The perks of my school

Ah, they look like wee ants against the awesome power of the Gelato Uni. sign, don't they?
And yes, this place is real, and is as much of an actual University as Dr. Pepper actually holds a Phd. Just kidding. This is the place to learn all things gelato. The way that American ice cream has a higher fat content (10-20%, vs. 3-12% in gelato), that a proper gelato increases in volume by 20% when properly spun, and that sugar directly affects the size of the ice crystals, which in turn cannot be perceived by the human tongue when less than 25-30 microns.
I know what you're thinking. You're like "Wow, Andrew, that's amazing. But I've always wanted to know if the freezing temperature of a substance increases in direct proportion to its molecular weight."
Well, my friend, it does. And on that note, if you're calling me Andrew, you're not my friend. Go away.
Seeing the glorious, gleaming equipment inside the Gelato University made me realize just how old-school our sorbet and ice cream production was back at the Lumi. Towards the end, Johnny T and I would stand there at our 2 1/2 gallon pots, and whisk away, bringing the arse-ton of cream and vanilla up over a low heat in order to properly temp in the egg yolks for vanilla ice cream. It was truly a bonding experience, and no one really cared if you got the sweet sweet vanilla cream all over you from vigorous over-whisking. Mas nous ne sommes pas les poofs...I can guarantee that.
But seriously, there's a whole University DEVOTED to gelato! They're freakin' serious about it too. We went over the chemical compositions of the bases, the viable substitutes for sugars, proteins, and whatnot. It lets you see what's behind the curtain for a bit, which is almost bittersweet. I love the frozen stuff...it takes me to a better place (a place that's slightly cooler than the 104 degrees that I am currently forced to exist in.) But you learn too much about it, and it loses some of its innocence. And ice cream, gelato, sherbet, the sorbet I was weaned on during my many years as a lactard...well they're the physical manifestation of innocence. A luxury, and a creation of desire rather than necessity, well part of me just want to be able to experience that for as long as I can....
At the same time....I'm a numbers dork, and I love seeing how things work. At now I can see why Grom on the upper west side of Manhattan can get away with their insane prices....its worth it, when you know what goes into making true, proper gelato (especially given Grom's environmental approach.) And, it doesn't hurt that the didactic aspects of our studies here involve making, and consuming, large quantities of gelato. Pas mal.
At the end of the day though, I'm still a total sucker for B&J's Heath Bar Crunch.
Off to Burgundy in the a.m., and I shall try to write more while I'm there.