Comtessa vs Contesa: betrayals of memory

Flirting with the tricks that memory plays on us, we sought out a “shared” reference which, at least throughout the 1980s in Spain, we knew as Comtessa: an ice cream cake made with rippling layers of cream and crunchy chocolate, often presiding over celebrations as soon as it was lifted from its cardboard box, ready to cut and enjoy.

From 1998 onwards, it began to be marketed under the name Vienetta (as it was called in other countries). A decade later, however, Frigo shared the results of a survey showing that 97% of consumers never stopped calling it by the name it was originally given, making us think that by then it was no longer just an ice cream cake but a memory with its own proper name: it’s called Comtessa, full stop. The manufacturer respected this popular verdict and left things as they were.

At Mugaritz, we created a “Contesa” as a nod to the unruly movements of memory, acknowledging the magic of recollections when they ferment and, cloaked in mold, take on new meanings with the passing of time. Where the traditional dessert was direct, fresh, and frozen, at Mugaritz it becomes a savory bite: folds of mycelium generated by the fungus Penicillium candidum, filled with whipped cream and served at a very low temperature together with a juice made from Empeltre olives. It offers alternative readings of something familiar, close, or timeless—above all, allowing us to strip away, in a single breath and with the tip of the tongue, the petals of a memory’s flower.