Many would find the idea of celery ice cream mildly disgusting. For Gino Cocchi, however, a hint of vegetable is a welcome arrival to ice-cream making, a subject on which he is an expert and is promoting through an unusual university based in Italy.

“Ice cream is not just one product,” says Mr Cocchi. “It provides a platform for making a huge variety of natural foods, with different ingredients and flavourings, depending on people’s tastes.”