Kiwis have always been among the world's biggest ice cream fans, and this year's Ice Cream and Gelato Awards promises to push the flavour boundaries.
Mince & Cheese Pie Gelato, Jelly Tip Brownie Gelato, Hokey Pokey Ice Cream and Kawakawa, Manuka Honey and Ginger Ice Cream are among the flavours being assessed, with creations being judged across 15 key categories.
Chief judge Geoff Scott had the job of taste-testing the flavours and he says this year's savoury flavours offer a different experience.
"I don't know if it's going to race off the shelves, but it's certainly really interesting."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So gone of the days when ice cream was vanilla,
chocolate and hokey pokey. Nowadays the boundaries are being pushed.
Mince and cheese pie gelato, anyone. Yesterday, many diverse flavors
were on display at the New Zealand ice Cream and
Gelato Awards. Chief Judge Jeff Scott has the job of
taste testing them, and he joins me, now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Good morning, how are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Very good? Thank you. Now, I know it might have
sounded like a little bit of a joke, but there
really was mince and cheese pie gelato. What does it
taste like.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
A Well, I've never had mince and cheese gelato before,
but boy did it punch a flavor.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It was just like eating the real thing.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I'm sort of slightly concerned by this. What was the
most out there flavor?
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Or was that it? Look there were quite a few
out there flavors this year, including a fur carture gelato
which tasted just like rosemary salt, and that lovely sort
of crispy caramelized bread olive oil topping honestly, there were
some really neat exciting new innovative flavors.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Sichuan chili crisp and whipped fee ice cream were another
couple that stood out to me.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah, I have to say, these flavors really do play
with your head because you sort of think about these
lovely savor flavors and then you put the gelato in
your mouth and you sort of your brain's telling you, hey,
this is ice cream, this is gelato, it's going to
be sweet, and then all of a sudden you get
these sort of funny, nostalgic salty flavors from you know
what you'd eat at a rugby game, right, and you
(01:57):
know the mince pie is suddenly ice cream. You're going, oh,
hang on, it doesn't feel quite right. But cleverly, these
manufacturers who have come up with these clever ideas have
really sort of struck a note. I don't know if
it's going to race off the shelves, but it's certainly
really interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So my question was that it might sound a bit strange,
but how do you eat these ice creams? I mean,
do you go and get yourself a double scoop cone
of mince and cheese pie? Gelato, or would it be
something that you would have on the side to go
with something else, like, you know, just a smaller amount
of these more unique flavors.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Look, I really like your approach because everybody is going
to tackle this one differently. Certainly some of these flavors
would be perfect. You know, if you're walking along the
beach and you stop at a scoop shop and you think, oh,
you know, I don't really want to go for chocolate today,
I want to try something different. Then that's when you'd
go for a lovely big scoop of your mince and cheese,
(02:54):
and you're just going to have so much fun and
so much conversation because it's just so wacky, and you know,
you'd normally be on.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Your hoky poky or something like that, and then all
of a sudden you're going, no, no, I get this.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I'm having my frozen mince and cheese with tomato sauce
and it tastes just like that. And then there's the
other flavors like the whipped fetto, which to me is
something that you'd have on the side. You know, you
might be having a nice dinner and you think, oh,
you know, just put a little scoop of that on
the side to go with this lovely dinner. And that's
where you're sort of getting into a bit more of
(03:29):
a gourmet experience.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
But look, I think the.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Great thing about ice cream and gelato and sawbets in
New Zealand is we are getting some lovely, new, fantastic
flavors and some really really beautiful ice creams and gelatos
which are just so different and so delicious that you've
got to try them.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
How do they get that flavor into an ice cream
or a gelato or does it just remain a mystery
to everybody.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Well, look, I come from a chefing background. I've cooked
all my life and worked in some amazing restaurants overseas,
which was, you know, such a privilege where all these
ice creams and sawbets that we made in these top
restaurants were sort of handmade with real fruit and you
just you know, bought the best quality fruit at its
absolute peak and then turned it into either a delicious
(04:21):
salt or ice cream. Now, the challenge, of course, for
these producers, they're not just making two or three little
portions per night. They're making large amounts of delicious saubet
gelato that can be served at scoop shops and restaurants
and hotels and all over the country, and some are
even exported. So you need to look at this on
a big scale, and as a judge, what we're looking
(04:44):
for is obviously a really creamy, wonderful example, but it
comes down to primarily the flavor. Does it taste like
what it says it is. Take, for example, kiwi fruit
or strawberry. You really want to taste the absolute, pure,
delicious fruit as you would imagine you'd sort of picked
(05:04):
it off the tree or picked it out of the field.
