• Small Talk

2017.10.13

Ever since I were a small child, I have never seen ice cream being served by anything other than a scoop. Round shape ice-cream scoops in a waffle cone always make my mouth water.

However, if you’ve ever entered Premarche Gelateria, you’ll notice that we don’t use the typical ice-cream scoops.
Instead we use spatulas, spade-like shaped flat steel tools with cylinder handles.
You may wonder why, and of course there are reasons behind this.

First of all, it’s the difference between gelato and ice-cream.
Gelato uses less fat and needs less air churned into it than ice-cream, which means you’ll get a creamier and denser product. Gelato is also more flavorful than ice cream, as the lower fat content and serving temperature allow you to truly experience the flavors without feeling too numb on your tongue.
Because of its difference in content and texture, we have to use a spatula to soften up the gelato, by sliding some gelato to the side of the container, and then kneading it until it become more smooth and ready to serve.

The other reason is the visual effect spatulas can bring. The spatula helps to create creamy waves on the gelato before you press it on a cone or into a cup, which makes it visually appealing and truly give gelato its artisanal feel.

That explained why a spatula is the preferred way to serve gelato rather than using a traditional ice-cream scoop. Now you can distinguish gelato and ice-cream just by looking at the way it being served.

At the moment we have about 40 flavours at the Gelateria, which means we use 40 spatulas everyday to avoide cross contamination of the flavours. And the best time is when we clean the spatulas at the end of the day and are allowed to eat the gelato left on each spatula by spoons.

It took me a lot of time to get used to using the spatulas and become skillful at kneading the gelato. Actually I still find it difficult with hard gelato flavours, especially when the gelato have just been taken out of the freezer. I’m practicing everyday with the hope that I can make our customers smile with tasty and beautiful cups of gelato.

At our Gelateria, you can have a seat while waiting and we will bring your gelato to your table. But why not try staying and watch our artists serving the gelato for once, you will not regret it.