Sweet Surrender Gelato - Adrian Koo, Owner
Adrian Koo
Owner of Sweet Surrender Gelato in Steveston Village shares his expertise and fun facts about gelato.
Adrian Koo, Owner of Sweet Surrender Gelato
Hi, my name is Adrian Koo.
When people learn that I’m a gelato maker and the owner of Sweet Surrender Gelato in Steveston Village, they have all sorts of questions for me about gelato.
So in today’s blog, I’ll share some fun facts about gelato in general, as well as interesting facts about the gelato you would find in my shop!
But first, let me fill you in on how I started…
I was born in Winnipeg but grew up in Hong Kong. My family moved to Richmond when I was a teen. I went to Toronto for university, got a business degree and stayed there for work—nothing special, really. Then, in 2018, I decided to do something different, so I hopped on a plane to Italy to learn how to make gelato.
When I was back in Richmond visiting my mom in 2020, I found the location for my dream gelato shop here in Steveston Village. That was the start of Sweet Surrender Gelato.
Ube, Mango Yuzu & Mint Chip from Sweet Surrender Gelato
What do I love about running a business in this neighbourhood? Not only is Steveston a beautiful place, I also find it to be a safe area. Also, there are many local high school students with good attitudes who want to gain work experience. So it feels rewarding to be able to provide jobs to the younger generation—jobs that are easily accessible by walking or biking.
Last but not least, people in Steveston Village are generally nice, so there is a good community feel here. I must admit that running a brick and mortar food business is not easy, but those aspects I mentioned above really help offset the challenges—especially during the quieter winter and rainy season. So now that you know a bit about how I started this business, let’s get you knowing a little more about gelato!
Fun & Educational Facts About Gelato
What is the difference between gelato and ice cream?
Gelato has less air and less fat—usually denser with more milk and less cream compared to ice cream. These two things make the flavour of gelato more intense than ice cream. That said, cheap gelato can negate these qualities if they don’t have enough flavour ingredients inside. Ice cream is usually more whipped up with more air in it—they achieve that by adding more cream.
What’s better, gelato or ice cream?
Neither one is better than the other, but gelato shops always say they’re better than ice cream. It might be true most of the time, but not always. Flavours in ice cream are usually more muted because the ingredients are more whipped up and less dense than gelato, but premium ice cream can add more ingredients inside to achieve a more intense flavour. The best ice cream can be a lot better than the worst gelato.
What is the origin of gelato and how was it invented?
There are many accounts of sweetened ice throughout history, but Catherine de’Medici from the famous Medici family probably put gelato in Western history by bringing it from Italy to France as she became the Queen of France. This is when gelato became widely known throughout the Western world.
What is sorbetto and how does Sweet Surrender make it more smooth and dense?
Sorbetto is just gelato without milk, but we use a traditional Italian recipe to make it very smooth. We put a lot of fruit in our sorbetto so the texture is very substantial on the tongue.
What accounts for the difference in price amongst different brands of gelato?
When you visit the supermarket, you can feel the weight of various brands of ice cream pints. The lighter they are, the more additives are inside. Basically they’re trying to increase the volume (adding more air) and reduce the cost of ingredients, while maintaining a thick texture. Many commercial ice cream and gelato brands have “texturizers” that fluff up the product. They are usually fiber plus an aerating agent. That’s why people don’t feel so well after consuming them.
What are the benefits of using higher quality ingredients?
Higher quality is healthier. At Sweet Surrender, we try to use the best ingredients that we can afford, like organic milk for example. There’s more micro nutrients so even though it’s a dessert, it’s better for your body.
Is there real tea and caffeine in the tea flavoured gelato?
We do use real tea leaves for our tea flavours. They’re infused for about 1-2 hours. Each pint has about 30 grams of tea. The strongest flavours are London Fog, HK Milk Tea, then Hojicha and Matcha.
What’s the inspiration behind Sweet Surrender’s Charcuterie flavour gelato, and is there actually meat in there?
We wanted a fun name to get people thinking. Although there’s no meat in the gelato, there are dates, goat cheese and pecans which are staples on a charcuterie board. Eating our gelato is like enjoying a charcuterie board with friends.
I hope you enjoyed reading my fun facts about gelato today. The next time you’re in Steveston Village, drop by my shop for a sweet treat and say hello! We also sell other desserts such as tiramisu and cookies!
