Eulàlia Sirvent, from Vic and the third generation of ice cream and nougat makers at the historic XixoVic, won the award for best ice lolly at the national ice cream championship. Organised by the Spanish National Association of Artisan Ice Cream Makers, the competition took place in Madrid from Saturday to Monday.
None of the seven finalists received the competition’s top award, Best Master Artisan Ice Cream Maker in Spain, which remained unawarded.
Making an ice lolly was one of the surprise challenges among the six tasks the contestants had to complete. Sirvent received the highest score with a raspberry ice lolly featuring passion fruit jelly and apricot infused with thyme and chamomile.
Sirvent reached the final after a preliminary selection, alongside six other candidates from across Spain. In a new format, they did not compete against one another: each could earn the excellence title by scoring more than 80% of the available points. None achieved this, in a jury decision that prompted some criticism.
The challenges also included making a tub of ice cream, an ice cream cake, vanilla ice cream with plant-based milk and biscuit ice cream.
Returning to Vic on Tuesday, Sirvent spoke positively about the experience: “It has been a real learning experience, both during preparation and on the competition days; it takes you out of your comfort zone.”
