Patrizia Pasqualetti is a master gelatiera umbra and custodian of a historical reality of the Italian artisan tradition. Grown up in a family that has devoted itself to ice cream for generations, he has been able to combine the experience inherited from his father with innovation. After refined the art of ice cream in the family laboratory, he brought the brand Gelato by Patrizia Pasqualetti in the United States, where today he guides several ice cream shops, including a new opening with Eataly in New York. His work combines loyalty to artisan recipes, attention to the sustainability of ingredients. We interviewed her for New York
What childhood or family memories have brought you closer to the world of homemade ice cream and to the culture of Italian taste?
For me, ice cream has always been, since childhood, a moment of joy and sharing. I remember afternoons in the countryside, from grandmothers or to the sea, when the best time was snack with ice cream. My family, actually, wasn’t born with ice cream. My father worked in Milan in the engine industry, far from the world of pastry. Then, after a sabbatical year spent traveling and discovering new horizons, he decided to follow a different passion: wanted to create something “clean and fragrant” that would bring people pleasure. A great fan of gastronomy, he often brought us, my sister and my mother, to discover the most interesting restaurants, getting in touch with great masters like Don Alfonso Iaccarino and Gualtiero Marchesi. I, a teenager, followed parallel humanistic studies in Letters and Philosophy, convinced that my career would be linked to teaching. But, as often happens in Italian families, after some teaching experience, it was clear that my journey would follow the family company, founded by my father in Orvieto in 1981: the Gelateria Pasqualetti. The beginning was not easy. My father, extremely meticulous and meticulous, supervised every detail. Only after years I managed the ingredients always observing and learning its precise and rigorous method.
When did you realize that ice cream would become not only a passion but a profession?
Step by step, my path in the world of ice cream was born, woven the family passion with care for quality and respect for raw material. I must say that, in a relatively short time, that initial curiosity has become a real passion. For me ice cream is no longer just a job or dessert to taste: has become a reason for life, a philosophy. My father always appreciated the idea that I could, thanks to him, understand the origin of the ingredients, study them and understand their value. I learned to respect every fruit, every aroma, transforming a seemingly simple gesture like making ice cream in a cultural act. And precisely this allowed me to return to my background: to make food culture, to tell stories behind every ingredient and behind every processing choice, is something that for me has a fundamental value. Ice cream, so, has also become a training tool: not only learn the techniques, but understand how to communicate them, how to convey the beauty and complexity of a profession that is often underestimated. Telling the ice cream means telling a story of tradition, passion and quality research, and this is something that many people still don’t know how to do.
He often talks about ice cream as a perfect balance between creativity, technique and sensitivity. What is his philosophy of ice cream?
Behind each product with an artisan spirit there is a lot of passion, patience, love and presence: these are the elements that make ice cream special. Being Italian naturally gives us some credibility: we are perceived as ambassadors of culture, good food and good wine, and this gives us an initial advantage. A product like ice cream, moreover, is extremely popular and accessible, without a precise target, and this makes it appreciable by everyone. Our mission is to propose it in the best possible way, so that it is appreciated by an international audience not only from the point of view of taste, but also in the nutritional aspect. The real Italian ice cream, in fact, is a healthy ice cream: it has few calories, contains little sugar and points to the quality of the ingredients. Continue to respect this philosophy allows us to maintain high satisfaction of our customers, who appreciate more and more this attention to goodness but also to the lightness of the product.
Was there any difficulty in keeping alive the Italian tradition of ice cream while innovating and adapting to an international audience, such as New York?
There are always difficulties. Every day we have to face various challenges, and most of all when working with humanity: it is an aspect that I consider fundamental in our team. It is about managing everyday obstacles, which can be the difficulty of finding an ingredient or that of making the team understand the value of our product. However, the constancy, perseverance and love that distinguish today my mission allow me to face every day in an extremely positive way. As for the American public, and especially New Yorkers, the reactions were all extremely positive. To those who dream of bringing a piece of Italy – or of themselves – into the world, I would say first of all to be always completely self. It is essential to cultivate one’s own personality and to face the world with confidence. It is important to maintain faith in its identity, Italian culture and, above all, its personality. I like to think about the beginning of my story with an image: that of my father, who dreamed of seeing his daughters next to him in the lab. From his point of view it was a romantic gesture, a desire to share passion and work with us, and that image accompanied my path from the beginning.
What is more important to get to the customer: taste, tradition or personal history?
It must be a perfect balance between all three. No one has to prevail over the others. Our story helps us to tell the product we make, but the customer must perceive serenity: It must not be overwhelmed by our history, but it must be able to live the full pleasure of what is tasting. If then, of course, remember that ice cream was made by me, Patrizia, and which represents three generations of our family, for us it is a great joy. It is part of our community, but what we want to leave above all is the memory of taste: that emotion and that memory linked to the flavor that remains long. I had people in the United States who, visiting Orvieto, told me: “I ate your dad’s ice cream” and I was so excited.
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