Most vacations I take usually include a food component, a quest to explore and consume as much as possible of some local specialty of wherever I happen to be in the short time I am away from home. Now you may ask, are you really going to "consume as much as possible"? The answer is yes, I really mean just that; I honestly want to eat meal after meal of local food, even if it means eating the same sorts of things every single meal of every single day. After all, I only have so much vacation time. Why waste it eating stuff I can get at home?
My recent trip to Italy was no exception to my food rule. I don't think this would come as a surprise to most people. Italian food is revered in the United States, perhaps too much sometimes in my opinion given the quality of Italian food we get here at home. There's a ton of good stuff in the Italian kitchen. Pasta, prosciutto, pizza, salami, olives, lardo, tomatoes, sopressata, squid, other cured pig products that I haven't already mentioned, basil, tiramisu. I wanted all of it in the nine days I was in country. As much as possible. Please.
If there is one food that kept coming up as a must have while I prepared for my time in Italy, it was gelato. Every guide book I read and every person I talked with that had spent time in Italy pretty much said the same thing: eat gelato because it's just amazing. Now I've never been much of an ice cream guy. Don't get me wrong, I love a scoop in some sort of dessert once every couple of months at a restaurant and I've been known to make a killer key lime pie, bourbon or rum raisin ice cream every now and then but if you open my freezer at any random time, chances are you will not find a tub of ice cream in there. But I was determined to find out what the fuss was about gelato just the same, so I made gelato my food quest for this vacation, vowing to my mom before I left that I intended to eat gelato at least once a day.
Before I get to what I found, maybe I should spend a few words on what gelato is. Plug the words "ice cream" into Google Translate and it will spit back the word "gelato." Indeed, gelato is actually the Italian word for ice cream. But there really is a difference between the two products that is worth understanding.
Start making some ice cream at home and you'll need some heavy cream, maybe some milk, some sugar and some egg yolks in addition to whatever flavoring you are shooting for. You'll need to make a custard and when the custard is cooled a bit, or if you have a better ice cream maker than I do, you'll need to churn the custard for a while at a fairly high speed to freeze it while breaking up the ice crystals that are forming as small as possible to literally intertwine the fat molecules from the cream with the ice. The result is a softish, smooth, creamy product that has grown a bit by adding air as the product has churned. For what it's worth, the USDA Standard for Ice Cream dated October 29, 1977 requires ice cream to have a minimum of 10 percent milkfat. That should start you thinking about working out right after you eat some.
The first step in making gelato also starts with making a custard, but instead of using a ton of heavy cream and egg yolks, you'll need a higher proportion of milk and maybe no yolks at all. Gelato is simply lower in fat than ice cream. While the USDA has no standard for gelato, most gelatos have between 4 and 8 percent fat content. If that seems not that much lower than the minimum 10 percent set by the USDA for ice cream, but remember the 10 percent is a minimum. Many ice creams have fat contents of 20 percent or higher. Now you are really thinking about working out after that scoop, right?
There's one more significant difference between ice cream and gelato. Gelato is generally churned at a lower speed than ice cream, which introduces less air into the product, meaning when you eat gelato, you get more flavor right away because you are tasting the product itself, not a bunch of air (or fat). Less air also means a higher freezing temperature. Ice cream is generally served at 10 degrees F. If gelato was served at that temperature it would be rock solid because of the lack of fat and air in the water heavy custard base. Gelato is therefore served at about 15 degrees warmer, yielding a smoother, softer sometimes gooier elastic treat with a much lower fat content.
So after all that science, let's get to the good stuff. Here's my blow by blow account of my Italian gelato experience from Rome to Venice.
White Chocolate Basil, Gelateria del Teatro, Rome
Go ahead and think it…what on Earth am I doing picking White Chocolate Basil gelato as my first foray into my Italian ice cream experience? Good question. I have no idea. It was not a good choice and if I had it to do all over again, I'd do it way differently.
I hit Gelateria del Teatro on my first day in Italy after seeing the Spanish Steps and on my way to stare at Castel Sant'Angelo from across the Tiber. It was, based on my research, the gelateria I was looking forward most to stopping by. It seemed to be rated very highly on every "best of" list from legitimate news and travel outlets to blog posts about gelato in Rome written by folks like me. I thought I couldn't go wrong with my flavor selection. I may have erred here. I can always blame it on the delirium of a few hours sleep in my coach seat on the way over to Europe from the United States the night before.
If they had called this just Basil, I wouldn't have disagreed. I got a lot of herb on my palate throughout my quick experience at Gelateria del Teatro and almost no white chocolate. I was hoping for that almost cloyingly sweet cocoa butter taste to balance out the basil and it just wasn't there. Overall I found this gelato a little watery and lacking in richness. Not a good start.
