“I have Corsica and ice cream in my blood. My paternal grandparents, Gina and Aladino, arrived from Italy to Corsica, where they met, before the Second World War. They became street vendors, selling three or four flavors of ice cream, as well as small sardine sandwiches.
After the war, they bought a scooter, then a van and toured the villages of northern Corsica. People still remember it. Then they acquired their first shop, in old Bastia, in 1937. They only made ice cream in the summer. In winter, they offered chickpea pie, chestnut flour donuts (castagnacci), pizza, and cakes.
The fiadone, this wonderful brocciu-based dessert, was more for us, their grandchildren. My grandmother Gina often prepared it for us, in season, to spoil us. Just like canistrellis, always available in a metal box from my other grandmother, Cécile. Thanks to my ancestors, I am passionate about cooking. I love Corsican dishes like traditional soup with broth, vegetables and croutons or Italian pasta…
“At 33, I was ready”
The store is a family affair. My father, Serge, learned the trade with his parents and took over the business when they stopped. He changed things in his own way, by developing the range of sorbets, desserts, logs, ice cream sticks… And he met my mother, Christiane, while selling ice cream on Place Saint-Nicolas, in Bastia. . She was so greedy that she would take a cone, go around the truck and come back the other side. She was 14, he was 17. They married a few years later, had me very young and immediately worked together.
Like my father, I learned everything from my parents. I spent my time at the store, doing my homework while waiting for them to finish their day. I wasn’t really suited to the school environment, I stopped in second grade to get a pastry chef’s certificate and a gelato maker’s certificate. This allowed me to discover a new environment and very enriching complementary professions. I worked in all positions in the family business, to learn how to do everything, to know all the workings, to be trained in all sectors. When I turned 33, my father handed over the reins to me, I was ready. It was always obvious to me to take over.
In turn, I developed our offering, incorporating new flavors, while retaining my parents’ artisanal know-how. I prioritized the selection of exceptional raw materials, from local producers: Cervione hazelnut, island citrus fruits, clementine, lemon, pomelo, strawberry, melon, aromatics (nepita, mint, verbena, basil …), and made all my sorbets with Corsican mineral water from Zilia. Today, we offer up to forty-five references in summer… The idea is not to revolutionize everything, but to evolve in the continuity of this generational and gourmet history. »
Raugi Glacier, 2 bis, rue Chanoine-Colombani, Bastia. Such. : 04-95-31-22-31.