"Wow, wow!" were the comments made by all the students at our recent Ice Cream University seminars just completed at the Ice Cream University Culinary Institute in West Orange, New Jersey and at the San Francisco Baking Institute, South San Francisco, California, with our guest instructor Giacomo Schiavon of La Sorbetteria, Bologna, Italy.

Because of the fantastic response to Giacomo's first trip to the USA in 2007 where over 49 students were wowed with his expertise, we brought him back. Giacomo is a master gelato maker who practices his amazing art at his gelateria in Bologna. We are to have him, He is one of the best we have encountered in Italy. He showed us how his passion for the art of gelato making can be translated for us to a new level. His trip to the USA was a partnership with Carpigiani USA and Ice Cream University.

This year's workshops attracted 23 participants from around the country who wanted to learn more about gelato making. With the help of Bill Lambert and Malcolm Stogo of Ice Cream University, Giacomo demonstrated his approach to creating his vanilla and chocolate bases and some of his outstanding classical Bolognese flavors like Ricotta Cheese gelato with a Fig Variegate and his Italian version of what we call Tiramisu using Mascarpone cheese.

Let me tell you something about him and his renowned gelateria in Bologna, La Sorbertteria. When I first walked into his shop several years ago, I felt something that is hard to explain. It was the anticipation that I was going to experience something that I was not prepared for. And then it hit me when I tasted his pistachio for which he makes his own paste. It had the most extraordinary flavor. It was smooth and clean but with a burst of pure pistachio flavor that is exceptional. It was a WOW experience, which I have always wanted to share with my students. Take it from me, you have never tasted such flavor anywhere, and everyone who attended our recent workshops said the same thing, "WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!"

Ice Cream University is the educational arm of Malcolm Stogo Associates founded by Malcolm Stogo, a renowned international ice cream consultant and author of five books on ice cream production, marketing and getting into the business.