Whiskey, Il Gelato di San Crispino, Rome
I know, I know. If I was disappointed in my first gelato selection as a non-traditional flavor, why would I do it again? Again, I'm not really sure. Although to be honest, I really wanted to compare this stuff to my own homemade bourbon ice cream, which is absolutely delicious.
Il Gelateria di San Crispino was the gelateria where Julia Roberts' character in Eat Pray Love found gelato nirvana. Or so I'm led to believe. I haven't actually seen the movie, mostly because I'm not really a Julia Roberts guy. I expected this place to be packed with wannabes trying to follow in her character's footsteps so I was grateful to find it almost completely empty after a day traipsing around town looking at 2,000 year old or so Roman ruins and my body in desperate need of a sweet treat.
This was a step up from Gelateria del Teatro, and not just because I picked a flavor closer to the mainstream than White Chocolate Basil. I found this scoop creamier and eggier than my first gelato experience, which was gratifying. I was getting a little nervous that the lack of fat would render most gelato thinner than I would have liked but my faith was restored a little here. I also got a nice hint of whiskey from the spoonfuls I shoved in my mouth. Not bad. My bourbon ice cream is better.
Dark Chocolate Grand Marnier, Gelateria dei Gracchi, Rome
What better way to follow a morning audience with the Pope and a trip to see early Christian catacombs than with a small tub of gelato? I couldn't think of one. So after running to catch the 660 bus at the south end of Via Appia Antica, I pulled out my Metro day pass (a bargain at seven Euros) and headed back towards St. Peter's Square and into Gelateria dei Gracchi.
Finally I think I'm on the right flavor track. This was the first chocolate gelato I tried and with one small exception, I never strayed much from that theme for the rest of my trip. This stuff was really good. The sinfulness and bitterness of the dark chocolate paired well with the orange flavor from the Grand Marnier and I got a delicious chunk of candied orange peel in one of my spoonfuls as a delicious bonus.
This was by far the best gelato I had in Rome. I appreciated the fact that the chocolate offset the thinness of the gelato mix but the fact that I still found this stuff a little watery concerned me. I left Rome with my confidence shaken but I was determined to persevere.
Chocolate Hazelnut, Vivoli, Florence
All the doubts I had about gelato from my experience in Rome were removed as soon as I shoved a spoonful of the only gelato I ate in Florence into my mouth. The gelato from Vivoli was without a doubt the best I had in Italy. I don't know if it was the right moment or I just chose the perfect flavor but this stuff was fantastic. It was noticeably runnier than all the other gelato we ate in Italy (just check the pictures). Maybe that had something to do with how good this was.
It was also far sweeter than all the gelato we ate in Rome which was an instant upgrade. The sugar took away any hint of wateriness that we found in Roman gelato and which had me worried until this point. The gelato was infused with small pieces of hazelnut which added some welcome texture and I even got a whole hazelnut in my small cup which was awesome. The chocolate was less aggressive than the dark chocolate gelato I got from Gelateria dei Gracchi which was not surprising and it was simply amazing paired with the hazelnut. Chocolate's definitely the way to go.
Caramel, La Bottega del Gelato, Pisa
Yes, I just wrote the words "chocolate's definitely the way to go" and then the very next day I get a non-chocolate gelato. I love caramel. I'd eat caramel in whatever form I could for dessert with every meal or just for snacks if I thought that was in any way healthy. So after climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa (an interesting experience walking alternately down backward leaning and forward leaning stairs) and finding caramel gelato at our selected gelateria, I couldn't pass it up.
Like the gelato I had at Vivoli, I found La Bottega's gelato pleasantly non-watery like the stuff we had in Rome. I thought the caramel flavor was a reasonable choice - it had a faint burnt flavor on the caramel which was not unwelcome - but chocolate would probably have been better. This stuff was sweet like the chocolate hazelnut I had in Florence, although not quite as sweet. Vivoli's was better in this regard.
Chocolate Hazelnut and Stracciatella, Gelateria Il Doge, Venice
In Rome, Florence and Pisa, I noticed people getting two different flavors of gelato in a single cup or cone but I resisted this temptation, preferring to sample a single flavor uncluttered by a rival. Something about purity was my reasoning I'm sure. That all changed in Venice, for no real reason other than I just felt like it. In Venice, I never ate a single flavor from any one gelateria.
My first taste of gelato in Venice came a couple of islands north of the Ponte Accademia on our first afternoon in town. Since chocolate hazelnut had worked so well for me in Florence, I decided to opt for that again and paired it with a stracciatella which is a white ice cream dotted with dark chocolate pieces.
This gelato was good. In fact, I'd say it was the second best I had in country, likely due to my growing preference (based on two tastings) for chocolate hazelnut. It was nowhere near as good as Vivoli; it was not as sweet and had no pieces of hazelnut in it. The stracciatella was a nice pairing. The gelato was clean, tasting pretty much like slightly sweetened milk and the chocolate chips provided a nice crunch. I'd go back for some more gelato here.
