Cremeux Ex Machina Tour
On November 8, 2013, as part of our “Sweet Tooth Tour in Sonoma County,” CUESA visited Cremeux Ex Machina, a gelato and sorbetto maker based on an organic dairy farm in Petaluma. Thank you to CUESA intern Tessa Jorgensen for the photos and captions.
Love often leads to the sweetest of things. For Alex Saneski and Jennifer Ko, it led to Cremeux Ex Machina, their small-batch gelato and sorbetto company.
Our group was warmly greeted by Alex and Jennifer as we arrived at Chileno Valley Jersey Dairy, an organic dairy in Petaluma where Cremeux Ex Machina is headquartered.
Jennifer shared the history of Cremeux Ex Machina. She and Alex met in culinary school in New York; Alex went on to work at a gelateria under the founder of Ciao Bella. He noticed all the fruit he was working with was grown in California and thought, “If the goal is to make the freshest gelato, why not go straight to the source?” They moved out West, hooked up with dairy farmer John Taverna, and the rest was history.
John explained that Jersey cows are known for the high protein and butterfat content in their milk. Chileno Valley's certified organic milk is sought out by food producers throughout the region and has been used to make award-winning cheeses, such as those produced by Cowgirl Creamery.
John’s cows, known as “the ladies,” are pregnant for nine months but not milked during last two months of pregnancy. Most of these cows will be giving birth for the second time right in the pasture. They calve about once a year, starting at age three. Each cow will have around eight pregnancies in her lifetime of 10 to 12 years.
The cows recognize John by sight, smell, and sound. Each cow has its own personality, according to John. Some are quite social and some are more introverted. They can learn tricks and commands and are known to be cunning and stubborn at times. Cows see in black and white, with no depth perception.
All of John’s cows are USDA certified organic, which means that their feed is organic, no synthetic fertilizer is used on the land, and they are not treated with antibiotics. If a cow has an infection and antibiotics are required to treat it, her organic status is suspended.
The calves are with their moms for a week before they are weaned. They then live for three months in plastic houses, where they are fed milk twice a day. They are then transitioned into the main herd, where they will be raised for milking.
We were welcome to touch the calves but were warned: they love to lick!
Inside the dairy barn, 150 cows are milked daily. The metal bars keep them in line as they're feeding while being milked by machine.
The milk is stored in a refrigerated container until it is sold or used. Alex and Jennifer say they are the only gelato maker they know of that sources raw milk, then pasteurizes it themselves. The taste of the milk varies throughout the seasons due to the changing diet of grass-based cattle. Coupled with the use of seasonal fruit, this means that Cremeux’s gelato is constantly changing throughout the year.
In front of the dairy barn, a canine helper enjoys the sun.
Our tour group suited up in booties and hair caps before stepping inside the Cremeux Ex Machina creamery.
Here is where the magic happens! Cremeux’s workshop and kitchen are composed of two insulated steel cargo shipping containers welded together. The duo financed their operation with Alex's savings from his work in New York. Among the equipment is a blast freezer that goes as low as -30°F, a refrigerator for fruit, and an Italian gelato machine.
Cremeux pasteurizes their milk in this vat pasteurizer, which heats the milk to 165°F, a lower temperature than the HTST (high temperature, short time) pasteurizers used by most larger operations. The machine takes half an hour to pasteurize, compared to an HTST, which can pasteurize milk in under 50 seconds. Slower pasteurization helps preserve the milk’s flavor.
Alex makes about 10 gallons of gelato per day. The Effe gelato machine holds up to 1½ gallons of gelato in its barrel. The metal barrel rests inside a bath of an antifreeze-like substance that keeps the temperature at -7°F. As Alex pours the gelato ingredients (today’s flavor is pistachio), they freeze along the sides of the barrel. The stirring mechanism lightly scrapes the gelato off the sides.
After 8 to 10 minutes, the freshly made gelato is ready. This gelato machine is different than others in that the gelato must be taken out while the machine is still moving. If you're not careful, it will take the spatula from your hand and eat it!
Compared to the sweet Italian version, Alex's pistachio gelato is a little more rough. He likes it that way, he says, because California's a little rough. Alex says they chose to make gelato instead of ice cream because they believe gelato is more straightforward. For example, this gelato includes pistachio paste, John's milk, sugar, and stabilizers. To make pistachio ice cream, more ingredients would be needed to attain the same flavor profile and texture.
Jennifer and Alex offered our group gelato: coffee, vanilla, chocolate, Meyer lemon, pistachio, and avocado with candied limequats from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Jennifer arranged all the necessary gelato toppings, including chocolate sauce and a decadent salted caramel sauce.
Instead of using syrups or purées, Cremeux uses fresh fruit, sourcing many of their ingredients from the farmers market. Being a small-batch producer affords Cremeux flexibility in their flavors, which change seasonally. While larger producers strive for a uniform product, Alex prefers to give up control to the fruits of the season.
Our hungry farm tour participants couldn’t wait to try their own flavor combinations!
Jennifer and Alex do all the sourcing, production, packaging, and marketing for Cremeux Ex Machina themselves. Meet them in person and grab a pint on Saturdays at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.
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CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) is dedicated to cultivating a sustainable food system through the operation of farmers markets and educational programs. Learn More »