SmartFood is project led by Ieo (the European Institue of Oncology) and is aimed at identifying, in foods of plant origin, the components which play a beneficial role to our health, and to educate consumers about a healthy and preventative diet. The Carpigiani Gelato University has married these concepts into the course “Il gelato SmartFood” (The SmartFood ice cream). The idea was born from the imagination of Donna Brown, lifestyle designer, writer and cookery lover. “The desire to eat better with healthier ingredients that are aimed at prevention has become a priority” explains Brown. “My experience with the Carpigiani Gelato University and with the Ieo inspired me to try to create exquisitely healthy ice creams and sorbets: the ingredients are used in such a way to enable a reduction of between 30% and 60% of added sugar. Furthermore, the raw materials of these new flavors work in an active way for our health. Ice cream is a food well rooted in Italian culinary tradition so instead of trying to get people to give up this pleasure, it is better to make it as healthy as possible. Flavor is a quality that cannot be compromised.”
It is a fact that in the last few years there has been more and more of a demand for balanced foods that are healthy from a nutritional point of view: in short, healthier foods but without giving up the flavor and goodness of tradition (this is discussed in the October 2013 issue of Dolcesalato). It is from these new requirements that derives the will to create a course which responds to these new trends, which see diet and lifestyle at the foundation of wellbeing and this is the story even in the ice cream sector.
The “Il gelato SmartFood” course will give the basic knowledge necessary to develop a line of ice creams with specific health characteristics, rigorously certified by SmartFood, paying particular attention to the nutritional quality of the raw materials and the preparation techniques of the ice creams. This will allow the professionals to offer a nutritionally healthier alternative to their consumers and at the same time maintain a strong link with the classical gastronomic tradition. The recipes to be presented have been created by Donna Brown in collaboration with Gianpaolo Valli, senior lecturer of the Carpigiani Gelato University. The lessons will be carried out by Gianpaolo Valli and also by Lucilla Titta, nutritionist for Fondazione Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (European Institute of Oncology Foundation). “I have always been interested in nutrition, and addressing this aspect in the field of artisan ice cream is very stimulating for me” explains Gianpaolo Valli. “We have been able to create a course which offers the possibility of formulating a good and flavorful artisan ice cream that is also … nutroceutical! Such a result is also going to ultimately confirm that ice cream is a healthy food, capable of simultaneously delivering feelings of joy as well as those nutrients indispensable for good health”.
The course, which lasts two days, has being conducted in both Italian and English at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Anzola dell’Emilia (Bologna). It is aimed at expert ice cream makers who wish to widen their range of flavors on offer to the public, but also to aspiring ice cream makers who want to keep up to date with the most revolutionary goings on in the ice cream sector.