How ‘Dr Ice’ treats kids with scoops of joy
Dubai-based ice-cream chef feels he has the coolest job in the world
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His father wanted him to become a paediatrician like him back in Lisbon, Portugal. But Vasco Valenca, now based in Dubai, makes gourmet ice-creams instead.
As Jelly Belly Ice Cream’s resident chef, he calls himself ‘Dr Ice’. And with good reason, he claims. “Like I often joke with my father, I too treat kids — not with medicine, but with scoops of joy,” he says.
Valenca recalls how as a child himself, he could eat just dessert for a meal, given a chance. “I’ve always had a sweet tooth. I went on to get a degree in food sciences and engineering and decided to become a gourmet ice-cream chef — I feel it’s the coolest job in the world.”
According to him, “Icecream is the most emotional food. It takes us back to our childhood and our roots, that itself is a great joy. There’s also the indulgence factor, the power of sugar that gives us a high. And yes, it is the only genuine frozen food in the world, which makes it unbeatable.”
Valenca says studies in the West have scientifically proven that ice-cream makes people “happy” as it is capable of stimulating the brain’s pleasure zones. But as far as the 58-yearold is concerned, it just makes him childlike again.
“Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I also find great joy in my crazy workplace. It brings out the child in me. Children are very creative, they speak and act before they think. I try to do the same.”
Natural ingredients
Valenca says the lingering taste of his mother’s cakes and pies has convinced him that handcrafted foods have their own relish. “I try to use only natural ingredients in my icecreams, so one can taste the original flavours. Unless I am fully satisfied with what I have created, I don’t give it to anyone else. I pride myself with creating over 50 flavours, the range catering to different tastes and preferences. As a rule, I explore unconventional ideas.”
Dr Ice says most kids like classic ice-creams like vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. The more adventurous go in for fanciful scoops like bubblegum, cotton candy or birthday cake ice-creams.