Frozen desserts have often been considered a non-­essential on the dining table. But some people have embarked on the lengthy journey of learning the trade of making them. In their hands, a simple dessert is not only given a sense of logic and reason, it also has a life of its own and can be crafted into infinite variations.

 

Many workers in craft industries like fashion design, jewelry, and the culinary arts, have traditionally named their brands or shops after themselves. This way of naming embodies the artisan’s aspirations and devotion to their work. It also symbolizes the prestige of attaining great heights in their area of expertise.

Two frozen dessert stores in Taipei, Kakigori Toshihiko and Studio du Double V, are no exception to this tradi­tion as both are named after their respective founders.

For Kakigori Toshihiko, a store which sells Japanese-style shaved ice, “Kakigori” means “shaved ice” in Japanese, while “Toshihiko” is the Japanese pronunciation of owner Wu Chun-yen’s Chinese given name, Chun-yen.

The “Double V” in the gelato shop Studio du Double V is the French pronunciation of the letter “w,” which stands for the founder’s English name, Willson Chen.

With names like these, one can sense that these dessert shops are home to true artisans. The fact that one name comes from Japanese and the other from French also hints that the owners have spent some time abroad.

A high-class dessert

With a langue de chat cookie adorning its peak, a mountain of shaved ice stands tall in its bowl. The fluffy, cloud-like ice crystals melt like snowflakes in your mouth. The sauce, a mixture of Japanese hōjicha (roasted green tea) and milk, is drizzled over the top, providing a smooth, fresh flavor. After uncovering the base of the ice mountain, you will discover a brown-sugar panna cotta. The marriage of tea and brown sugar creates a consistent flavor throughout the whole dessert. A small cup to the side of the huge bowl of shaved ice contains the exquisite sauce for customers to pour over the ice.

If we compare regular shaved ice to a slice of cake from a restaurant’s dessert trolley, then this Baked Tea Latte Shaved Ice from Kakigori Toshihiko more resembles a sophisticated dessert à l’assiette (“plated dessert”), sculpted by a master, that can be seen on the menu of a high-end restaurant where everything is freshly made to order.

A spiritual journey

What Kakigori Toshihiko sells is Japanese-­style shaved ice, and the storefront emphasizes this fact. In the doorway hang Japanese curtains, which when pushed aside reveal a long counter where customers can sit and watch the owner make the shaved ice on the spot, much like a ­sushi chef.

Although he sells Japanese shaved ice, Wu Chun-yen employs French dessert-making techniques, with most of his ingredients being locally sourced. It is thanks to his unique background that Wu is able to blend these elements together seamlessly. “This entire shop is like a spiritual journey,” says Wu as he looks around his domain.

Despite his young age, Wu has been in the business for over ten years. When he was 16, he began apprenticing at a Japanese restaurant. After he graduated from a culinary high school in Taiwan, he left for Japan to study at Tokyo Confectionery College, where he majored in Western desserts. After his studies, Wu came back to Taiwan and worked at high-end restaurants, with his last job at a Michelin-starred French restaurant.

During Wu’s time abroad, a classmate of his had a job at a shaved ice shop, where he gave Wu his first encounter with Japanese shaved ice. The refreshing, smooth taste of the ice was love at first bite.

After deciding to start his own business, Wu had to also consider consumer preferences in Taiwan. Wu, who hated the heat and loved frozen desserts, opened his ice restaurant, Kakigori Toshihiko, on a side lane off Jinmen Street in Taipei.

Tricks of the trade

In recent years there has been a surge in the popularity of Japanese shaved ice in Taiwan, but only a few sellers have fully mastered what makes it special. The biggest difference between Japanese and Taiwanese shaved ice lies in how finely the ice is shaved. Making Japanese shaved ice involves an extra, crucial step of allowing the ice to warm up, something which is not done for the Taiwanese version. For Japanese shaved ice, the ice block is left to sit until it turns transparent, which happens when its temperature rises to somewhere between -7 and 0°C. Only then is it shaved into fine, fluffy, feathery ice crystals which instantly melt in your mouth.

