雪椿ジェラート 口溶けヨシ！　阿賀町・「Ｒｅｆｅｌｉ」

Snow camellia gelato, melting in the mouth “Yoshi! Aga-chao”

In Aga Town, Niigata Prefecture, where snow camellia was discovered and named, gelato was prototyped from tea leaves fermented and dried from the leaves of snow camellia. At the tasting party where the people concerned gathered, the taiko was said to be “tasty” and it was decided to commercialize. It will be sold as "Snow Camellia Gelato" from 9th. Commercialized by Erika Ishikawa (42), who runs a gelato store "Refeli" in Hirabori, the same town. We manufacture and sell gelato using wild vegetables and sesame seeds harvested in the town. Last year, "Yukitsubaki Sorbet," which uses a pigment extracted from the red flowers of Yukitsubaki, was added to the menu.

 Tea leaves were made from new shoots of the original seeds picked by the resident group "Machiyuki Tsubaki no Kai" in April. Junichi Sakai (62), a member of the Niigata University School of Engineering's engineering department and a member of the Niigata Snow Camellia Research Group, fermented and dried the leaves. If you extract it with hot water and drink it as black tea, it has a strong acidity. This time, Mr. Sakai asked me to use black tea leaves, and Mr. Ishikawa used milk to make black tea latte. "If you can make latte, you can use gelato," he said. 200 grams of leaves were boiled in hot water and milk and sugar were added to produce 2 liters.

 15 people from the town and Yuki Tsubaki Kai participated in the tasting party held at the "Fox's Wedding Hall" in Tsugawa on June 24th. The gelato in a paper cup is light brown, and the aroma and sweetness of black tea spreads in your mouth. Participants said that it was “tasty” and that “sweetness becomes more pronounced with salt”. Mr. Sakai said, "I'm glad I received a favorable evaluation," and Mr. Ishikawa said, "I want to adjust the amount of sugar to match the salt."

Source: https://bit.ly/2ZF5ciL