Written by Ben Cox – Last month, the Turtle Gelateria competed against other gelato makers in Dallas, bringing home two awards.
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The flavor taken by the Turtle to the Gelato Festival America competition was Hill Country Lemon Lavender, a water based sorbetto designed by Mary Stanley to be “a refreshing and unique taste”.
The dessert treat won second place, and also sold the most to-go pints of any of the competitors. Mary Stanley, owner and operator of the Turtle, is no stranger to gelato competitions, having entered into contests as recently as 2014.
Stanley says “The contests are held every three years or so, because they are world wide so when they get around to the finals that much time has passed.”
Competitions are sponsored by various manufacturers in the gelato industry and “this competition was arranged by Carpigiani. They built an 18 wheeler that kind of transforms into a gelato lab. It has gelato making machines, and pasteurizers, blast freezers, and all the stuff you need for making gelato at an industrial scale.”
The trailer and its equipment were used by competitors to make enough of their product to serve fair goers who would then be judging the desserts. Each attendant would vote after trying samples of the various creations and nominate their favorite for first place.
Stepping outside her comfort zone, Stanley had to make 60 liters of gelato mix per day, “which is more than I would serve here each month!”
A large amount of math goes into the calculations for increasing batch sizes from what the Turtle normally uses and what the competition calls for. Freeze ratios, water content, and freezing points are all calculated very carefully to ensure a delicious product.
The Turtle Gelateria is located at 512 Center Avenue, and is open every day but Monday, open from 11 to 9 daily except for Sundays when they close at 2 p.m. They can be reached through their Facebook page, or by simply stopping by and picking up a scoop or two for dessert.
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