Gold medal-winning ice creams

In May Renáta Somogyi won Ice Cream of the Year with her delicious raspberry. Our magazine interviewed the confectioner, who will soon earn a degree in economics and food engineering.

Renáta Somogyi

All of them, but probably the special award I won at the world championship for my ‘il mio cioccolato’ ice cream is the closest to my heart. I have decided to take a small break now, but next year I will be there at the European Championship for confectioners younger than 30 years, which will take place within the framework of the Gelato Festival – we qualified for that this spring with ‘Amore Siciliano’. Basically everything that I know about being a confectioner. My family has a pioneering spirit, we play close attention to the latest trends, be it flavours or technology. However, we do like the flavours of the good old days in our products, too. I make my professional decisions together with my parents. I think what matters isn’t one’s age but their attitude to the profession. The role of the new generation is to pass on the knowledge of our parents. However, everyone needs to find their own professional path. First and foremost I am an economist, but as a confectioner I will make more use of the knowledge acquired at the food engineering faculty of Szent István University – I will graduate next year as a chocolate-coffee-tea major. Inspiration can come from anywhere, it can be food, a cake or a cocktail. The secret is to keep our eyes open. We pay special attention to innovation because people like to try new flavours: our experience is that 7 from 10 guests are interested in new ice cream varieties. There is no doubt that world trends need to be followed, the question is: To what extent? It is important to use local ingredients. Low-carb and sugar-free ingredients are definitely gaining ground. //