#sigeptradeshow

“Sigep, the annual mega trade show in Rimini dedicated to gelato (and pastry, chocolate and coffee), Carpigiani — the leading manufacturer of gelato machines — unveiled a new technology to "defy the law of balancing." Come to a demonstration, the company beckoned, to see how to make previously "impossible" gelato or sorbet: flavors made with zero added sugars. 

"Why are we thinking to cancel sugar? Because we know about metabolic disease. Because we don't eat very well," said Valli, who then presented the simple no-sugar-added base he would turn into hazelnut gelato. He poured it into the machine, which did its magical balancing act while he gave a quick rundown on prepping a similar fruit sorbet.

"This gelato is unique, like a baby," said Valli, who wants people to remember that there are still a lot of unknowns. ("This knowledge arrived not years ago. Just one month ago.")

Indeed, anyone itching to find this gelato at a neighborhood scoop shop should probably chill. The technology is just rolling out — through new machines and software updates on older ones — and recipes will require finessing and experimenting. Plus, because of the temperature issue, shops selling the stuff will need a separate display cabinet.

And there was something else worth noting: All of the recipes Carpigiani presented at Sigep, including the fruit sorbets, featured a tiny bit of what Valli calls "intensive sweetness," in this case, an Italian product called Diete.Tic. The structure is perfect without it, he promises, but one consequence of cutting all of the sugar out of a recipe is that the taste suffers. So, in his 3,500-gram batches of gelato — which would normally have 700 grams of sugar — there were just 10 grams of this intensive sweetness.

Polling a few pros in the crowd after the session, they said lack of flavor was a problem even with the additional ingredient. "To get to the perfect product, it still needs a lot of work. But I love the idea of it..."