants. The dessert is commonly made by taking a scoop of ice cream frozen well below the temperature at which ice cream is generally kept, possibly coating it in raw egg, rolling it in cornflakes or cookie crumbs, and briefly deep frying it. The extremely low temperature of the ice cream prevents it from melting while being fried. It may be sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and a touch of peppermint, though whipped cream or honey may be used as well. If fried ice cream is coated in raw egg prior to deep frying, the egg may remain uncooked due to the low temperature of the ice cream. The Asian recipe usually uses tempura batter. Mexican versions use corn flakes, nuts or cookie crumbs for coating. In addition the Mexican recipe starts with a large ice cream ball, resulting in a colder core than the Asian variants. Common flavors in Asian restaurants are green tea, vanilla, and red bean; Coconut may also be used.
Giolitti:in Rome Since 1900
Everything started in 1890 when Giovanni and Bernardina Giolitti opened a dairy in Salita del Grillo in Rome,where was sold milk of their own production coming from the roman countryside. Soon afterwards,thanks to the quality of its products, it became the dairy of the Royal House. After a few years other places named Giolitti were opened,among which there was the historic Uffici del Vaticano Street venue,where one of their sons,Nazareno,and his wife Giuseppina added to the milk sales also a vegetarian restaurant and ice cream production. When the war was over,the activity developed a lot and it became one of the best and most known ice cream kiosk of the capital.
Nazareno’s son,Silvano,took particularly care of ice cream,creating personally the recipes,the same that today his three sons and his wife still preserve;nowadays,after three generations, we can taste the same flavours of the past.
Historical place of meeting for roman people and for the Members of Parliament,it’s also a must for all the tourists who,everyday along the year,visit Rome. In 1960 the Eur,a neighbourhood in Rome, venue was opened,then several franchising activities have been started all over the world (New York,Copenaghen and recently Seul) and a catering service is also provided.
Tonda:When Design and Ice Cream Come Together
To bring freshness and elegance is the task assigned to Tonda,the first and only circular and rotating ice cream display.
Anyway the refinement of the design and the revolutionary rotating technology are not the only things which make Tonda a precious innovation of the Made in Italy.As matter of fact,the display is created to make the work of the employees a lot easier,offering a high level of comfort and ergonomics.
The technical part is not neglected.Tonda guarantees the uniformity of temperature,a perfect ice cream conservation and it contributes to the protection of the enviroment thanks to its materials and to the energy saving.
Tonda was designed by the famous industrial designer Makio Hasuike and it’s an IFI S.p.a. product,a firm of INDUSTRIEIFI,leader in the field of innovative design solutions for furniture.
It is already used in several countries: Italy, Spain, Holland, Usa, Greece, France, Great Britain, China, Canada, Portugal, Japan, Russia, Germany, …
Tonda has been celebrated by the poet of images Michele Provinciali,it has received the Compasso D’oro 2008 alla Carriera Award and has received by the same jury the Segnalazione,entering the historic collection of the famous design prize.
Sherbeth Festival 2010
The Sherbeth Festival is an international event about artisan ice cream which takes place every year in Cefalù,Sicily;in 2010 it will last from the 16th of september to the 19th.
During the festival Cefalù’s city centre is transformed into the ice cream village.It is possible to walk by the stands of famous ice cream masters and taste their cold masterpieces,especially along Corso Ruggero and the narrow streets which take to the sea. At number 92 of Corso Ruggero there is the Corte delle Stelle and above it there is a terrace where it will be organized a sort of lab,called Dolce Officina dei Gusti;here the masters will find the best ice cream machines which are present on the market. Nearby the Corte there is Cefalù’s Cathedral.
During the event is also awarded the Procopio dei Coltelli Prize in honour to the ice cream master coming from Sicily who is responsible for the diffusion of ice cream throughout Europe and the world.
Last year there were 150 000 visitors and 20 kg of ice cream were produced. The festival had also some room for discussions about health,employment and innovation with a lot of laboratories of Slow Food Palermo.
For further information visit the website: www.sherbethfestival.it.
Antonio Cappadonia
Antonio Cappadonia is the director of the Sherbeth Festival in Cefalù and the winner of several national and international ice cream-making competitions.
