My first encounter with Gareth Mark was at Williams-Sonoma across from Pioneer Courthouse Square while doing research for my Downtown Portland Chocolate Walk. Upon meeting him one immediately senses that he is in his element surrounded by all the wonderful culinary products and when he talks about food, especially chocolate, you know that he truly loves his work.

Today I attended one of his free, Sunday technique classes. The topic: All About Ice Cream. Need I say more?! There were about 15 people in attendance on this unusually warm and humid overcast day to get “the scoop on the scoops. “

His Xocoatl Sorbet was truly amazing with its intriguing combination of dark chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, chiles and sea salt. These ingredients all mingle together in a way that is hard to believe that the resulting creation contains no dairy. Way to go if you’re watching the fat or calorie meters.

The second sample was an even more surprising. Upon receiving my little paper soufflé cup with the light caramel colored ice cream, I immediately caught the wafting aroma of maple syrup. It tasted as good as it smelled. Then the shock came when he told us the ingredients. No maple syrup was mentioned. Did I hear him correctly? Yes, this was Candy Cap Gelato. Candy Cap is the common name of an orange colored fungus that grows in forests of western North America. I soon discovered that Candy Cap was this year’s challenge ingredient for this annual ice cream class. You can find both of these recipes on his blog: www.stumptownsavoury.com

Mark your calendar for next year’s ice cream class (No pun intended, Chef Mark!) to see what the next challenge ingredient will be. If you don’t want to wait until then to attend one of these weekly technique classes, check out the Williams-Sonoma website for upcoming topics at: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/cust/techniqueclass_popup/content.cfm

Just so you know, Gareth is known to offer a chocolate class every once in a while. So be sure to check back often.