Bulgaria’s 3 Best Gelato Artisans Head to the 2025 European Finals

The first Bulgarian challenge of the 2022-2025 Gelato Festival World Masters, run with partners Carpigiani and Sigep (Italian Exhibition Group), took place in Sofia on 22 March 2023 at the Bulgaria Mall. Twelve Bulgarian gelato artisans competed, and the three winners are the country’s best gelato artisans for 2023.

The winners

• First place: Velislava Kostova of Kostovi EMK, Saedinenie, with “Cheese Saedinenie”, a gelato made with typical Bulgarian cheese, dried fig with Marsala and caramel, topped with caramelised walnuts
• Second place: Zoya Ivanova of Amora Gelato, Sofia, with “Blue Cheese with Figs”, a blue cheese gelato with fig jam and walnuts
• Third place: Ventsislav Georgiev of Gelato MIO, Pomorie, with “Nonna Zoe”, a cream cheese gelato with Chios mastiha, kataifi and salted pistachio

They advance to the European Finals of the Gelato Festival World Masters, scheduled for 2025.

How entries were judged

Judges scored flavour, structure, creativity and presentation, looking at ingredient choice, craft and visual impact. The jury was:

• Chef Dimo Dimov, executive chef and owner of Cult Gourmet Catering and an executive member of the Bulgarian Association of Professional Chefs
• Chef Leo Bianchi, chef at Leo’s pizza and Leo’s Pasta, gelato ambassador and TV personality
• Chef Youri Baltaliyski, pastry chef and owner of Quince patisserie, judge of Bake Off Bulgaria and TV personality
• Sandra Alexieva, food stylist at Sandra Food Studio and owner of the “1001 Recipes” online magazine
• Ivan Madjarov, gelato chef and event manager

The other participants

• Rumen Georgiev, Amore Gelati (Sofia): “The Heart of Pavlova”
• Tzvetelina Doncheva, Gelateria Delizia (Sofia): “Delizia”
• Tzvetina Zaharieva, Gelato Lab (Sofia): “Pop Up”
• Dobromira Ivanova, Nero 07 (Varna): “Orient Express”
• Petya Velikova, Bars & Restaurants (Varna): “Bizantio”
• Oleksandr Uvarov, Yellow Cat Gelato (Burgas): “Mom’s Cake”
• Yulia Nozhkina, Ruskovets Resort (Dobrinishte): “Santofichi Gelato”
• Mustafa Drenkov, MEMO Sweet House (Plovdiv): “Pumpkin”
• Vladimir Dimitrov, DiPi Gelato (Haskovo): “Di-Fuchsia”

About Gelato Festival

Gelato Festival began in Florence in 2010, inspired by Bernardo Buontalenti’s first gelato recipe in 1559. It spread across Italy, Europe and, from 2017, the United States, with 80 festivals held. The Gelato Festival World Masters 2021 concluded in December 2021 with a win for Adam Fazekas of Budapest, after a record 3,500 gelato artisans were judged by international juries.

What this means for gelato makers in Australia

Using local cheeses, fruit and nuts, as the Bulgarian winners did, is a good way to build a distinctive menu. Majors Group offers Carpigiani gelato machines and Rubicone ingredients in Australia, and Carpigiani Gelato University courses can help with recipe design.

Source: Carpigiani news. Rewritten for Australia by Majors Group.