He was born in Cerda,a little village on Madonie mountains,about 60 km from Palermo.He started his career as an ice cream-maker in 1987 thanks to the opening of the ice cream kiosk ” Gelateria Cappadonia” of Roma Street. Antonio empowered his knowledge attending the most important ice cream conventions and refresher courses. From 1996 to 2006 he has been member of Italian Ice Cream-making Academy and Sicily fiduciary.
Technique and passion are part of Cappadonia’s career as he aims to enhance the old flavours “respecting tradition and without refusing the experimentation of new tastes”.
Among the most known flavours of his creation there is the artichoke one,typical local product,and Targa Florio flavour,tribute to the famous car race to whom Cerda is connected.
This is what Cappadonia thinks about his job: “It’s the art to elaborate,structure and compose the ice cream in a range of flavours and personalised recipes,which requires long time,accurate raw materials,intersection of scents and tastes that only the lab experience – silent,patient and creative – can generate”.
Motta:Enter The Magic
Throughout the years Motta ice creams have given to Italians moments of unique pleasure with innovative and high quality products. Coppa del nonno,Maxibon,La Cremeria:are only some of Motta’s successes,which have made the history of ice cream and which are famous even today!
Motta was born in 1919 in a small lab in Via Chiusa in Milan,thanks to Angelo Motta and it produced at first only Panettone. In 1953 the ice cream division was opened with the famous Mottarello,the ice cream stick made of chocolate and cream. From then on the company has evolved with new innovative products,able to create real trends;in the 70’s the ice cream division is incorporated in Itagel which is sold in 1993 to Nestlè,the biggest food company in the world.
Nowadays the production is essentially carried out in the 2 factories in Parma and Ferentino:both of them have a productive technology which is innovative and modern,thanks to research and development projects and big investments. The products can be consumed at home or at the bar and interesting are the ones thought specifically for children:they can link fun with nutritional values,essential for a good afternoon snack.
The Made In Italy Value
According to the last Confartigianato data,in Italy there are 36.970 ice cream kiosks,about 10% more than 5 years ago;Italian ice cream-making is spreading quickly abroad since there are around 20.000 parlours. In the ice cream field there are 150.000 workes as regard Italy and 100.000 abroad.
The largest number of ice cream parlours is in Lombardy with 6.093 labs,followed by Veneto with 3.512 and Emilia Romagna with 3.273. However the highest increasing rate between 2004 and the first quarter of 2009 has been registered in central Italy where the kiosks increased of 12,9%. The most dynamic regions were Lazio(+15,2%),Puglia(+13,8%),Sicily and Abruzzo(+12%).
As regard ice cream consumption,more than half of it is concentrated in the north of Italy(52,9%),where the product is bought costantly along the year.On the contrary in the south,where the consumption is 29,4% of the whole,the sales are concentrated especially during the summer. In central Italy the consumption is of 17,6%.In 2009 has been estimated that the national consumption has been around 36.000 tons,almost 6 kg per capita,creating a business of 2,5 billions of euros,which gets to 3,5 if we consider also the machines,systems and ingredients sectors.
We can consider also the sector of displays and furnishing for ice cream kiosks,which is important since it produces a business of 300 millions of euros and emploies from 1500 to 2000 workes. In the Export field the supremacy is held by Germany;an increasing trend is the one of the USA,eastern Europe,the East and Australia.
Special Guest:My Grandmother
As I said in my blog presentation my grandmother worked in an ice cream kiosk named La Cremeria di Pusiano,owned by my grandfather’s sister,Luisa. It’s in the centre of a little village near Como,by a little lake.In order to cover better the theme of ice cream I decided to interview her and listen to her experience.
How long did grandad’s sister owned the kiosk and how long did you worked there?
La Cremeria was opened by Luisa in 1963 in the centre of Pusiano,exactly on one side of the little lake,therefore in an awsome position also for tourists;I started working there moreless in the same period but only on Sundays and holidays.
Could you tell me something about the history of that kiosk,I mean,why Luisa opened it?
You know,it was the result of friendship and dissatisfaction about the previous job. She used to work in the hall of a nearby hotel but she could not stand that kind of job;it happened that one of her friend was selling a place on the lake of Pusiano and therefore she decided to start her own activity,also thanks to the same friend who help her through the first period. Another thing to say is that Luisa paid the kiosk little by little,by instalments,thanks to the later profits of the kiosk.
