Ice cream, here are the flavors of the future, from Parmigiano to Matcha, with microgreens it's a delight

Michela Iorio is PR & Communication Manager of Carpigiani, an Emilia-based company with nearly eighty years of history and a leading manufacturer of machines for the production of artisanal gelato, Italian-style ice cream, and soft ice cream. He tells us, "Our partnership with Koppert Cress goes back at least six years. We liked each other right from the start, not only for what could be done with ice cream in the haute cuisine, but also for ice cream in general, because cresses and microgreens can be used as additions and decorations even for a more traditional product. 

I remember one of the first things we tried on an impromptu basis at an event was a cream ice cream with jasmine blossom, a small edible jasmine flower. It is full of recipes that use these kinds of essences, even since the Renaissance, hence plant-based inclusions. At Identità Golose, we were in our second year of pairing, and we relied on our Corporate Chef Diletta Poggiali, who has an in-depth knowledge of herbs and spices to enhance their aromatic notes in combination with ice cream. From my point of view, vegetable inclusions in ice cream are healthy and, above all, they give the possibility of having an explosion of taste very close to what are the achievements that chefs make in their dishes, as well as being aesthetically beautiful to see, which is not a given."

Diletta Poggiali lands at Carpigiani after participating in a contest for chefs held by the company, in which it was a matter of bringing a dish that included a savory gourmet ice cream: "I competed for fun and made it to the finals with top professionals: I brought a dish that was pasta e fagioli with a smoked tomato sorbet (even Davide Oldani, who was on the jury, remembers it). In Carpigiani I began to really appreciate the possibility of working with a real technology that made ice cream, because in most of my experiences in the kitchen I used pacojet, which is not a proper device designed for that. To find myself seeing what real ice cream could do in terms of texture and consistency was very cool. The curious thing is that my first job ever at the age of 16 was actually at the counter of an ice cream shop, never in the world would I have imagined that I would go back to that." 

Before joining Carpigiani, by her own definition she was a 'wandering' cook: "I have worked for about 20 years in the kitchen, in restaurants of all kinds, from Michelin-starred to Japanese, from trattoria to vegetarian, simply because I love this field and have loved every dish I have made, and enjoy starting with any ingredient. I also teach gelato classes, but I mainly deal with gelato in the restaurant industry by interfacing with chefs who want to include gelato on the menu." From Ora D'Aria in Florence with Marco Stabile, to participating in major events such as Postrivoro and Al Mèni, Diletta has worked with chefs from all over the world "cooking anything from pig heads to the most unlikely vegetables."

Andrea Bandiera, born in 1968, is an ice cream maker sui generis, starting with his choice to open Cremeria Scirocco in a semi-peripheral area of Bologna: "This has been my parents' clothing store for 45 years. Around this porch there were 7 cafes, and the Roveri area drew a high-end audience, before the 2008 crisis. All that was missing was an ice cream shop." In fact, Bandiera's path is atypical, because for sixteen years, before converting to artisanal ice cream, he devoted himself to computer science: "It was 2004: I was building boards and microprocessors, very complex things, but I wanted to go back to my old passion for food." Andrea brings the ice cream shop to life by researching on the Internet to figure out what he would need: "I go to a supplier in Bologna and make him a list, and he supplies me with everything and gives me an initial imprinting, which is basically 'open a bag, put water in it, and get the ice cream out.'

 The road to repentance on the path of preparations, however, is short: "After three months I say no, that's not what I want, I'm looking for research and craftsmanship, for this profession. Coming from electronic design, I imagined designing ice cream flavors in the same way, so I realize I have to get into studying. I was recommended the book by Luca Caviezel, an old Sicilian ice cream maker: when I opened it I got shocked, because the numbers were tiled just like on the Excel sheet I was used to. So I create the balancing program, and start modifying the recipes, abandoning all those envelopes they had given me. In 2007, two years later, we were recognized as the best gelateria in Bologna in Repubblica, and for seven years now Gambero Rosso has been confirming our three cones."

Bandiera in the meantime, however, did not abandon his path as a computer scientist; on the contrary, he created software for ice cream shop management. He also began to make friends with many chefs: "At midnight, I would close up and go to the kitchens to see what they were doing. Chatting, tasting, sometimes even helping with the catering. It was an extra experience that helped and formed me. Being in contact with cooks allowed me to acquire techniques that are not normally used in ice cream parlors. In this way I started making my first savory ice creams and we became the 'ice cream shop of strange flavors.'" After a period of 'breaking in' customers, Cremeria Scirocco became a landmark: "We work on ingredients with a very modern trend, we work on pure neutral, even with vegetable fibers, flax fibers, lemon fibers. I always keep 3 savory flavors, starting from almonds to gorgonzola, which lends itself to pairing in dishes. Plus there are requests from chefs, such as squid ink ice cream."