From 14 to 26 November, the Tre Coni Gambero Rosso master ice cream maker Gianfrancesco Cutelli, owner of the De’ Coltelli ice cream parlor on the Arno riverside, will be the protagonist of a veritable ‘mission of taste’ supported and sponsored by the Embassy of the Ivory Coast, at the interior of the Gelato Contemporaneo advanced training event of which Cutelli is technical director. The aim is to spread and transmit the culture of Italian ice cream in the African country.

Together with a group of industry professionals, accompanied by Andrea Mecozzi, one of the leading Italian cocoa experts, during the first two days he visited the Tiassalè plantations, managed by Estelle Konan, head of the Yosran cooperative, the only woman at the head of the most important cooperative supplier of aromatic and organic cocoa in Africa traced in blockchain by the Italian company Trusty. From the same plantation came the cocoa with which last June the master had made the first mass ice cream completely traceable via QrCode from the farmer to the cup.

Alongside the farmers, Cutelli followed the cocoa harvesting and post-harvesting processes which, once back in Italy, will be transformed into ice cream. And with the sugary pulp in which the fresh cocoa is dipped, which was filtered and bottled on the spot, he made one of the granitas during the training day on 18 November. The heart of the mission was in fact the masterclass on contemporary gelato for local professionals.

“The secret of my ice cream is the selection of the best raw materials available – said Cutelli during the interview on national TV – and what I will teach Ivorian ice cream makers today is to make the most of the excellent ingredients they have available in their magnificent country, rich in agricultural products and biodiversity”.

And so during the training he made 4 slushes of: cocoa pulp, bananas, mango, cocoa mass and an alcoholic Bissap (a local drink based on hibiscus flowers and pineapple) and again, starting from tropical lemons, a slush and an ice cream to explain the difference in texture and construction of the two products. On Friday evening instead at the Bushman Cafè, an exclusive venue in Abidjan which houses the largest contemporary art gallery in West Africa, the Ivorian ambassador Samuel Ouattara, the ambassador of the EU Francesca Di Mauro and senior local officials.

The mission will end next Friday. The ice cream parlor will close for seasonal rest on November 22nd. And on the 21st there will be the possibility to access the 2X1 offer to stock up on one of the most famous ice creams in the world.