School of cool: study Italy's most famous dessert at Carpigiani Gelato University

Home to the first university in Europe, and seemingly a magnet for nicknames, the enchanting city of Bologna is affectionately referred to in Italy as , or "the learned one". It has also been dubbed - "the fat one" - in recognition of the local appetite for eating exceptionally well.

Bologna, then, is the perfect place in which to get to grips with the science behind Italy's favourite feel-good treat.

Established much more recently than the venerable University of Bologna (which opened in 1088), the Carpigiani Gelato University (founded in 2003) lies just outside the capital city of the affluent Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It's the world's fore-most educational institution for learn-ing to make high-quality gelato like an old-school Italian artisan, and I've signed up for the first module in its month-long "Become a Gelatiere" training programme.

Over five days I will sample more frozen dessert than in my previous five years. I'll swoon over vanilla, hazelnut, pistachio, tiramisu, coffee, chocolate, almond, milk (think chocolate chip, but not quite) and other flavours, and melt over sorbets of the orange, strawberry, banana, pineapple, "kibana" (kiwi and banana) and raspberry variety.

In a dozen cases, under the tutelage of an Italian gelato wizard, I will rustle up the stuff myself. Sweet!

Anyone enrolling at the Carpigiani Gelato University should, before arrival, shake off any romantic ideas. There are no dreamy sessions spent rolling out recipes on the sun-kissed verandas of lovingly restored farmhouses, while sipping a fruity Brunello di Montalcino and nibbling on bruschetta. This is not a cookery course set among the fragrant olive groves of rural Tuscany.