Earlier this month, 70,000 gelato enthusiasts converged on a small park in Rimini, Italy, to scoff down 6.5 tonnes of the country's favourite feel-good treat in just three days.
Like Barolo, Gucci and Ferrari, gelato is quintessentially Italian and an essential component of la dolce vita. Italians take gelato culture seriously. Call it ice cream at your peril - artisanal gelato is healthier and has a much lower fat content than the mass-produced indulgence. So it's hardly surprising that the grand finale of the inaugural Gelato World Tour competition - alternatively dubbed "the Olympics of Artisan Gelato" - was held there.
Following heats in Rome, Valencia, Melbourne, Dubai, Austin and Berlin, Rimini's tree-lined Federico Fellini Park was converted into a tented "Gelato Village" in early September.
Here, 24 gelato maestros from Italy, Spain, Germany, the US, Australia, Canada, Bahrain and beyond would do battle. They gathered to churn out innovative flavours, each hoping that theirs would be honoured as "World's Best Gelato".
Come gelato judgment day, on September 7, things were hotting up in the Gelato Village. Artisans' hands blurred as they served up one cone or cup after another.
Dressed in cowboy boots, a scarlet bandana and a red-and-white gingham-trimmed shirt with pearl snap-buttons, Matthew Lee, a native Texan and founder of Teo Gelato in Austin, introduced himself to passers-by as "the Gelato Cowboy".