Great news: Hungarian ice cream maker named the world’s best in a new ranking

Hungarian chefs have always performed strongly in various world competitions. Now a Hungarian ice cream maker, Ádám Fazekas, has been named the best ice cream maker of 2024 by the Gelato Festival World Ranking.

The international competition for artisan ice cream makers has been held since 2011, Turizmus reports. Over the last thirteen years, more than eight thousand ice cream creations have been tested, tasted and scored by a jury of hundreds of experts.

Hungarian master gelato maker Ádám Fazekas won the Gelato Festival World Masters in 2021 and came second in the Gelato Festival World Ranking in 2022. Now in 2024, he won the first prize at the same competition.

The organisers of the competition announced the winner at a press conference in Rome. At the press conference, Ádám Fazekas’ raspberry-flavoured pistachio ice cream was presented, but it was not the only creation that won the international ranking. This year, more than 1,200 entries came from all over the world, not only from Europe and North America, but also from Africa and Asia. This year’s runner-up was Giovanni Bonazzi from Parona, Italy, and Savannah G. Lee from San Francisco took third place.

Photo: FB / Fazekas Cukrászda Budapest

To be included in the international ranking, confectioners had to participate in various events, shows and ice cream festivals for at least two years, for which they received points. The world ranking of ice cream artisans was the result of the collaboration between the Gelato Festival, the Sigep-IEG Expo and the well-known ice cream machine manufacturer Carpigiani. The aim was to discover and promote more than 100,000 artisan ice cream makers in the world.

The Gelato Festival debuted in Florence in 2010, as the world’s first gelato recipe was born in the Tuscan city, where the famous architect Buontalenti invented gelato in 1559. Since then, the event has expanded its range, first to the rest of Italy, then to Europe and, since 2017, to eighty festivals in the United States.

Why is the Hungarian ice cream maker’s method special?

Photo: FB / Fazekas Cukrászda Budapest

In an interview with RTL, Ádám Fazekas said that his ice cream-making method is special because he works with natural ingredients. Even the milk used for the ice cream is from a local producer, coming straight from a family farm. In 2017, he left the family bakery and opened his first ice cream shop. A friend entered him into his first competition in 2019, which he won.

In addition to the usual vanilla, chocolate, pistachio and a variety of fruit ice creams, his ice cream shop also offers sour pickle, herb feta and avocado lemon ice creams. In Budapest, guests can taste different ice cream creations and cakes at the Fazekas Confectionery on Csömöri Road. They also operate a confectionery in Rétság in Nógrád County.

Read also:

• Here are the best pastry shops in Hungary in 2024! – Read here
• Unbelievable flavours at Hungarian Gelato Competition 2024: here is the ice cream of the year! – PHOTOS