Twin Job, Gelateri, Third Place, Kottayam

Yknow what I love? Gelato. I love eating it, making it, writing about it Its an inexpensive culinary souvenir, an edible piece of Italian culture, and supremely refreshing during Keralas notoriously hot summers. Here are a few things you should know about Italian gelato, whether youre planning to eat it in Italy or youve got a good gelateria near where you live.

18 Things You Should Know About Italian Gelato

1. The word gelato simply means frozen, so it can be (and is) used for more than just Italian ice cream. 2. Gelato is the past participle of the Italian verb gelare, which means to freeze, so you Italian language learners can go ahead and conjugate that one now.

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A shop that sells gelato is called a gelateria the plural of the word is gelaterie. Fun gelato idiomatic expression: gelato dalla paura means scared stiff. Gelato has a lower fat content than ice cream. Rather than cream, most gelato is made with whole milk. Gelato is much more dense and flavorful than factory-made ice cream, since there s less air churned into the mixture. 8. The best gelato is made without preservatives, so it has a shorter shelf-life. In other words, the best gelaterie are making fresh gelato on a regular basis.

9. The ancient Romans and Egyptians served frozen sweets, usually made with preserved ice and snow brought from nearby mountains. 10. The first creation of stuff we d recognize as modern gelato probably dates to the mid-16th century, when a chef in Florence developed a way of keeping his frozen desserts cold. 11. Perhaps because of this, Florence has a reputation as being one of the best places to get gelato in Italy but, truth be told, there s excellent quality gelato in just about every corner of the country. 12. Fruit flavored gelato typically has very little dairy in it, and can be called sorbetto but in Italy it s still most likely to be called gelato.

13. Gelato affogato is a scoop of gelato (usually vanilla) with a shot of espresso poured over the top. 14. When discussing whether certain flavors go together, Italians use the phrase marries well as in, do these flavors marry well? In Italian, that s questi gusti si sposano bene? 15. There is such a thing as bad gelato. You can avoid paying for (or eating) it with my guide to finding good gelato. 16. The best gelato has no artificial colors. That means pistachio gelato should be very pale green, and banana gelato should be cream-colored. Fake colors indicate sub-par gelato.

17. When ordering gelato, you order by the number of flavors (gusti) you want not the number of scoops. More flavors in a small cup means smaller portions of each one, but basically the same amount of gelato. 18. Most gelaterie have more than just standard gelato available. You can also get things like semifreddo, which is more fluffy and mousse-like, as well as granita, which is like an ice slush. Granita is particularly common and popular in the summer.

Now then, how about planning a trip to Italy to get some of that gelato youre dreaming about? Or you can just dig into the creations that you are offered at any of my shops, Third Place

How to Find Good Gelato

In order for you to have the best gelato, there are a few rules you should learn beforehand. I know, I know its just ice cream, right? How can it be that there are rules about ordering ice cream? Well, its not so simple, and if you learn a little bit about the art of Italian gelato before you set foot in a gelateria, youll save yourself the indignity of paying your hard-earned money for bad, massproduced gelato that really should end up in a trash can rather than your mouth. The good stuff is so good that wasting precious calories on bad gelato is really a crime against humanity. Or at least a crime against your taste buds. First, a little background about Italian gelato. Its not ice cream, although thats the closest approximation most of us have seen outside Italy. While ice cream is made with cream, Italian gelato is almost always made with milk. Its richer, smoother, creamier, more flavorful, and altogether a bazillion times better than your average ice cream. The fruit flavors taste like youre eating fresh fruit. The cream flavors have the texture of silk. The chocolate flavors are so rich youll need a bottle of water to wash them down. Its also not just something tourists slurp by the truckload in the summer its something real Italians eat on a regular basis. Gelato is an inexpensive treat, and youll often see locals licking a cone during their evening passeggiata something you should mimic every chance you get. If, however, you sully your tongue with bad gelato, youre going to think everything Ive said so far is crazy talk as you head for the local Baskin & Robbins. Dont let that happen to you. Its easy to steer clear of bad gelato, and here are some of the best ways to do just that.

