The small workshop at the foot of Montgrí where the best ice creams in the world come from.

UllàAngelo Corvitto is an institution in the world of ice cream. Born in Sicily in 1943 but based in the Empordà region for practically his entire life, he was awarded the prestigious award for best ice cream maker in the world in 2006. A master and godfather to renowned pastry chefs such as Jordi Roca, throughout his career he has become renowned everywhere as a great promoter of the qualities and virtues of this typical summer dessert. Corvitto began making ice cream without pretension or great aspirations, self-taught, in a small workshop in Torroella de Montgrí in 1982. From this emerged his own brand—Helats Angelo—which is still operating today, with the same seal of quality and artisanal production, under the direction of his son, Hervé Corvit.

With his father now retired, Hervé runs the business from a well-equipped workshop at the foot of Montgrí Castle, in the municipality of Ullà, connected to Torroella. Takeaway tubs of all kinds are available there, but apart from this small counter, the family business has no store of its own. Everything is distributed to third parties: through the display cases of several ice cream shops in emblematic locations along the Costa Brava (in Barcelona, They also arrive exceptionally at the Casa Sanzano ice cream parlor) or in gourmet storesfrom the Girona region that have the packaged product. The remaining production is then for restaurants in Catalonia, as well as some in the rest of Spain and Andorra, which complement their menus (both sweet and savory) with flavors often tailored to each restaurateur's requests. "We can even make two different varieties of the same flavor. For example, we have one restaurant that wants wasabi ice cream, but serves it with a large scoop and therefore requests a less powerful flavor; while another only serves a small scoop and prefers a much more concentrated flavor," explains Hervé Corvitto.

The awards attest to the quality of their ice creams. The taste of the original product is easily recognizable, without artificial imitations or cloying substitutes. The texture is creamy and smooth, never gritty or tinged with ice crystals. The scoop is easy to form, withstanding temperature and long-term storage in home freezers. Classic flavors stand out, such as vanilla, with traces of the original brownish flavor; chocolate, with a good dose of cocoa; or stracciatella, richly filled with chocolate chips. Also popular are fruit varieties, such as strawberry, mango with raspberry, or coconut, which are easy to lick and suitable for vegans; or more original flavors, such as toffee, mascarpone with figs, mojito, rose petals, or violet. The assortment is then rounded out by all kinds of truly innovative and exotic creations, featuring seafood, anchovy, olive oil, asparagus, or mushrooms, which are sent to restaurants at the chefs' specific request. "The first thing my father taught me is that ice cream isn't a summer refreshment, but a food. He told me that we put milk, cream, powdered milk, a variety of sugars, the natural chocolate component, lemon juice, mandarin orange juice, strawberries... these are foods. And the special thing is food. And the special thing is food. Corvitto.

Angelo Corvitto, from working in a restaurant to an international reputation

Angelo Corvitto arrived in Torroella de Montgrí in the late 1970s, practically by chance. The son of an Italian family that emigrated to France during the post-war period in Europe, as a young man he worked for a large oven company that organized summer camps in l'Estartit. There, he settled in an inn in Torroella, run by the mother of his future wife, Dolors. They became friends, later a couple, until he decided to settle permanently in this village in the heart of the Empordà.

When his parents died, the couple took over the reins of the inn, and Angelo went to work in the kitchen, where he learned to make all kinds of dishes, asking questions and trying them out. When it came to making dessert, he would ask the bakery across the street how to make the cakes. With one exception: ice cream, for which no one knew (or wanted) to tell him the recipe. "That shocked him until he decided to make his own ice cream. His ice creams started out as dessert at the inn, but they were so popular that he found other restaurants coming to him, until he decided to open a café-ice cream shop next door. That also went very well, and he finally decided to dedicate himself to it in 1986," recalls Hervé Corvitto.

In 2000, Hervé joined his father's bakery. He was already familiar with the job, but had taken other paths: he studied economics at Bellaterra with the prospect of a career as an auditor. "My father told me he wanted to dedicate himself to outreach and teaching, but he didn't want the bakery to end up here. So, having already worked in the café as a child and already interested in the ice cream world, I remained as a relief, learning with my father and then on my own," he says. In 2012, the Torroella bakery in Plaça Espanya became too small, and the family business moved to Ullà, to a more industrial area, better suited to the entry and exit of ice cream trucks.

The alchemy of a good ice cream

From 2000 to today, mechanics and technology have evolved significantly. But for Hervé, although new machines streamline processes, the biggest change in recent years has been the evolution in the variety of foods and products used to make the formulas. "What we have improved a lot is the number of ingredients suitable for ice cream. About 10 years ago, plant fibers weren't mentioned, items that are now absolutely common; when my father started, there were only three sugars," he explains. He adds: "The key to being a good ice cream maker is knowing how to balance. The essence of everything is the balance of the mix. Each ingredient involved has a function; we must understand it and adapt it to our tastes and needs."

Over the years, the company has grown progressively, but to maintain the seal of quality, Hervé is clear that they cannot grow industrially. "We're a bakery, not a factory. Here we know our distributors and suppliers firsthand, and we work with the product manually, cleaning the apples, blending the pineapples, making the cinnamon and thyme infusions ourselves, and steeping the coffee," he says. And regarding his background as an economist, he concludes: "Numbers aren't enough; I didn't learn to manage a business properly until I learned to be an ice cream maker."