Rori Trovato gives organic ice cream a whole new meaning for those who delve into her sweet and borderline sinful new flavors. Opening the first organic creamery in Santa Barbara, Trovato hopes to give consumers the freshest products possible.
“Ice cream makes people happy,” Trovato said. “How fun is that?
“The flavors are clean, clear and bold combined with the creamy texture,” said the longtime food enthusiast. “It’s a product that people are drawn to.”
Trovato lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, Luca, and their son, Roman. She happens to not only be an expert in the creamery department, but has shared her cooking secrets and recipes as an author of Dishing With Style. Apart from writing her own book, she has also written for a number of major publications. She started as a recipe designer and food stylist for Martha Stewart Living and now you can find her recipes and stories in Oprah Magazine, Food & Wine, Modern Bride, Spa, Fine Cooking and many more.
Her recipes have captured the taste buds of food lovers all over, and Trovato says her inspiration is her love for feeding people — and the embedded memory of the vanilla ice cream her grandmother served at every Sunday supper.
After realizing she could have a career in something she was passionate about, Trovato ended up going to culinary school in Philadelphia and pastry school in France. She later took on careers such as a cook, pastry chef, private chef, and ran her own catering company before becoming a food stylist.
She has since food-styled 72 cookbooks and taught cooking in the south of France every summer until her son was born. What sparked Rori’s Organic Creamery in particular? “Two years ago, I decided I wanted to have a product, something that I either retailed or wholesaled, but something that had my style, my standards and my passion in it,” she explained.
“I wanted people to experience what great ice cream could taste like,” she said. “Most people have never had homemade small-batch ice cream. It is a totally different experience than freezer section ice cream.”
With flavors ranging from Salted Caramel to the dairy-free Roman’s Chocolate Coconut — named and created for her 5-year-old son — Trovato’s flavors tend to the needs of a variety of consumers. When coming up with new flavors and ingredients, she said, “I try to think of my favorite all-time American desserts, such as lemon meringue, root beer float, cherry cobbler or caramel candies.”
Not only are her flavors unique but they’re as fresh as possible. Rori’s Ice Cream is made daily in small batches using farmers market fruits, chocolate from a fair-trade organic company, Sweet Earth Chocolates, and Straus Family Creamery’s milk, cream and eggs. By making her product organic she is able to give ice cream consumers much more than just a satisfied stomach. Although some may assume organic food is more bland, Trovato suggests just the opposite.
“Organic dairy products have more flavor than hormone-fed cows, and battery-farmed eggs from artificially fed chickens,” she said. “Real food tastes better, so that is why my flavors are so bold, clean and clear. The only thing that isn’t heightened is the color. I use no artificial color and most people think mint ice cream is green, or if it’s lemon it should be shocking yellow.”
In the future, Rori’s Organic Ice cream hopes to hit the shelves of specialty markets throughout California. For now if you’re craving some flavorful organic goodness to cool down as the summer heat sets in, you can find Rori’s Organic Ice Cream at Jeannine’s Bakery & Restaurant’s three locations — 1253 Coast Village Road, 15 E. Figueroa St. and 3607 State St. — or at Jeannine’s at Gelson’s, 3305 State St.
And if you need further incentive, here’s a scoop: July is National Ice Cream Month. What are you waiting for?
— Noozhawk intern Bryana Nugent is an SBCC student. She can be reached at bnugent@noozhawk.com.