A Life Worth Eating

Is there any image more evocative of la dolce vita of Italy than licking a cone of delicious gelato? Honestly, I’m not sure there is. I was lucky enough to spend nine weeks traveling all around Italy this past summer, and I had more than my fair share of gelato. 45 different gelaterie, 102 scoops of gelato, and 7 cups of granita, to be exact. During this, the third of three installments (see here and here), I’ll be sharing all of the tastiest frozen discoveries I made as I worked my way up the boot. That way, wherever and whenever you happen to find yourself in Italy, you will know a fantastic cone of gelato is never too far away. Enjoy!

GENOA

As was my usual M.O. upon finding myself in a new city in Italy, I first found a hotel to drop my things off, then started to walk around looking for food. It must have been my lucky day, as I stumbled upon Gelateria Profumo, Via Superiore del Ferro 4r, literally about 2 minutes away from my hotel, and it looked very promising. My cone of pistacchio and fichi(figs) was wonderful. What can I say, I am a sucker for those two flavors, as I’m sure my other reports indicate. But wow, both flavors tasted fantastic, and the texture was great, too. The fig gelato had the same beautiful clarity of flavor as Vivoli in Florence, and the pistachio was reminiscent of the heavenly version I had at Pasticceria Alba in Palermo. Truly great gelato, and among the best I had on the trip.

ALBA

Things were looking up, though, as I wandered down toward Piazza Navona 10b, to Gelatissimo. A member of the Slow Food organization’s Menodiciotto (-18°C) group of gelaterie, from what I gather this is one of many places around the country using only pistachios from Bronte in Sicily, lemons from the Amalfi coast, etc. Basically, carefully chosen natural ingredients without artificial additives or preservatives in the gelato. I had a small cup of pistacchio that was delicious, with small bits of roasted nuts throughout. A stop here would be a nice way to cap of a fall dinner featuring the city’s famous tuber magnatum.

ASTI

Literally just a few steps from the train station in this city known for its bubbles, I wandered into Gelateria Ferrara, Piazza Marconi 24. I saw that they had Gambero Rosso’s Gelaterie d’Italia sticker in the window, always a good sign. Though I’m too cheap to actually buy it myself, I would highly recommend that book, as I quickly noticed that these places do not tend to disappoint. This was no exception. The gianduja (chocolate-hazelnut), torrone (nougat), and malaga al moscato (usually malaga=rum-raisin, but in this case it was moscato-raisin) were all very good. And the girl was quite amused when I told her I specifically chosen those flavors because they represented products typical of the Piemonte region. Yes, my friends, I am a food nerd.

TURIN

One afternoon as I strolled around the very elegant city of Turin, I stopped by Mondello, Piazza E. Filiberto 8, a Sicilian gelateria that also sells brioche con gelato, cassata siciliana, and fresh-filled cannoli. I had some very tasty granita di anguria (watermelon) that quickly transported me all the way back to Palermo. The texture was just a bit firmer than the variations of granita I’d enjoyed so far during my trip, but not overly so. And the flavor was cool and refreshing, perfect for the warm summer afternoon. In a city full of guidebook-recommended gelaterie, none of the others I tried quite lived up to this delicious stop.

PARMA

After a lovely lunch down the street at Sorelle Picchi (which I would highly recommend) down the street, I landed at Dolce Vita, Via Farini 16, to satisfy my sweeth tooth. The selection of flavors here was very interesting, with several non-traditional options in addition to the usual suspects. I chose a cone of sorbetto di lampone e Campari (raspberry-campari sorbet), chantilly con zabaglione e amarena (cream-based flavor enriched with zabaglione and black cherries), and zabaglione con uve passite e nutella (rich concoction of zabaglione, raisins, and nutella). The best by far was the sorbet, which was beautifully tip-toeing the line between sweet and bitter. All were good, though. But I ask you, is anything with the addition of nutella ever bad, really?

BOLOGNA

One of the most highly recommended gelaterie in this city lovingly called “Il Grasso” (”The Fat”) was “La Sorbetteria” Castiglione, on Via Castiglione 44. Here I had a cestino (”basket”-shaped cone) with three flavors: crema di ricotta e fichi caramellati (ricotta and caramelized figs), crema di mandorla e mandorla pralinata (almond and almond praline), and crema di mascarpone e pinoli caramellati (mascarpone and caramelized pine nuts). All were at least as delicious as they sound, if not better. This was a nice change of pace from my usual (and some would say boring) order of pistachio. The creamy almond with crispy almond praline pieces was my favorite of the three. But really, the ricotta/fig and mascarpone/pine nut certainly weren’t far behind.

Several guide books seemed to also recommend Stefino, on Via Galleria 49/b, so I stopped in for some granita al pistacchio one day. This was absolutely wretched. Just a mess. The texture was terrible. Thick, and almost like very icy pistachio powder or something. The flavor was very pure pistachio, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the strange texture. Somehow, though, I decided to give the place a second chance, and I returned the following day for some of their gelato, which people seemed to be lining up for halfway down the block in the evenings. I had a cone of yucatán (spicy chocolate-and-peperoncino), zabaglione, and fior di panna (basic cream flavor). This was by far the spiciest chocolate and peperoncino gelato I’d had on the trip, and I really appreciated that boldness. The other flavors were tasty, but the favorite among the three was certainly that one. So I would definitely recommend this place with one caveat: do not, under any circumstances, order the pistachio granita.

Another evenings included a trip to Gelateria Mauritius, whose newest of several locations in the city is on Via Riva di Reno 76. I had a cone of pistacchio, cassata siciliana, and noci con fichi (walnut with figs). All were quite good, especially walnut and fig, and certainly didn’t need all the superfluous nuts, sauces, and fruits they offered to combine with your gelato in a crepe. This was a great way to cap off a great meal of bollito misto I had enjoyed a few blocks away at Da Bertino.

Ah, lest I forget, there was one more place in Bologna that I enjoyed enough to warrant a mention in this post. Gelateria Gianni on Via Monte Grappa 11. Here I enjoyed a selection of fichi, fior di latte, and a third kind called avvocato (”lawyer”), which consisted of a cream base with swirls of nutella and little crispy chocolate-coated rice puffs (think Nestle Crunch) throughout. The latter was just one of several distinctly-named combinations they had on offer, many hinting at tasty study breaks for the city’s huge student population. All were pretty good, if not quite on the same level as La Sorbetteria and Mauritius in terms of clarity of flavor. The selection of flavors alone is enough to make this place worth trying at least once, and it certainly seems to be quite popular with the Bolognesi.

MILAN

Peck, on Via Spadari 9 is certainly the most famous gourmet food market in Milan, and arguably the most famous in the country. A daily visit to this store would be my first recommendation for anyone visiting Milan: the entire selection, from the meats and cheeses to their phenomenal wine cellar, is something to behold. At the end of my first visit, it was gelato time. Fig gelato was their special flavor that day, so I went for a cup of two flavors: fichi and pistacchio. Both were outstanding, the best I’d had in several weeks, in fact. Perfectly creamy texture, served neither too warm nor too cold, and wonderful clarity of flavor. On a later visit, I had a cup of pistacchio and miele (honey). This combination was nothing short of phenomenal. Parting with Italy is such sweet sorrow, but this cup of gelato on the last day of my vacation was a delicious send-off.