18

■ FEATURE

Phoebe Tilelli digs into the event that put

Enmore’s Cow and Moon on the world map.

Summer Hill’s Gelatony gives the Gelato

World Tour 2015 their best shot.

The Gelato World Tour is like something that

dreams are made of. If there’s one way to put

a smile on anyone’s face it’s with a big scoop

of ice cream on a hot summer’s day. However,

this is not your average ice cream. The gelato

scooped out here is in a league of its own and

is an entirely different product. People walk

around a pavilion filled with crazy gelato

flavours trying to choose between crunchy

nuts, sticky caramel or sweet mango sorbet.

These aren’t just your everyday flavours. They

are some of the best in the world and the

taste alone speaks for itself.

Enmore gelataria Cow and Moon took the

crown at last years Gelato World Tour finals

winning the title of Worlds Best Gelato. The

tour started again on the 20th of March 2015

in Singapore for the Asia Pacific round where

gelataria ‘Gelatony’ from Summer Hill was

represented by owner Antonino Lo Iacono.

At this second edition of the competition,

Singapore showcased the best 16 contestants

with three being from Australia. 48 Flavours

represented Adelaide and Yamba Icecreamery

from New South Wales also participated. Lo

Iacono did the Inner West proud receiving

a Special Mention award. From his first

gelato bar in a tiny town of Italy, to the big

city of Sydney and now having competed in

a worldwide event, he has come a long way

in the industry. “After making gelato for 30

years it is so fantastic just to be here and be

recognised,” he said.

Gelatony has been in the shopfront of

DaVinci’s restaurant and pizzeria in Summer

Hill for two years. Before that Lo Iacono ran

Gelataria Café 2000 in Rozelle for ten years.

“We had a really good time in Rozelle –

people loved us, they welcomed us and it

was a real community experience. When

we decided to relocate we wanted to find a

similar environment. Summer Hill is full of

families with kids as well as professionals.

There is still a community feeling there,

which is what I love. The people of

Summer Hill were very welcoming to us

and the community is supporting us in

the competition. The best thing is that our

regular customers from Rozelle have actually

followed us to Summer Hill so we have a lot

of support from them as well,” he said.

At the competition in Singapore, points

for each gelato flavour were calculated by

combining public votes with scores that were

made by a panel of judges. The judges were

both media personalities and an expert jury

of prominent chefs who scored based on

flavour, structure and appearance. Although

Gelatony didn’t place in the top three, the

Special Mention was awarded by the head of

the expert jury Justin Quek, chef of Sky on

57, one of the most prestigious restaurants in

Singapore. Gelatony’s flavour was Lemon Zest

with Fig Marmalade and Dark Chocolate.

The award takes into consideration not only

the overall taste of the gelato but also the

temperature, ascertaining that it is not too

hard or too soft. The inventiveness of the

flavour, the technique shown and a balance

between ingredients is also important.

Lo Iacono and his family are proud of the

award and rightly so. Lo Iacono explained:

“My father first taught me to make gelato in

Sicily because I am originally from Italy. Now

I have also taught my daughter and wife to

make gelato so it really runs in the family.

They are both with me at the competition

because the family is always there for

support. That’s what Italians do, we stick with

each other when we need to.”

With a total of 16 flavours on offer at Gelatony,

the Fig, Dark Chocolate and Lemon zest

combination was chosen for the competition

because Lo Iacono has a love for making

homemade jams. This particular fig

jam is made from a recipe that

has been passed down

from his mamma.

The sweetness

of the jam

combined

with the

sourness

of the

lemon

zest

and

rich

dark

chocolate

is what

won over

the highly

regarded

chefs. These artisan gelati are so special

because everything is made from scratch

to create a fresh product packed with real

ingredients.

The Gelato World Tour is run by the

masters from Carpigiani Gelato University

and SIGEP, the international exhibition for

confectionary products and it is the first

competition to showcase artisanal gelato

products in venues around the world. The

top three competitors from each round of

the competition are invited to the finals to

compete for the grand title of Best Gelato

in the World. Fittingly, the finals take place

in the hometown of gelato, Rimini, Italy.

One team of finalists to watch out for in

Italy will be second-place winners from the

Singapore round, 48 Flavours gelataria from

Adelaide. Their scoop of Walnut and Honey

Crunch gelato got them to the finals.

John Crowl, owner of Cow and Moon in

Enmore, said that the effect of winning last

year’s competition were instantaneous. They

were announced as the winner in the late

evening in Italian time meaning it was early

morning in Sydney. A line immediately

began to form outside the shop and John’s

wife Wendy had to deal with a constantly

buzzing phone line. Before they knew it

there were television cameras waiting at

the door and a whirlwind of customers

clamouring for their award-winning gelato.

“The win wasn’t expected, there were so

many great flavours at the finals. The only

hint was that I had bird droppings fall on

my shoulder two mornings in a row during

the competition. My son and I looked at

each other and thought, 'That has got to be

a lucky sign',” laughs Crowl.

There must be some truth to the Italian

superstition because people still line up

today for scoops of the winning flavour,

Mandorla Affogato.

■ Phoebe Tilelli

ICE CREAM VERSUS GELATO

People often wonder what the difference

is between ice cream and gelato. You may

be surprised how very different they are!

Gelato is made fresh every day with natural

ingredients, meaning it has significantly

less calories and sugar than ice cream.

Typically, gelato contains half the fat of ice

cream and is also high in proteins, calcium

and vitamin B2, so a moment on the lips

does not mean a lifetime on your hips.

Gelato is traditionally served at a much

higher temperature. Where you might find

ice cream rock hard when trying to scoop

it from the container (often bending your

kitchen spoons) gelato should be much

softer. In the production of gelato less air is

incorporated into the mixture so you will

notice a more dense and creamy product

when compared to the much airier and

fluffier ice creams. This also means that

when you purchase a cup of gelato you are

getting more bang for your buck, with no

air bubbles bulking up your scoop!

TURE

of support from them as well,” he said.

At the competition in Singapore, points

for each gelato flavour were calculated

combining public votes with scores that

THE WORLD

IN

A WAFFLE

-CONE

Mirko Stortini from team Italia!

Summer Hill's Antonino Lo Iacono

ENMORE GELATARIA COW AND MOON TOOK THE CROWN FOR THE 'WORLD'S BEST GELATO' LAST YEAR

“MY FATHER FIRST TAUGHT ME TO MAKE GELATO IN SICILY"

“THE WIN WASN'T EXPECTED, THERE WERE SO MANY GREAT FLAVOURS IN THE FINALS"