I must have walked past this place a thousand times, it’s tiny so it is easy to miss. However, one night I would take notice as Nico the manager of this establishment joined our group for apperitivi. He became and instant new friend, so sweet, and adorable with his broken English and my broken Italian, we started chatting, he told us he runs a bio gelateria in the main walking street in our town, he said with hisadorable Italian accent “da best”!
After dinner we wondered over for a taste of his gelato for dessert and to my great surprise his gelato was indeed “da best”, the pistachio was over the top, the lemon made me swoon and the dark chocolate literally made me dance in the street.
So of course I had to see how it was done. Writing a cookbook has made me hungry (and sometimes even pushy) for foodie information, and since I love to make ice cream, well why not ask for a lesson, (besides it would be a great way for me to practice my Italian and for Nico to practice his English). We made a date and met up in the morning for my gelato/italiano lezione (lesson). We started by shopping for fresh fruit, right around the corner.
By the time we got back to the kitchen, certified fresh organic milk products had been delivered. He actually gets a certificate everyday from the vendor.
Then he prepares the main ingredient the custard (no egg) just milk, cream, sugar + a touch of yogurt. It tastes divine. It’s all about the delicious products, people. Nico made me taste a sample of the custard, which according to him is the mama of all milk based gelatos. It was mind blowingly delicious, in fact I now want to put it on my cereal every morning.
All the fruit flavors, are well, mainly fruit, water and sugar, yes it’s that simple, and simply delicious.We made peach and lemon.
Then on to the cream based gelato, pistachio to my second favorite flavor, (the dark chocolate is my favorite) was made using organic pistachios blended into a lovely creamy paste. The smell was intoxicating, toasty and earthy, no wonder this gelato tastes so amazing. It’s all about killer ingredients, the essence of the Italian kitchen. We finished up with a granita: almond, sweet and toasty with a perfect icy grainy texture.
top three photos by scott lowden
