It's Taila Semeraro of Ciccio ice cream shop in Piazza di Ostuni (BR), the winner of video contest organized by Artglace one of the events preceding the tenth edition of Gelato Day, which takes place every year throughout Europe on 24 March.
The competition was based on a short 90 second video in which the preparation of the Taste of the Year, the Mantecadofollowing the official recipe. They took second place Luca Coccè of Peccati di Gola ice cream shop of Gallarate (VA) and third Andrew Lunardon of Temptations ice cream shop of Soave (VR).
From the numerous contents received for the contest, some of the characteristics that distinguish the art of master gelato makers in Italy and abroad emerged: with their own videos, the participants, arrived from all over Italy and all over Europe ‒ with also an out of competition from Colombia ‒ have opened the doors of their laboratories. The competition turned out to be a journey to discover the best traditions: among the fields and cows of Imola, among the white houses of Ostuni, among the orange groves of Salerno. The story of the entire ice cream supply chain was revealed through images: from farms to farmers, from machinery to counters, each person showed a world in which attention to every detail, care for each ingredient, the inspiration that guides the hands of the ice cream maker to create a culinary masterpiece are elements capable of uniting people even thousands and thousands of kilometers away but guided by a passion that has been transmitted for centuries, from generation to generation.
The large participation in the Gelato Day contest is clear signal of recovery and growth of the confirmed supply chain by the SIGEP Observatory for the first half of 2021, which found a increase in the consumption of homemade ice cream around 15% compared to the same period last year. Certainly a significant figure, although not yet at the pre-pandemic pace. If, in fact, the months of May and June 2021 record levels almost equal to the same months of 2019, during this first half of the year the best trends have so far been recorded in central and southern Italy (Rome attests +22%, Calabria +20%), with unfortunately still negative data for the large Italian tourist cities, which feel the lack of foreign tourists as in the past. It is a sector that has a significant economic impact: in 2019, the artisan gelato supply chain was worth over 39 companies for an annual turnover of 4,2 billion and 75 direct employees, including ice cream parlors with production and only resales.
If summer therefore means more ice cream consumption, from the oldest to the youngest in the hot season we are a little more predisposed to experience new tastes and flavours. As he tells Thomas Infanti of the Antiche Tentazioni ice cream parlor in Salvezzano di Dentro (PD), ice cream is a very versatile food that lends itself to even unusual combinations, such as the use of aromatic herbs and spices alongside both fruit and creams. It is therefore not surprising to find cones and cups with cheese, cod, beetroot or black carrot flavours.
La European Giornata of Gelato Artigianale it is the only day that the European Parliament has so far dedicated to a food. Celebrated on 24 March each year in all European countries, with events, meetings and initiatives aimed at spreading the culture of artisan gelato, "Gelato Day" is a unique opportunity to contribute to the valorisation of this product, to the promotion of artisan knowledge and the development of the gastronomic tradition of the sector. A peculiarity of the "Gelato Day" is the "Taste of the Year", chosen each year by one of the participating countries: for the ninth edition of the Gelato Day on 24 March 2021 it will be the "Mantecado", an ancient vanilla cream with orange sauce , variegated with flakes of dark chocolate, selected from Spain.
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