Gelato Rules
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Pay attention to color. While various gelaterie might lure you in with neon lights and brightly-colored shops, it s the color of the gelato itself that you ve got to study. Colors should roughly match their real-life counterparts, and any fluorescent deviation should be considered abnormal. Banana, for instance, should not be bright yellow. It should be a vaguely grayish creamy color like real bananas. Pistacchio should not be bright green, but more of a pale gray-green color. When the colors are not natural, it means there s stuff in the gelato that isn t natural, either, and you want to stay away far away. Look for the word artisan. artigianale means that it s made the old-fashioned way with natural ingredients. Gelaterie expressing themselves as artisan or artigianale tend to provide good gelato. Think twice about climbing mount gelato. Personally, I think the places that pile gelato a foot high in the case make it look really cool, often putting representative examples of the flavor atop their little mountains in creative ways, but I tend to prefer places that don t bother with that kind of nonsense. For one thing, that big pile of gelato may look great, but it s going to be a rare occasion when they go through that whole pile in a day (or even a week), so that stuff sits there for awhile. It may be that they just leave the mountain in place and just refill the back end, but either way it s a little strange for me. The places that

concentrate too much on the presentation are, for me, not as reliably good as the ones that don t invest so much in the show but reserve that attention for the product they re selling. Metal tubs are where it s at. this is the greatest indicator, because the mass-producers usually sells in paper or plastic tubs. Gelato that s being displayed in anything but metal tubs isn t something you want to mess with.

How to Order Gelato in Italy

Now comes the best part actually trying the gelato. But believe it or not, youve got a little learning left to do for this part, too, so heres my primer on how to order gelato in Italy. I will say that although these guidelines are generally still in practice almost everywhere Ive ordered gelato, there are bound to be exceptions. As always, when in doubt about the process, watch someone else do it first and then copy them accordingly. As an added bonus, this waiting and watching gives you more time to check out the flavors in the gelato cases!

Ordering Gelato The Vocabulary

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Cup or cone? will.

Not every gelato shop will offer both cups and cones, but the vast majority

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How many flavors? Unlike in some ice cream shops who gives in scoops, Gelaterie offers gelato by weight. So after you ve chosen the vessel for your gelato, you ll need to say how many flavors you d like. So technically you re telling them how many flavors you d like, and they re going to give you that many flavors in one serving. But as we can think by ourselves, a cup can hold a max of two flavors, so if we say four flavors, that means four flavors in two serving size.

My flavor Vocabulary:

The Chocolates
Cioccolato (cho-koh-LAH-toh) is basic chocolate, but the variations on this theme are nearly endless. Its all the rage to pair chocolate with other complimentary flavors, like hot pepper or orange, and there are also different kinds of chocolate even when its all by itself. Here are a few to look for:
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cioccolato fondente (cho-koh-LAH-toh fawn-DEN-teh) Dark chocolate lovers, this is the label to look for. And if you see cioccolato fondente extra noir, I think youll understand that were talking about the darkest of the dark chocolates here. Dark chocolate haters (whats wrong with you?!?), look for cioccolato al latte (cho-kohLAH-toh ahl LAH-tay), or milk chocolate. bacio (BAH-cho) Named for the famous chocolate candies that come from Perugia, this is a chocolate hazelnut combination not unlike Nutella (which is another common gelato flavor), often with bits of hazelnuts in the mix. gianduja or gianduia (jahn-DOO-yah) Either way its spelled, it means the same thing a creamy combination of milk chocolate and hazelnut. This flavor comes primarily from the Piedmont region, but it can be found throughout Italy. cioccolato allarancia (cho-koh-LAH-toh ahl-ah-RAHN-cha) This is chocolate orange, and is a personal favorite. Its most often a dark chocolate, not a milk chocolate, and may have either just an orange flavor or may also include candied bits of orange peel. cioccolato con peperoncini (cho-koh-LAH-toh kohn pep-pehr-ohn-CHEE-nee) Another trendy chocolate addition, besides orange, is pepper and this is often how youll see it on the flavor placards. Its basically a hot pepper infused chocolate (usually dark chocolate), and can vary in terms of heat. A friend also reports having

seen cioccolato allazteca (cho-koh-LAH-toh ahl-az-TEH-kah), which had both cinnamon and hot pepper.

