Lets Talk Gelato

Italy in the summer is one hot mess. By 9 am the weather can get up to 80 degress easily. The day might be a typical 90 degree one, but with the humidity, the real feel is more like 120 degrees! What better way to cool off then a little ice cream treat? And I’m not just talking any kind of ice cream, (although Magnum bars are killer!) I mean ice cream the Italian way. The birthplace of gelato ice cream is Southern Italy and on every street  you will more than likely come across a gelateria. One Florentine told me the trick to know the real authentic stuff from the fake and it was the rule that guided me for the rest of my Italian adventure. Many shops will catch your eye with their mile high mounds of gelato, but don’t be fooled! The crazy high mounds are what Italians refer to as “tourist gelato”. Real authentic gelato is like any other ice cream where it melts, now how do those mounds of gelato not just melt off the top? The truth is, to get your attention, gelaterias will often pump their ice cream with air and preservatives to catch tourists attention. So if you are looking for real authentic gelato, make sure the ice cream is evened out in the container where it stays nice and cool because you know they aren’t using preservatives and God knows what else. The taste will blow your socks off! The most interesting flavor I tried was ginger and it had small ginger flakes in it. It was very refreshing to eat after my stomach was bloated from all the pasta and bread, I totally recommend it if you are a ginger fan. After dinner was when my chocolate cravings came and a little Nutella gelato hits the spot.

And remember, don’t get distracted by the high colorful mounds of ice cream, it may be harder to find the good stuff, but it is well worth the hunt!

love,

-T