food & drink
MEET THE PRODUCERS In the first of a new feature, we speak to some of the local makers behind some of the region's finest produce. First up is JANE LEAR from Lacock Dairy.
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acock Dairy create luxury gelato ice cream, handmade in Wiltshire using milk from the Selves' Farm dairy herd. Lovejoys Wholesale is their only wholesale distributors with lots of the pubs, restaurants and hotels they supply using it on their menus and shops stocking it for resale. Why is Lacock Dairy called gelato and not ice cream and what is the difference between the two? Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, but there’s a big difference between the soft, smooth texture and clean taste of gelato compared to traditional ice cream. It comes down to these factors: fat, sugar, air and serving temperature. Gelato has less fat: it uses more milk than cream – ice cream uses more cream than milk. That also means that you get more flavour and a cleaner mouthfeel with gelato. Gelato has less air: it is churned more slowly in small
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batches in our Italian Carpigiani machines. Some traditional ice creams made in a factory can have very high levels of air incorporated - it makes it easier to scoop, but it melts quickly -and air is pure profit! Gelato is usually served at a higher temperature than ice cream (it is best served at -13°C) and it has a super smooth texture. What's more, our gelato has less added sugar: the milk that the Lacock herd produces is very sweet and so we have reduced the amount of added sugar Gelato has a dense, milky texture which is much lighter than
the fat-heavy traditional ice cream. It also has a more intense flavour as there is less cold fat to coat the tongue, so flavours come through quickly and then melt away leaving a clean mouth. So, you get more pleasure per mouthful with gelato Have you always been interested in gelato? In eating it, yes! I am a scientist by background though and do not have any