The Nuts
Nuts are a popular ingredient in many of the chocolate and cream flavors, but theyre also stand-alone flavors as well.
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pistacchio (pee-STAHK-yoh) Im not going to define this one, because if you read English youll know what it is. The important thing here it to learn that the ch in the middle of this word has a k sound (not an sh sound). Also good to know its a very popular flavor. mandorla (mahn-DOOR-lah) Almond nocciola (noh-CHO-lah) This is hazelnut all by itself (not combined with chocolate, as listed above). castagna (kahs-TAHN-yah) This is chestnut, and isnt nearly as common as some of the other nut flavors. It could be a seasonal specialty, Im not sure.

The Creams
Heres a flavor tip if your first flavor choice is something particularly strong or difficult to match with something else, getting a cream flavor for a second scoop is a good option because it generally wont fight with the first flavor, but will add a muted backdrop.
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fior di latte (FYOR dee LAH-tay) Perhaps the base flavor for all cream (or even chocolate) flavors, this is literally flower of milk and its a wonderfully subtle sweet cream flavor. Some people I know think its boring, but I adore it. crema (KREH-mah) This is a kind of egg custard flavor, and shouldnt be confused with vanilla. zabaione (zah-bah-YOH-nay) This is based on a dessert of the same name, made from (among other things) egg yolks and sweet Marsala wine. So its an eggy and custardy flavor, with an overtone of Marsala. cocco (KOH-koh) Coconut caff (kah-FAY) Just in case you arent getting enough coffee flavor in your daily morning espresso, heres the gelato version. amarena (ah-mah-RAY-nah) Though it has fruit in it, its a cream base, so Im sticking it in this category. This is another personal favorite its basically fior di latte with a sauce of sour cherries kind of mixed in. The cherries have been stewed in something, and I have no idea what it is, but theyre chewy and delicious, and youre likely to get at least one whole cherry (without the pit, of course) in your scoop.

The Fruits
Technically, these arent really considered gelati instead, theyre sorbetti (sorbetto in the singular) because theyre made without milk. The fruit flavors are some of my favorites theyre so intense, youll be amazed at how like the real thing they taste.
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fragola (FRAH-go-lah) Strawberry (and heres the easiest strawberry gelato recipe ever!) lampone (lahm-POH-nay) Raspberry (oh-so good with a dark chocolate flavor)

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limone (lee-MOH-nay) Lemon (lime is really rare, but its lime, or LEE-may) mandarino (mahn-dah-REE-noh) Mandarin orange melone (meh-LOH-nay) Melon (usually cantaloupe) albicocca (al-bee-KOH-kah) Apricot fico (FEE-koh) Fig tarocco (tah-ROH-koh) Blood orange (not very common) frutti di bosco (FROO-tee dee BOHS-koh) These arent fruits belonging to some guy named Bosco, this means fruits of the forest, generally things like blueberries and blackberries. mela (MEH-lah) Apple (also look for mela verde (MEH-lah VEHR-day), or green apple) pera (PEH-rah) This is pear, and one of my favorite fruit flavors. Its a really subtle flavor, but one of the best features of well-made pear gelato is the texture. You really feel like youre eating a pear. pesca (PEHS-kah) Peach

The Oddballs
Youll find regional and seasonal gelato specialties wherever you go, and some that are based on popular Italian candy bars or other desserts. Theres no way to capture them all here (and youre encouraged to try any and all odd flavors to see what you make of them yourself!), but here are a few you might see.
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zuppa inglese (TSOO-pah een-GLAY-zay) Literally this is English soup, but its referring to that popular English dessert called trifle. Its a custardy flavored base with bits of cookies (instead of sponge cake) and often a sweet wine like madeira or sherry. riso (REE-zoh) This is literally rice, but is more akin to the gelato version of rice pudding. And yes, there are bits of rice in it. malaga (mah-LAH-gah) Rum raisin stracciatella (strah-cha-TEL-lah) If you think of this kind of like the Italian gelato equivalent of chocolate chip ice cream, youre in the ballpark. Its a fior di latte base with chocolate bits in it. The chocolate has usually been drizzled over the top of the just-made gelato and then mixed in after its hardened, so rather than uniform chocolate bits you end up with pieces that look like needles. This is a very common flavor.