From Auckland City to the Snows of Antarctica – Giapo takes ice cream back to its roots

Auckland, February 15, 2012 - Pure ice cream in a pure land – The Our Far South team and Giapo’s vision of raw, organic ice cream have combined to encourage New Zealander participation in the issues surrounding Antarctica.

Something a little unusual has made the packing list for the Our Far South visit to Antarctica – Giapo!

On Friday 10th March the Spirit of Enderby will be departing for Antarctic from Invercargill, loaded with 10 scientists and 40 other New Zealanders carrying warm coats, hats, and cameras along with scientific equipment, a surprising number of furry mascots from New Zealand schools, and now Giapo’s special Antarctic mix.

The mix will use an ancient recipe consisting of organic apples, raw honey and Giapo's hand created method to create a raw, organic, New Zealand sorbet from Antarctica’s pure snow.

"Snow is the very root of any frozen treat. Combining snow with fresh fruit and honey is how it all began thousands of years ago in China," says Gianpaolo, head chef at Giapo, who is studying ice cream history at AUT. "When I heard my friend Lance Wiggs was off to Antarctica as part of the Our Far South crew, helping raise awareness of its challenges and potential, I thought it was the perfect time for my ice cream to return to its ancestral roots".

Lance Wiggs was happy to help. "Being away from Giapo for a month was always going to be difficult to cope with, and I'm delighted that we'll now be ok, and even experiencing a new flavour while on Our Far South. I do regret that we'll be unable to bring any of this one-off sorbet back to New Zealand, as there are of course strict quarantine and crew diet requirements. Let's just say it will be lucky to survive more than a few minutes."

"We’re hoping our journey to Antarctica will help us understand and communicate the vast potential it has for New Zealand and the world, and we are grateful to Giapo for this opportunity to step into a purer past."

Follow the journey of Our Far South on www.ourfarsouth.org

ENDS

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