Premium story, second chapter: Ice creams and wine

In one of the best pizzerias in Zagreb, “Chateau des Jardins”, located on Tkalčićeva Street, the second premium story was held yesterday, organized by the association for the culture of salt G.E.T. In addition to the unquestionable quality of the pizzas, this pizzeria exceptionally supports the wine story, thus providing a wonderful backdrop for the narrated tale. This time, premium wines from Kutjeva d.d., a constant companion in the project, were paired with premium ice creams Gelati D’Oro – NATURA.

At the very beginning, Maximo brut, an excellent sparkling wine from Kutjeva d.d., was served. “Maximo brut is a sparkling wine made using the traditional method, 100% from graševina, to which instead of expedition liqueur, an ice harvest of graševina has been added. This gives it a special note of sweetness and it pairs excellently with light desserts, which these ice creams undoubtedly are,” explained sommelier Aleksandar Noršić.

No one actually knows exactly how ice cream was created, but the story about it dates back to China, 3000 BC, and there is a tale that ice cream arrived in Europe through Marco Polo’s expeditions. Interestingly, there are records that during the Persian War, the commander Alexander the Great refreshed his troops with ice cream that was a mixture of cooled ice and sugar, while the Egyptians enjoyed ice cream in a different way. In the time of the pharaohs, ice cream was mainly made using camel milk along with cream or yogurt, which, after adding candied fruits and nuts, was frozen and served as a special delicacy.

The story about ice creams was introduced to us by nutritionist master Diana Gluhak: “Although ancient peoples knew how to sweeten deliciously, we actually do not often have the opportunity to try some special, functional ice creams, which besides excellent nutritional value also have great taste. Such are the ice creams Gelati d’Oro.” She explained the difference between “ordinary” ice creams and gelato. “Gelato is often thought to be the Italian word for ice cream, but it actually refers to super-ice cream. Namely, gelato is significantly denser, so it does not need to be frozen at very low temperatures, has a creamy structure, and significantly better nutritional values. Likewise, Gelati d’Oro NATURA are tested gluten-free products, and the one with strawberry flavor is also suitable for vegans,” she explained and added information that will delight all ice cream lovers: “Did you know that gelato is recommended as a quality snack? Besides being a source of calcium, quality proteins from milk or rice (depending on how it is made), these ice creams also contain chicory, which is a very valuable source of dietary fibers that positively affect digestion. If you want to eat a dessert that has a good nutritional story behind it, Gelati d’Oro are gelato ice creams that will leave your taste buds delighted.”

The presented ice creams of the Gelati d’Oro brand, line NATURA, are a Croatian product. The manufacturer is the company Frigus vecla from the town of Krk (island of Krk). “Gelati d’Oro got its name from the name by which the ancient Romans called the island of Krk, Isola d’Oro – the island of gold. The ice cream from the NATURA line is a high-quality delicacy made from top-quality raw materials of exclusively natural origin,” said the owner of the company, Dalibor Jurina, adding: “The richness of flavors is achieved by using top-quality ingredients, such as strawberries from Vrgorac, Bourbon Madagascar BIO vanilla, Dominican BIO Fairtrade cocoa, Piemonte IGP hazelnuts… It contains no artificial colors, stabilizers, flavors, or emulsifiers. It has a lower sugar and fat content than regular ice cream and is gluten-free, as confirmed by the certificate.”

Thus, this is a delicacy in which you can enjoy a top-notch taste, and it is also completely natural!

In addition to the sparkling wine Maximo brut, there were also some premium wines from Kutjeva d.d, specifically Maximo Nero (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and syrah), de Gotho Crni Pinot, and graševina Turković, paired with the ice creams, but not through a glass. One of our best chefs, Belizar Miloš from the restaurant Agava, prepared reductions from the mentioned wines that, in combination with these ice creams, yielded fantastic results. All of this was still accompanied by Maximo brut in the glass. Thus, we showed that wines can be paired with food and cooking, not just consumed. Along with the wine-based reductions, it is particularly worth highlighting the emulsion of Torkul olive oil and orange.

Here are the ingredients used to make these delicious and nutritious reductions; perhaps we will give you an idea of how to make some yourself and refresh yourself further:

1. Maximo Nero, sugar, black pepper, vanilla pod
2. de Gotho Crni Pinot, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove
3. Graševina Turković, white wine, sugar, star anise, black pepper, clove
4. Aceto Balsamico bianco and strawberries
5. Torkul olive oil, orange
6. Marsala wine and figs

Finally, as the crown of the presentation, Katja and Kristijan Šragalj, the owners of the pizzeria “Chateau des Jardins“, prepared several pizzas and showed why they are among the best. Pizzas for every recommendation! We will not list them, but we invite you to come, return, and explore, and very soon you will be able to taste Gelati D’Oro – NATURA ice creams after pizza at their place. Of course, we recommend it – with a glass of sparkling wine.

Thus, we have sparklingly, as befits the end of the year, once again combined several premium products and ideas and told another wonderful, premium story.