Prego! Fresh ice-cream made by the Italian formule in Holland!

Last year (in 1999) started Sjef van Hoorn making and selling ice-cream. It was a big success because it was a good summer.

This year he continued the ice-cream activities and to promote this he made this site. Of course thanks to Peter Lintenbrink who is responsible for this site. I hope you enjoy it.

A little bit of the history.

In september 1996 the MOTO GUZZI -factory celebrated his 75 years anniversary. For Sjef owner and riding lots of kilometers on a GUZZI reason to go to Mandello de Lario. After that feast he drove to Mediterranean coast. In his youth he was there already a lot of times. And here he met in one of the many gelateria's a man who loved the motor-cycle MOTO GUZZI. In a little bit Italian they spoke about cycles and at last Sjef asked him about ice-cream. The man showed him his icecream-kitchen and told him a lot. The good advice the man gave him: "Go to Longarone, there is the biggest ice-cream exposition of the world". Back in Holland he asked a lot of information's and found the address where he could get a ticket of the exposition of Longarone. At the Longarone ice-cream exposition (MIG= Mostra Internazionale del Gelato) he learned a lot and here he met many persons selling ice-cream-machines, pasteurisizers, vitrines and ice-cream tastes. The Information gave him an impression how to start but he wanted to see the factories. So in 1997 Sjef went again to Italy and visited a lot of factories. In 1998 he started the course Ice-cream-preparer. He was successful. Though he did not have any experience.

Also in 1998 he build a kitchen where he could prepare icecream and that was good for the so called HACCP-norms. (Hygiene-rules) in February 1999 everything was ready. A pateurisizer named "Kalte Rudi" (from Germany), a Carpigiani SED 20 ice-cream-machine and a Gram-freezer were the most important machines and bought as an occasion. But of course you will ask yourself; where is this person selling his ice-cream? Answer: not in a shop but in the front-side of his house which is situated in the center of town Lochem. (at about 20.000 inhabitants. In summer thanks of the tourists 40.OOO.)

Prego! started last year with six tastes:

• Vanilla made by the old fashioned way. We use vanilla sticks from Reunion (Madagaskar) and our famous milk and cream. (the most important things) The rest is excellent! And in this part of the Netherlands nobody makes vanilla this way. (Probably it needs to much time for the others)
• The stracciatella with big peace's of chocolate!
• Malaga with a lot of raisins and Marsala wine.
• Strawberry-icecream made with a fresh strawberries with a fruitpaste.
• Lemon-ice-cream with fresh lemons.
• Chocolate: a very special way made ice-cream. Everybody knows how famous our Dutch cacao is!

But after some months the guests asked for more tastes. So after looking around and thanks of the information of Longarone, Sjef started to prepare "tiramisu", "zabaione" and "banana" ice-cream. The clients liked it very much. It was so simple!

In the city of Lochem there are a lot of restaurants, so called snack-bars or fast-food-restaurants (here thew call that cafeteria). Here you can buy icecream; mostly it is so called soft-ice. The other kind is made in the factories like Scholler, Ola, Nestle and so on. But... all these factories are under control of the famous multinational Unilever. (They have just bought the famous american Ice-cream "Ben and Jerry") Yes a Dutch English enterprise. The question is than always: is this fresh ice-cream? Sjef did it his own way. And a lot of clients began to think he was an Italian guy!

This year we started at Easter. Now with another vitrine with a possibility to show more tastes. Now there are also orange, cappuccino, amarena, crema marscapone, coffee, walnut- and hazelnut-icecream.
And we are going with the same mission: we want to sell high quality because we want to be the best!

Now you are interested, come and see something inside of the kitchen or "studio".

Photo 1: After the pasteurisizing the Carpigiani makes the ice-cream. Here it is ready.

Photo 2: Every time very proud that it has a good structure.

Photo 3 / 4: Ready for the vitrine (mostly it is going in the freezer. The temperature is than 18 degrees.

Photo 5: Important is to control the temperature (it is obliged by the HACCP!)

Photo 6: This is what we call fresh ice-cream!

And now we are going outside You clan see where we are selling our, ice-cream.

More interested now? Come to Lochem in Holland. In the centre of the town, in the Achterstraat 23, you will find us. You are always welcome but the best thing you can do is phoning (0573-254690) or 06-22902951. Opening times: Friday 16.00 until 21.00 and Saturday and Sunday 14.00 until 20.00 (or some later when the weather is fine)

Closed when the temperature is stormy or rainy and when the temperature Is under 19 degrees.
I hope to see or find the reactions from you, ice-cream makers and ice-cream fans! In my guestbook.