Chocolate and Peanut, Gelateria Alaska, Venice
Gelateria Alaska is located just a five minute or so walk from the Ponte degli Scalzi near the main rail station in Venice. The route to get there involves going over a couple of bridges (of course) then cutting down an alley under a building that is about five feet off the ground. Needless to say, ducking is required.
So the idea behind my choice of gelato flavors here was Reese's peanut butter cups in gelato form. Didn't work. Not even close. And I suppose that made my experience at Gelateria Alaska a poor one. Not connecting the reality with your expectations has a way of yielding that result.
The texture of the gelato here was good and the resulting flavor was not watery like we found at some other gelaterias. But the chocolate wasn't sweet enough and the peanut was neither sweet nor salty. I, of course, wanted a little bit of both. Overall, this experience was like eating slightly sweetened chocolate milk with an unsalted peanut in ice cream form to go along with it.
And just like that, my Italy trip was over. I know, there are only seven gelato reviews above when I told my mother I was going to eat gelato at least once a day for the nine days I was overseas. I couldn't make it. There were just two days where our schedule didn't allow even a small cup of gelato. Maybe it's just as well. Despite all that gelato eating, I managed to lose five pounds on my trip, although that had way more to do with the walking than the gelato. Maybe I'd be only down four if I'd had those extra couple that I missed.
As you can tell, my gelato experience varied in Italy. Some were fantastic, others I would never eat again. The above commentary is not intended to be a ranking of the best gelato in Italy or even the best top to bottom of where I ate gelato in Italy in April of 2015. It's just a narrative of what I ate. If I had picked a different flavor at Gelateria del Teatro or Vivoli, the lows and highs of my experience might be reversed. But I do know one thing: when in Italy, eat gelato. Some of this stuff was otherworldly good.
I hit Gelateria del Teatro on my first day in Italy after seeing the Spanish Steps and on my way to stare at Castel Sant'Angelo from across the Tiber. It was, based on my research, the gelateria I was looking forward most to stopping by. It seemed to be rated very highly on every "best of" list from legitimate news and travel outlets to blog posts about gelato in Rome written by folks like me. I thought I couldn't go wrong with my flavor selection. I may have erred here. I can always blame it on the delirium of a few hours sleep in my coach seat on the way over to Europe from the United States the night before.
If they had called this just Basil, I wouldn't have disagreed. I got a lot of herb on my palate throughout my quick experience at Gelateria del Teatro and almost no white chocolate. I was hoping for that almost cloyingly sweet cocoa butter taste to balance out the basil and it just wasn't there. Overall I found this gelato a little watery and lacking in richness. Not a good start.
Whiskey, Il Gelato di San Crispino, Rome
I know, I know. If I was disappointed in my first gelato selection as a non-traditional flavor, why would I do it again? Again, I'm not really sure. Although to be honest, I really wanted to compare this stuff to my own homemade bourbon ice cream, which is absolutely delicious.
Il Gelateria di San Crispino was the gelateria where Julia Roberts' character in Eat Pray Love found gelato nirvana. Or so I'm led to believe. I haven't actually seen the movie, mostly because I'm not really a Julia Roberts guy. I expected this place to be packed with wannabes trying to follow in her character's footsteps so I was grateful to find it almost completely empty after a day traipsing around town looking at 2,000 year old or so Roman ruins and my body in desperate need of a sweet treat.
This was a step up from Gelateria del Teatro, and not just because I picked a flavor closer to the mainstream than White Chocolate Basil. I found this scoop creamier and eggier than my first gelato experience, which was gratifying. I was getting a little nervous that the lack of fat would render most gelato thinner than I would have liked but my faith was restored a little here. I also got a nice hint of whiskey from the spoonfuls I shoved in my mouth. Not bad. My bourbon ice cream is better.
Dark Chocolate Grand Marnier, Gelateria dei Gracchi, Rome
What better way to follow a morning audience with the Pope and a trip to see early Christian catacombs than with a small tub of gelato? I couldn't think of one. So after running to catch the 660 bus at the south end of Via Appia Antica, I pulled out my Metro day pass (a bargain at seven Euros) and headed back towards St. Peter's Square and into Gelateria dei Gracchi.
Finally I think I'm on the right flavor track. This was the first chocolate gelato I tried and with one small exception, I never strayed much from that theme for the rest of my trip. This stuff was really good. The sinfulness and bitterness of the dark chocolate paired well with the orange flavor from the Grand Marnier and I got a delicious chunk of candied orange peel in one of my spoonfuls as a delicious bonus.
