Ice cream maker Stefan Beerens from Baarle-Nassau has not become the best ice cream maker in the world. In recent days he participated in the world ice-making championship in Las Vegas. With its artisanal ice cream Imagi he tried to win the hearts of the jury. Unfortunately he didn’t finish in the top three. “It was a fantastic experience,” he says.
It was quite exciting for the ice cream maker, who works at the Kennis van IJs ice cream kitchen in Bladel. Last week he discovered that a large part of his ingredients were not allowed through customs and he had to come up with a different plan.
Fortunately, he was able to provide a shopping list to the organization of the world championship, but the question remained whether those ingredients would be the same as in the Netherlands.
Picked out by customs
Hoping for good measure, he had packed a few leaves of Thai basil in his luggage, but unfortunately he was singled out during his transit in Houston, America.
“I was taken to a separate room,” says the ice cream maker who is flying home again on Friday. “In the end I had a nice conversation with the customs staff, but I was also stuck with my transfer. I had to run to the gate to catch my flight.”
He reached the plane just in time and was one of the last to go to Las Vegas. Unfortunately without Thai basil. He had to get it by Uber on Tuesday after the opening ceremony of the world championship. “In between, I quickly went to a market.”
Getting Thai basil by Uber
He managed to get basil, but he couldn’t find a ripe pineapple. In good spirits, Stefan returned to the match in the afternoon full of enthusiasm and started his ice cream. “That took some getting used to. Many of the appliances they had are different from what I am used to in the Netherlands. I also had quite a bit of difficulty with that when preparing my ice cream.”
Fortunately, everything turned out well and the ice cream could be tasted by the judges. Unfortunately, Stefan’s ice alone was not good enough to win the title. “The level was really very high. There were also really better and special flavors,” he concludes. “I did my best. I was satisfied with the end result. You can never exactly recreate ice cream that you make at home with other equipment.”
Very grateful
Stefan emphasizes on Friday evening that he is very grateful for everything he has been able to do over the past three years. “I am very surprised by all the sweet messages and attention I have received from everyone around me.” The ice cream maker gives extra praise to his team. “Without the joint efforts of everyone at IJskeuken Kennis van IJs, I would not have been to America.”
And now? This weekend Stefan will recover from everything that has happened to him in recent days and he will go back to work on Monday.
