Ice cream tradition lives on

The family have been making ice cream in the area for over a century, since Lorenzo Di Marco opened a parlour in Hastings in 1905.

Luigi Di Paolo, 25, great-grandson of Lorenzo, is the latest family member responsible for the hand-made ice cream.

He learned the trade working in the Marina cafe aged 16, and in November travelled to Bologna, northern Italy, to complete an ice-cream making course.

Luigi said: "It gave me the opportunity to spend more time improving and refining our recipies, and some new ideas for flavours and texture.

"People think it's simple, but it's a scientific process involving air and density. It can't be too hard, or too soft, and you need just the right texture."

"I also learned a little about the history of the food, how it came about through Romans making it with dry ice. In January I'll be going back to do an advanced course."

Luigi, who was made a partner in the Marina cafe three years ago, has since introduced new flavours such as Maple and Walnut, and Pistachio.

The family have a history of ice-cream making. Great-grandfather Lorenzo walked to England with a group of musicians as a 17 year old.

Taking six months, he walked from the Lazio region of Italy to Eastbourne, where he plied his trade of making artisan "gelati" ice cream using wooden tubs and dry ice.

The high-end Italian variant of of the food typically has less air, resulting in a denser, richer product.

Luigi's father, John Di Paolo, said: "The ice cream has always been a prestige part of this business.

It's made with locally sourced produce, and we are the only ones in this area still making artisan ice cream, meaning it's made on the premises by hand, taking a considerable amount of time."

The Marina site, opposite the De La Warr Pavilion, has experience of the trade.

In 1920 it was run by the Mainwaring Brothers as The Model Dairy, with stables for the milk round, selling ice cream and butter.

A direct hit on the Metropole Hotel in 1941 forced the dairy to close, only for Luigi Capaldi, a cousin of the Di Paolo's, to set up an ice cream business in 1946.

He converted the back room, currently the 60 seater restaurant area of Di Paolo's, into a wholesale ice cream factory supplying hotels and cinemas.

In 1981, John Di Paolo took over, and began to modernise the site.

He changed the name from the Criterion to Di Paolo's, and introduced a selection of hot food and specialist coffees.

The booming coach tourist trade caused him to convert the back room into a restaurant in 1990, but he says their customers are now mostly local: "We've changed from a holiday business to a local trade business. Customers come from Eastbourne, Hastings and Tonbridge Wells, but we feel that Bexhill has a lot to offer the tourist trade. People need to rediscover the town."

Luigi said: "We're still making things in the traditional manner, using only Italian ice cream machinery, and hoping people will enjoy the quality produce. I think that's something Bexhill can market itself on."

Luigi has expanded the range of flavours to 18, but John Di Paolo prefers the classic range.

He said: "I'm a traditionalist, I still like Vanilla. And maybe Strawberry. The old flavours are the best."