And this is the challenge, and this is where I
think our producers are getting really really good at it.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Good to hear jeef two hundred and sixty six entries.
Do you have to try them all?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Well?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I actually am lucky I don't have to try every
single one, which is a blessing because I would have
popped and I would honestly, you do get what's called
the nastiest ice cream headache in the world if you
eat and if you swallow every single sample. So my
job actually is to look after a team of twenty
(05:41):
four very experienced palettes and those twenty four judges have
the job of tasting all the different categories, of which
there were fifteen separate categories, and all samples divided up
equally amongst the team, and their job is to carefully
and very very focused go through every single sample and
(06:03):
assess in award points.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Is a bit random, Jeef, But I was sent a
photo of you mid testing yesterday and it looked like
you had a bowl of chips in front of you,
and I was curious as to whether that was just
a snack for the testers or whether you use chippies
as a sort of palette cleanser of salts.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Well, it's a really good question, and often, you know,
if you think about wine tasting judges, when they cleanse
their palettes, they like to have a little bit of
bag at or a cracker. And when it comes to
tasting ice cream gelato, because they're predominantly sweet, the best
thing that you can do and eat in between your
samples is to have either a lovely plain a sort
(06:49):
of salted potato crisp, or a little salted snack cracker
or a water cracker. It's something that just with a
tiny bit of salt and warm water to help cleanse
your palate.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
See I learned something every day, Jef.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
A secret it's been.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Great to chat with you.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
And Medal winners will be announced on August the twelfth,
with the trophy winners named at the New Zealand ice
Cream and Gelato Awards gala party on the twenty eighth.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks A B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So gone of the days when ice cream was vanilla,
chocolate and hokey pokey. Nowadays the boundaries are being pushed.
Mince and cheese pie gelato, anyone. Yesterday, many diverse flavors
were on display at the New Zealand ice Cream and
Gelato Awards. Chief Judge Jeff Scott has the job of
taste testing them, and he joins me, now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Good morning, how are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Very good? Thank you. Now, I know it might have
sounded like a little bit of a joke, but there
really was mince and cheese pie gelato. What does it
taste like.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
A Well, I've never had mince and cheese gelato before,
but boy did it punch a flavor.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It was just like eating the real thing.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I'm sort of slightly concerned by this. What was the
most out there flavor?
