We’re in the paper! Check out the Fresh section of today’s West Australian (Thursday, April 18, 2013):
Ice-cream of champions
Winning gold at the Perth Royal Show for his wife’s salted caramel ice-cream in 2009 was the start of a cult following for York Olive Oil founder Arnaud Courtin – and the medals just keep rolling in.
“Danielle and I bought a little Sunbeam ice-cream maker for about $300 and decided to enter the ice-cream as a bit of a laugh,” Mr Courtin said. “I knew nothing about ice-cream at the time.
“We used to make it mainly for friends and neighbours and they were like ‘Wow!’ so we decided to start selling it in little pots and we can’t keep up with demand. We sold 1050 pots just last week.
“But we want to stay small. I don’t want to compromise on quality.”
Here is a story of true artisanal ice-cream making at its best. Mr Courtin imported a machine from an established American company, dug out old recipe books from France and painstakingly researched ingredients to ensure each flavour hit the mark.
Their recipe is based on a traditional custard base of eggs, (Harvey Fresh) milk and cream, blended by hand and stabilised with a seaweed extract rather than gelatine.
“This is how ice-cream is made in Britanny” (Mr Courtin’s French birthplace), he said. “We make the caramel ourselves and add just a touch of Maldon salt which transforms the flavour completely.”
Licorice ice-cream is their latest creation and it’s a cracker.
“I’m not normally a fan of licorice,” he said. “It sticks to your teeth and it’s too strong for me. We did try it with a local product, but in the end the best result came from using Pontefract Cakes, (little sweets that have been made for centuries in Pontefract, UK) and I have to say I’m surprised at how good it is.
“The best thing about ice-cream is that you have a 100 per cent success rate every time. It makes people smile and it makes them happy.”
The York Ice Cream Company’s ice-cream is available from their York Olive Oil retail shop, Fudo in Malaga and Penny Farthing Sweets in York. Visit yorkoliveoil.com.au.