This was by far the best gelato I had in Rome. I appreciated the fact that the chocolate offset the thinness of the gelato mix but the fact that I still found this stuff a little watery concerned me. I left Rome with my confidence shaken but I was determined to persevere.
Chocolate Hazelnut, Vivoli, Florence
All the doubts I had about gelato from my experience in Rome were removed as soon as I shoved a spoonful of the only gelato I ate in Florence into my mouth. The gelato from Vivoli was without a doubt the best I had in Italy. I don't know if it was the right moment or I just chose the perfect flavor but this stuff was fantastic. It was noticeably runnier than all the other gelato we ate in Italy (just check the pictures). Maybe that had something to do with how good this was.
It was also far sweeter than all the gelato we ate in Rome which was an instant upgrade. The sugar took away any hint of wateriness that we found in Roman gelato and which had me worried until this point. The gelato was infused with small pieces of hazelnut which added some welcome texture and I even got a whole hazelnut in my small cup which was awesome. The chocolate was less aggressive than the dark chocolate gelato I got from Gelateria dei Gracchi which was not surprising and it was simply amazing paired with the hazelnut. Chocolate's definitely the way to go.
Caramel, La Bottega del Gelato, Pisa
Yes, I just wrote the words "chocolate's definitely the way to go" and then the very next day I get a non-chocolate gelato. I love caramel. I'd eat caramel in whatever form I could for dessert with every meal or just for snacks if I thought that was in any way healthy. So after climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa (an interesting experience walking alternately down backward leaning and forward leaning stairs) and finding caramel gelato at our selected gelateria, I couldn't pass it up.
Like the gelato I had at Vivoli, I found La Bottega's gelato pleasantly non-watery like the stuff we had in Rome. I thought the caramel flavor was a reasonable choice - it had a faint burnt flavor on the caramel which was not unwelcome - but chocolate would probably have been better. This stuff was sweet like the chocolate hazelnut I had in Florence, although not quite as sweet. Vivoli's was better in this regard.
Chocolate Hazelnut and Stracciatella, Gelateria Il Doge, Venice
In Rome, Florence and Pisa, I noticed people getting two different flavors of gelato in a single cup or cone but I resisted this temptation, preferring to sample a single flavor uncluttered by a rival. Something about purity was my reasoning I'm sure. That all changed in Venice, for no real reason other than I just felt like it. In Venice, I never ate a single flavor from any one gelateria.
My first taste of gelato in Venice came a couple of islands north of the Ponte Accademia on our first afternoon in town. Since chocolate hazelnut had worked so well for me in Florence, I decided to opt for that again and paired it with a stracciatella which is a white ice cream dotted with dark chocolate pieces.
This gelato was good. In fact, I'd say it was the second best I had in country, likely due to my growing preference (based on two tastings) for chocolate hazelnut. It was nowhere near as good as Vivoli; it was not as sweet and had no pieces of hazelnut in it. The stracciatella was a nice pairing. The gelato was clean, tasting pretty much like slightly sweetened milk and the chocolate chips provided a nice crunch. I'd go back for some more gelato here.
Chocolate and Peanut, Gelateria Alaska, Venice
Gelateria Alaska is located just a five minute or so walk from the Ponte degli Scalzi near the main rail station in Venice. The route to get there involves going over a couple of bridges (of course) then cutting down an alley under a building that is about five feet off the ground. Needless to say, ducking is required.
So the idea behind my choice of gelato flavors here was Reese's peanut butter cups in gelato form. Didn't work. Not even close. And I suppose that made my experience at Gelateria Alaska a poor one. Not connecting the reality with your expectations has a way of yielding that result.
The texture of the gelato here was good and the resulting flavor was not watery like we found at some other gelaterias. But the chocolate wasn't sweet enough and the peanut was neither sweet nor salty. I, of course, wanted a little bit of both. Overall, this experience was like eating slightly sweetened chocolate milk with an unsalted peanut in ice cream form to go along with it.
And just like that, my Italy trip was over. I know, there are only seven gelato reviews above when I told my mother I was going to eat gelato at least once a day for the nine days I was overseas. I couldn't make it. There were just two days where our schedule didn't allow even a small cup of gelato. Maybe it's just as well. Despite all that gelato eating, I managed to lose five pounds on my trip, although that had way more to do with the walking than the gelato. Maybe I'd be only down four if I'd had those extra couple that I missed.
As you can tell, my gelato experience varied in Italy. Some were fantastic, others I would never eat again. The above commentary is not intended to be a ranking of the best gelato in Italy or even the best top to bottom of where I ate gelato in Italy in April of 2015. It's just a narrative of what I ate. If I had picked a different flavor at Gelateria del Teatro or Vivoli, the lows and highs of my experience might be reversed. But I do know one thing: when in Italy, eat gelato. Some of this stuff was otherworldly good.
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