Only opened six weeks ago in Marina Botafoch – Antarctica is an absolute gift from the ice cream gods. I think I can honestly say it is the best ice cream and sorbet in the Balearics. It’s not only ridiculously delicious, you can almost taste the love that it has been made with.

Antarctica’ s Dutch owner Ursula Potter originally trained as a jeweler/goldsmith, then went on to be a Human Resources Manager but after eight long years working behind a desk Ursula decided she missed being creative and wanted to do something completely different…

“My husband and I decided to take a break and to travel the world for six months. I used the time to consider what to do after our trip. I don’t know exactly why, but somewhere ice cream came into my thoughts! I found a gelato course at the Carpigiani University in Bologna in Italy…and that was the beginning of my dream – to have my own ice-cream parlour. But before I made the step to Ibiza I wanted to gain some experience – so I worked for about one year at the Metropolitan Deli in Amsterdam. The owner Kees Raat is a specialist in chocolate and ice cream and I learned so much there. At the end of 2013 we came to Ibiza and six weeks ago I finally opened my little ice cream parlour, so this will be my first season”

I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Ursula Potters as she demonstrated the whole process of making the MOST delightful pistachio ice cream in her parlour / production kitchen. With incredible state of the art equipment, Ursula makes her own recipes from scratch using the finest ingredients locally or from around the world. As a true artisan she is totally passionate about local produce…

“All my ingredients are fresh and from Ibiza. I never use artificial flavourings or anything that is processed.” The milk and cream comes directly from Ibiza’s finest dairy in Santa Getrudis – she laughs when she tells me she whatsapps them the night before for her order the next day. The hazelnuts and pistachios come from Frutos Secos Ibiza, the saffron from a secret biological breeder on the island (all very cloak and dagger) and all the fruit fresh from the market in Ibiza Town. The exception being the vanilla pods: Grand Cru Bora Bora from Tahiti which she spent years searching for. Compared to Madagascar vanilla, the superior quality of the Bora Bora crop is obvious. Fat, soft, full of seeds and with a very soft caramel-like flavour – you can smell it even without opening the pod – it is pure gold. As you can imagine, her vanilla bean ice cream is totally out of this world. I went onto to try every flavour of ice cream and sorbet on the menu: The sorbets literally burst with fruit (a good 60%), they are not too sweet, you almost feel that you have having the best frozen smoothie ever! The Mint chocolate gives you a suprising immediate hit of very fresh mint followed by amazing quality dark chocolate. The Hazelnut and Pistachio ice cream is ridiculous, you can taste the nuts – pure nuts, not with added almond essence, which is the usual trick of the trade…as for the salted caramel? All I can say is ‘When Harry Met Sally’ orgasmic.

When looking at the fridge display, her ice creams are fully covered so you cannot see the product. “I have chosen to display the ice cream in a ‘pozzetti’ instead of a standard open window display. Quality is again the essential factor in this. Ice cream is most delicious when it comes straight out of the machine, as fresh as possible. The quality would be heavily affected by light and oxygen. By storing the ice cream under a cover at a constant temperature, first class quality is assured. My goal is to become the best ice cream parlour on the island. I love it when people are passionate about my ice cream and that always gives me a smile”.

Everything Ursula does revolves around passion and quality – from the preparation of Antarctica ice cream that is based upon traditional Italian techniques to the quality of her ingredients – the ice cream is made in a true artisanal way. She is already in demand in the marina delivering her ice cream by bike to the super yachts and has had her Italian customers literally weeping with joy at the first taste of her ice cream. And yes watch this space, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Adrià brothers don’t coming knocking on her door before too long…