Sorbettino

Sorbettino

it arrived very strongly with no warning in January 2017 after dining with my benjamin son, Vicente? but nothing emerges from nothing. if you travel in your memories you will find the origin. i remember, so very young, walking in the woods in Cabril with my parents and rubbing my hands on pine cones. falling asleep with that scent would take me back into the woods. even today, as a grown up, i do not clean my hands after peeling a tangerine. and i still use that technique leaving the sea salt on my body after surfing and time travel before sleep, in the azores, where i spent most of my life chasing fish, cows and waves, and more recently watched my two sons - Rodrigo, the eldest - developing. identifying the ingredients. getting back home fast and recreating. perhaps that is why i became a scientist, mixing molecules and playing with genes. perhaps i should have been a chef. but in all truth we all have a bit of chefs in us. i cooked and discovered so much during my doctorate in cambridge university, immersed in an universe of science and smart people from every corner of the world as egger to share their cooking skills as i. i will never forget receiving a phone call from massimiliano galdiero telling me to gather people late on a sunday evening because he had gone to his buffalo farm south of napoli early hours and was carrying on the plane a few kilos of fresh mozarela that had to be eaten with fresh tomato that very evening for full aroma and taste. but why gelato. i love eating gelato, who does not, but knew nothing about it. as farther as i can remember, i would put grapes in the freezer and let them be just till the first ice crystals formed with constant opening and closing to my Mama despair. that was, as much close to creating gelato i ever came. the sensation of coolness and texture from ice crystals melting and releasing the sweetness, acidity and terroir - very yellow, muscat grapes worked the best - was second to none, and well worth the freezer fights with Mama. then comes, Bologna, Carpigiani gelato university and the great maestri gelatieri Stefano Tarquinio, my mentor. he taught me that the most important ingredient in gelato is water. that making gelato is all about numbers, balancing ingredients and biochemistry. but above all, making gelato is about the love for mixing high quality ingredients and creating something with beautiful taste and texture. so, come May and Sorbettino materializes, and during this intense short period i was fortunate to have the friendship of Manuel the business man, Filipe the architect, and Alex the brand cook, all old timers and wave riding adventurers. to them, i am so very grateful for letting me experiment. i hope you enjoy my gelato, which is just starting and i wish it will evolve into something you experience Sublime. joão pedro, Chiado May 8, 2017
professional scientist, keen sportsman and now aspiring gelato maker. hey, i am also experimenting with chocolate.