Top Gong

Record-breaking numbers have been recorded at the 37^th edition of Sigep, Europe’s largest showcase for artisan gelato, confectionery and bakery sectors, where the Australian national team held its own among the world’s best.

Held in Rimini Fiera, Italy, the world hub for artisan confectionery production and catering, the expo hosted more than 500 events including the Gelato World Cup, the Pastry Queen event, Bread in the City, The Star of Chocolate and the Gelato World Tour.

Local favourites Italy were back on top gong of the world gelato podium at Sigep, bringing home the title from after being won by France in 2014. But it was the Australian team that rose through the ranks to take home third after being narrowly edged out by Spain.

It was an outstanding result for Le Cordon Bleu pastry chef Andre Sandison, Gelato Messina head chef Donato Toce, The Pastry Project chef Tiffany Jones, ice sculptor William Song and team manager and The Art of Gelato Michelangelo owner Martino Piccolo. Gelato Messina owner Nick Palumbo was the team’s technical assistant, while Oppenheimer’s Peter Sutton acted as facilitator.

The Aussie contingent competed against 13 teams made from 65 the world’s most seasoned gelato artisans from Argentina, Japan, Italy, Morocco, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the US, as well as new entries Chile, Uruguay and Singapore. The teams were required to showcase their skills across a number of individual categories, including a gelato cup with assorted flavours, a gelato cake and four types of chocolate petit fours with a maximum weight of 40g. Three hot finger foods also had to be matched with a savoury gelato, along with an ice sculpture and an ice baseboard with the inclusion of flowers, fruit, nuts, greens, spices and other edible ingredients. A brittle sculpture was also added to the 2016 competition list.

To further test creativity and flexibility the Mystery box trial challenged competitors to create a cone gelato flavour using ingredients only drawn and assigned at the beginning of the contest. Given Borsci amaro, an Italian, bittersweet liqueur that is commonly drunk as an after dinner digestif, Donato said the he wanted to keep the end product as simple as possible.

“I did a Zabaglione – an Italian custard dessert traditionally made with egg yolks, sugar and Marsala wine – using Borschi instead of Marsala,” Donato said.

“The gelato tasted like the eggy-liquor-based dessert and I added savoiardi biscuits (dry ‘ladyfinger’ biscuits used in dessert recipes such as tiramisu), which I made and soaked in a mandarin syrup with juice and zest. The citrus notes complemented the liquor as a piece of lemon compliments an Averna amaro.”

Congratulations to the top gong team for an outstanding effort!