However, traditional Japanese shaved ice is nowhere near as generous with toppings as its Taiwanese counterpart. For this, Kakigori Toshihiko appears to have managed to strike a happy medium. While Wu’s shaved ice still uses a sweet sauce for the main flavoring, he finishes the ice off with an astonishing array of lavish toppings to meet the expectations of Taiwanese ­consumers.

For example, Kakigori’s Coconut Strawberry Shaved Ice actually got its inspiration from the coconut strawberry bread from traditional Taiwanese bakeries. The flavor of the coconut in that traditional bread is known to overpower everything else and the bread has an unappealing texture, so Wu decided to reinvent the dessert. He first bakes the coconut and soaks it in milk to extract a milder flavor. He then tops off the shaved ice with cream cheese and some coconut sablé cookies.

Another example of this is the Taro Mont Blanc, which uses taro from Taichung’s Dajia District. The taro is heated and emulsified, giving it a viscous texture that differs dramatically from that of the taro paste filling in taro cakes. The spiral top layer is a nod to the shape of a classic Mont Blanc tart, but its sticky mouthfeel is reminis­cent of a number of common ingredi­ents in Japanese cuisine such as mashed yam, okra, and natto.

Midnight ice cream parlor

In stark contrast with Kakigori Toshihiko’s precise and meticulous works of art are the desserts from ­another Taipei shop, Studio du Double V. The menu here reflects the simple and straightforward nature of street food.

Located in a busy side alley with brightly lit shop signs, Double V opens in the evening and closes late.

The story of Double V begins with the owner, Willson Chen. Chen entered late into the business, having majored in electrical engineering for his undergrad. However, as someone who thrives on change, he grew to dislike the formulaic and inflexible work atmosphere of engineering. When he got a part-time job working in a chain coffee store during college, he developed a passion for baking. But it wasn’t until he finished up his mandatory military service that he finally became an apprentice at a tradi­tional bakery.

Willson Chen certainly started later than most. “I felt like I knew nothing compared to those who majored in culinary arts,” he recalls. He inevitably faced many difficulties, but Chen was determined to succeed. He was more than happy to work from six in the morning to ten at night every day. “Each day I would come home, shower, fall asleep on the couch, and wake the next morning and go to work.” When Chen had mastered most of the skills that the shop had to offer, he followed advice from his mentor and left to study in France, the culinary center of the world, where he graduated from the culinary arts school Ecole Lenôtre.

The science of making ice

While Chen had taken the long way to get there, his background in engineering helped him approach his work more scientifically. Combined with his training in Western cuisine and his proclivity for shaking things up, Chen was able to put Double V in a class of its own.

Those who have eaten Double V’s desserts all know how amazing they are. Not only is there an ever-changing list of options being invented, but Chen also manages to keep the same fine texture for each and every flavor.

Making gelato is an art which fuses science and flavor. Since every ingredient undergoes different physical changes at different temperatures, making gelato is an especially challenging test of how well a master knows his ingredients. Each of the signature flavors at Double V has its own independent recipe. This is not only for flavor considerations, but also to ensure that each variety of gelato is equally soft when refrigerated under the same conditions.

To date, Double V has invented more than 450 different recipes, and the menu changes with the seasons. The winter menu features more mellow flavors like those of cream liqueurs, whiskey, and nuts, while the summer has more fruit. In following the seasons, Double V illustrates the intricacy and breadth of frozen desserts. Even with classic vanilla, the winter and summer recipes differ, as winter recipes tend to be rich, while summer’s are refreshing. Common flavors like matcha and brown sugar can be made into five or even ten separate recipes, allowing a single ingredient to be interpreted in a surprising number of ways. With his background in Western cuisine, Willson Chen can even draw inspiration from classic desserts, such as when he turned the fillings of caramel apple and lemon tarts into frozen versions of the two.

Willson Chen says that regular desserts can be made with one ornate layer after another, but the more unassuming frozen desserts need to “knock ’em dead” with a single bite. Even so, in the apparent simplicity of his gelato lies a meticulous attention to detail.