What was exactly the composition of the personnel and which was the opening and closing time?
Well,during the week there were only 3 or 4 people working there together with Luisa,while during weekends we were in 6 or 7 because the clients were more;usually on Saturdays and Sundays some young boys and girls used to help us. As regard the time,it was from 7 a.m. till 10 p.m. except during summer since in the evening was from 9 to 12,after a break for dinner. The closing day was Tuesday.
Tell me something about the production of ice cream.
We had a small laboratory behind the kiosk but,differently from other ice cream parlours,we didn’t control all the process,in the sense that we had the ingredients ready and we had only to put them in the mixing machine;we used a tin of mixture of flavour and a tin of water for fruit ice cream and a tin of flavour and one of milk for creams. Luisa dealt with suppliers whereas me and your grandfather used to prepare the ice cream and also to sell it. I remember that the little cone cost 1200 liras and the bigger one 3000. La Cremeria was also a bar and therefore we sold any kind of drink and sweets,such as typical cakes. When it opened was one of the few ice cream kiosks nearby and,thanks to its position on the lake,was quite known.
There were a lot of people then…
Of course. During the week there were especially workers in the morning and kids in the middle of the afternoon. The peak period was however the weekend and excatly from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Some of the customers were just passing whereas others used to stay at La Cremeria for a while,sitting at the tables in front of the kiosk,in the garden or on the terrace. The busiest day was the one of the village feast when there were also fireworks on the lake and therefore people used to have an ice cream on the terrace watching the spectacle. Anyway the kiosk used to earn 1 milion liras a day.
The last question,what is the bright side,the advantage of this kind of job?
First of all the contact with people and the possibilty to see people who come and go,you know,you can’t get bored. Besides it was a little village and therefore we usaully know anyone and so there was also the time for talking with customers;we were in a good position and we loved what we were doing and that’s the most important thing I guess.
La Bottega Del Gelato:Real Italian Ice Cream Since 1964
Ice cream master,decorated with a gold medal from The Italian Academy of Ice cream-making in 2009,Giunetto Cardelli together with his son Marco and his wife Anita runs this ice cream parlour in via Pergolesi 3 in Milan since 1964.
One of the first thing wich meets the eyes is the presence of a great variety of flavours,about 50,divided between creams and the best mediterranean and tropical friuts.The specialty of the Bottega is fruits stuffed with ice cream and decorated with chocolate and creams.
Coming from Ponte Buggianese in Tuscany,Giunetto moved to Milan at the beginning of the 60s and with his brother Ugo started this activity. During the 70s and 80s Cardelli won a lot of prizes and continued to work with passion. In order to improve the product,the central aspect of the Bottega,he decided in 1979 to modernize the parlour eliminating the outdoor tables. In 1987 his brother Ugo moved to Montecatini and opened another kiosk,whereas Giunetto stayed in Milan. Through all of this time Cardelli tried new ways to exalt sherbets and ice creams;he improved the parlour,making it elegant and cosy,too. Nowdays Giunetto is also a consultant for his collegues and anyone who wants to work in the ice cream world.
The Bottega has a laboratory where the ice cream is made and where tradition and innovation live together. The lab is visible from the kiosk in order to allow the costumers to see how they work and guarantee the quality. Another essential element is hygiene:the personnel is taught to offer the highest levels of it and periodically there is a control by the Milan laboratory CMA.
Pino Scaringella:the Ambassador of Italian Ice Cream
Pino Scaringella is an ice cream-makig master coming from Turin,who is considered a sort of “ambassador” of italian ice cream in the world and who taught generations of young successful artisans.
His passion for ice cream started when he was a kid,because his father and his family used to trade in lemons;selling them to ice cream-makers and other customers they turned them into several products,such as juice,ice cream,etc. Since that moment he started producing ice cream and in the 80s he also started teaching,after different experiences around Europe. After that he exported italian tradition in loads of countries such as Australia, Japan, Canada, USA, Guatemala, Honduras, ect.
Here it’s an interview at Sigep where we can know more about Pino Scaringella;the interview is in Italian.
"I scream,You scream,We all scream for Ice Cream" 
