ICE CREAM IS FASHIONABLE
IN KOKKINI HANI SHOP
       
  I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

That little ditty from our childhood has taken on a whole new meaning these days, thanks to a young Kokkini Hani man named Spyros Hatzakis, who produces what many consider to be the finest gourmet ice cream in Crete.

"Ice cream has its own personality, and it's continually changing" Spyros said in a recent interview. "And, it creates a special feeling as you eat it – affecting the senses. The taste, of course, is the most important, but it must also be pleasing to the sight in its presentation; to the smell in the aroma of its ingredients, and to the touch as it caresses the palate."

Spyros went on to explain that making ice cream is an exact science, which took him many years to master. "Every gram you change, every temperature you set, gets you different results. Even your emotions, your feelings, at the time you make the ice cream can affect the end product. Different chefs using the exact same ingredients, the same precise measurements, will end up with a different tasting product. And, of course, the ice cream must be fresh at all times – it must not be kept for more than two and a half days."

With a philosophy like that, it's no wonder Spyros' shop, Spyridon Sweets and Snacks, on Kokkini Hani's main road, has become a local landmark in the four years since it first opened.

Born in Kokkini Hani, Spyros, 29, studied sweets and bread making at the local catering school. Upon graduation in 1995, he worked in various sweet shops and hotel kitchens throughout Crete, but soon got discouraged, feeling he wasn't getting the proper help in learning the trade. He dropped out, and went to work at a car rental agency, but, after one season, knew he had to get back to his first love.

"This time I felt I had to do it on my own," Spyros said, "but I still had much to learn. I travelled throughout Europe to see what was going on in the ice cream and confectionary business in other countries."

When he returned, he brought with him the latest state-of-the-art ice cream machine from Italy, the country famous for its frozen dessert, and built his own shop in his hometown. The rest is history. And, while all of his pastries and snacks, including traditional Greek and Cretan favourites as well as his own creations, are prepared with the same expert dedication, it's the ice cream, made with only fresh milk and real, as opposed to vegetable, cream, that is the most acclaimed.

"My wife and I come to Crete a couple of times a year, and we always make a stop at Spyridon," said Richard Bloor of England. "The ice cream here has a very special taste, texture – better than anything we can get back home."

"I love it!" proclaimed Christina, 7, of Russia, through her interrupter-mother, as she took a big lick of her ice cream cone. Her friend Lelia, 8, had her cone stuffed in her mouth, and just nodded her pleasure.

Spyros produces about 75 "spirit-lifting" flavours of ice cream, ranging from the standards like vanilla and chocolate to the unique, like ekmek, made with the mastic gum flavour. He usually has 24 flavours available at any one time. The 10 "standards" are mostly the best sellers, but other choices vary.

"Ice cream is like fashion," Spyros, who keeps his shop open everyday all year long, said. "The popularity of flavours and colours changes year-to-year, season-to-season. Last year black and white and yellow (banana flavour) were in. This year it's light green (a lemon-basil flavour) and orange (a melon flavour). Mixed colours and flavours, sort of like tie-dye ice cream, are always popular."

His dedication to his profession has kept Spyros single. When not working in his shop, which, by the way is the only place in the area to enjoy a dish of ice cream in January as well as July, he is off to places like Switzerland, Germany or Italy attending seminars on – you guessed it – ice cream making. His future plans include the building of a much larger sweets factory/workshop and he wants to hosts seminars on his profession in Crete.

Fashionable, or just simply the best around, we're just happy that this time when we sang we all scream for ice cream, Spyros was around to hear us.