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Or was that it? Look there were quite a few
out there flavors this year, including a fur carture gelato
which tasted just like rosemary salt, and that lovely sort
of crispy caramelized bread olive oil topping honestly, there were
some really neat exciting new innovative flavors.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Sichuan chili crisp and whipped fee ice cream were another
couple that stood out to me.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah, I have to say, these flavors really do play
with your head because you sort of think about these
lovely savor flavors and then you put the gelato in
your mouth and you sort of your brain's telling you, hey,
this is ice cream, this is gelato, it's going to
be sweet, and then all of a sudden you get
these sort of funny, nostalgic salty flavors from you know
what you'd eat at a rugby game, right, and you
(01:57):
know the mince pie is suddenly ice cream. You're going, oh,
hang on, it doesn't feel quite right. But cleverly, these
manufacturers who have come up with these clever ideas have
really sort of struck a note. I don't know if
it's going to race off the shelves, but it's certainly
really interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So my question was that it might sound a bit strange,
but how do you eat these ice creams? I mean,
do you go and get yourself a double scoop cone
of mince and cheese pie? Gelato, or would it be
something that you would have on the side to go
with something else, like, you know, just a smaller amount
of these more unique flavors.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Look, I really like your approach because everybody is going
to tackle this one differently. Certainly some of these flavors
would be perfect. You know, if you're walking along the
beach and you stop at a scoop shop and you think, oh,
you know, I don't really want to go for chocolate today,
I want to try something different. Then that's when you'd
go for a lovely big scoop of your mince and cheese,
(02:54):
and you're just going to have so much fun and
so much conversation because it's just so wacky, and you know,
you'd normally be on.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Your hoky poky or something like that, and then all
of a sudden you're going, no, no, I get this.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I'm having my frozen mince and cheese with tomato sauce
and it tastes just like that. And then there's the
other flavors like the whipped fetto, which to me is
something that you'd have on the side. You know, you
might be having a nice dinner and you think, oh,
you know, just put a little scoop of that on
the side to go with this lovely dinner. And that's
where you're sort of getting into a bit more of
(03:29):
a gourmet experience.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
But look, I think the.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Great thing about ice cream and gelato and sawbets in
New Zealand is we are getting some lovely, new, fantastic
flavors and some really really beautiful ice creams and gelatos
which are just so different and so delicious that you've
got to try them.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
How do they get that flavor into an ice cream
or a gelato or does it just remain a mystery
to everybody.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Well, look, I come from a chefing background. I've cooked
all my life and worked in some amazing restaurants overseas,
which was, you know, such a privilege where all these
ice creams and sawbets that we made in these top
restaurants were sort of handmade with real fruit and you
just you know, bought the best quality fruit at its
absolute peak and then turned it into either a delicious
(04:21):
salt or ice cream. Now, the challenge, of course, for
these producers, they're not just making two or three little
portions per night. They're making large amounts of delicious saubet
gelato that can be served at scoop shops and restaurants
and hotels and all over the country, and some are
even exported. So you need to look at this on
a big scale, and as a judge, what we're looking
(04:44):
for is obviously a really creamy, wonderful example, but it
comes down to primarily the flavor. Does it taste like
what it says it is. Take, for example, kiwi fruit
or strawberry. You really want to taste the absolute, pure,
delicious fruit as you would imagine you'd sort of picked
(05:04):
it off the tree or picked it out of the field.
And this is the challenge, and this is where I
think our producers are getting really really good at it.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Good to hear jeef two hundred and sixty six entries.
Do you have to try them all?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Well?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I actually am lucky I don't have to try every
single one, which is a blessing because I would have
popped and I would honestly, you do get what's called
the nastiest ice cream headache in the world if you
eat and if you swallow every single sample. So my
job actually is to look after a team of twenty
(05:41):
four very experienced palettes and those twenty four judges have
the job of tasting all the different categories, of which
there were fifteen separate categories, and all samples divided up
equally amongst the team, and their job is to carefully
and very very focused go through every single sample and
(06:03):
assess in award points.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Is a bit random, Jeef, But I was sent a
photo of you mid testing yesterday and it looked like
you had a bowl of chips in front of you,
and I was curious as to whether that was just
a snack for the testers or whether you use chippies
as a sort of palette cleanser of salts.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Well, it's a really good question, and often, you know,
if you think about wine tasting judges, when they cleanse
their palettes, they like to have a little bit of
bag at or a cracker. And when it comes to
tasting ice cream gelato, because they're predominantly sweet, the best
thing that you can do and eat in between your
samples is to have either a lovely plain a sort
(06:49):
of salted potato crisp, or a little salted snack cracker
or a water cracker. It's something that just with a
tiny bit of salt and warm water to help cleanse
your palate.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
See I learned something every day, Jef.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
A secret it's been.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Great to chat with you.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
And Medal winners will be announced on August the twelfth,
with the trophy winners named at the New Zealand ice
Cream and Gelato Awards gala party on the twenty eighth.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks A B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.