The Inside Scoop: Attending the International Gelato Festival in Florence
The Inside Scoop: Attending the International Gelato Festival in Florence
Oh, gelato, my one true love. If you’ve been following my Instagram stories this semester, then you know that I indulge in a cone (or two) of gelato just about every single day. And all of my training tying flavor after flavor at gelato shops around the city has led up to this: the International Gelato Festival.
The festival takes place all over the world in search for the very best gelato chefs, and this weekend found the event in Florence, showcasing 16 chefs and their original flavors. I have had the festival marked in my planner since my very first day in Florence, and the anticipation was worth it.
Kendall, my roommate, and I got tickets online for €11 that got us wristbands to try all of the flavors and a cute tote bag covered in gelato spoons. Tickets could also be bought at the festival site, Piazzale Michelangelo, for €10 for just the wristband and €2 for the bag. Piazzale Michelangelo was the absolute perfect spot for the event, as it is large enough to host the hundreds of people clamoring for gelato with a stunning view of the city of Florence.
Things kicked off at 11 am with an opening ceremony, which was conducted fully in Italian, so we only picked up bits and pieces. After trying to understand Italian for a bit, we grabbed our gelato checklist and started trying all of the flavors starting with number 1! Each sample was given in a perfectly sized baby cone that allowed the taster to have just enough of the flavor to truly enjoy it.
We tried all 16 flavors over almost 6 hours, because it turns out that even in those little cones, that is a heck of a lot of gelato. I was so full the entire day, just trying to get in one more bite. From 11 am to 5 pm, Kendall and I alternated trying gelato and sitting on the steps of the Piazzale preparing for our next. Throughout the day, there were also mini events being held, like gelato cooking classes and judging by a technical jury. The jury scored each gelato based on presentation, execution, and taste. Kendall and I were usually vindicated in our judgements of each flavor by the judges’ scores.
After trying all 16 flavors, you could go back to get a full cup of your two favorites before deciding which one got your vote. Do you think you can guess my top two and which one got my vote?
A Flavor Breakdown
1
Once Upon a Time: goat milk with honey, pine nuts, and walnuts
The flavors in this gelato were very subtle with strong hints of the goat milk. Kendall and I both liked it but weren’t wowed by it.
This gelato chef came prepared with a goat prop to promote his gelato with goat milk
2
The First Beautiful Thing: mandarin and orange sorbet with a mint perfume
This one was very light and refreshing, and was one of the best we tried throughout the day. The mint was sprayed on each and every cone, and was a nice touch to the lively orange flavor.
The gelato chef spraying the mint perfume onto the gelato
3
Gold of Sicily: ricotta, saffron, orange zest, pistachio, and rosemary
This one was good, but had a lot going on. We thought that this one was trying wayyy too hard with all of those flavors, but the judges on the panel must have thought they were trying just enough because it scored very high
The Gold of Sicily gelato being presented to the technical jury
4
Blend in Rum: a dark chocolate blend with a mix of rums. It was served with a pipette of rum
Kendall and I made the mistake of trying to shoot the rum from the pipette into our gelato, and ended up making a huge mess. The gelato itself was too soft, making it stick to the roof of your mouth, and the rum taste was not blended well with the chocolate.
The Blend in Rum gelato being presented to the technical jury
The blend in rum gelato
Kendall trying to put the rum into the gelato
5
Antique Rose: cream with rose syrup from their own farm
This one was amazing! The rose was not too overpowering, and it was super creamy and delicious. The judges also thought it was great, as it was the first to score a 20 out of 20 for the day!
The antique rose gelato
Posing with the antique rose gelato at one of the many photo stations
6
Mom’s Heart: 100% pure cocoa with an apricot stracciatella
This one, for me, was too creamy and sticky, and the apricots were weirdly chunky and chewy.
The gelato chefs gathered for photos
7
Dark paradise: a chocolate sorbet with orange zest and jasmine
This gelato tasted like medicine, and not in a good way. The texture was decent, especially compared to others with a chocolate base, but it left a bad taste in my mouth
The Dark Paradise gelato
8
Crunchy Cream: Egg, vanilla, and crunch
This one was simple, but was perfectly creamy and had a nice added texture with the crunch
The chef serving the Crunchy Cream gelato
9
The First Pastiera is Never Forgotten: this one is a take on a traditional Neapolitan pastry. The ingredients are ricotta, cooked wheat, candied fruit, orange flowers, cinnamon, and eggs
This one had jelly-like fruit pieces that were pretty weird and reminded me of fruit cake around the holidays. Bites without the weird candy pieces just tasted like vanilla to me, so I felt like I was missing out on tastes of all of those ingredients listed above.
Chefs making the gelato in the world’s largest portable gelato lab, the “Buonatalenti”
Chefs at work in the “Buonatalenti”
10
Toasted Almond and Variegated Orange: toasted almond, orange, and dark chocolate
This one was great because it gave a chocolate flavor without chocolate as the base. The blend of almond, orange, and chocolate was very good, and this flavor ranked high among all of the ones that we tried.
The toasted almond, orange, and chocolate gelato
11
MagniFicus: sheep’s ricotta, figs, local walnut, and mandarin
Ricotta fig is one of my favorite gelato flavors that I’ve had while in Italy, and this take on the popular flavor did not disappoint. The gelato was nice and creamy, and the flavor combo was expectedly good with the ricotta not overpowering the rest. The only weird part was the chewy mandarin bits.
The chef serving the MagniFicus gelato
12
Scents of Etna: pistachio with mandarin and pistachio crunch
Oh, how I love pistachio. It is one of my all time favorite flavors, and this one was one of the best that I’ve tried. I can’t say that I got any hints of mandarin in the gelato, but the pistachio flavor with the crunchy parts was strong. Also, it was served by identical twin brothers – I want a twin to make gelato with!
13
Double Trouble: Salted caramel, mou (another type of caramel), and brownies
Yummmmm. You just cannot go wrong with caramel and brownies.
The Double Trouble salted caramel gelato
Kendall and I trying the Double Trouble gelato
14
Meeting of Two Chocolates: Madagascar chocolate and Ivory Coast dark chocolate
This was the only one I just could not eat. It was so incredibly bitter, and I watched a lot of other people around me try this flavor and then pull a face. The texture was weirdly powdery, and Kendall and I couldn’t manage more than a bite. You’d have to really enjoy super dark chocolate to enjoy this flavor.
My Meeting of Two Chocolates gelato about to go in the trash
15
English Cream: English cream with amaretto crunch
This one tasted vaguely of eggnog, which I loved and Kendall did not. The texture was perfectly creamy, but the gelato overall had no wow factor.
The English Cream gelato
16
Black Mojito: banana, mint, blueberries, rum, and lime
A gelato flavor inspired by one of my favorite drinks? Sign me up. This flavor was amazing as it was so unlike anything else we tried all day. The banana was subtle and served to give the gelato some creaminess, and the flecks of fresh blueberries and mint made it all the better. We saw quite a few people going back for cups of this flavor.
Kendall and I with the Black Mojito and English Cream gelatoes
And that’s all of them! Have you guessed my two favorites yet?
My top two were…
Antique Rose and Black Mojito!
Kendall and I both loved these two flavors, and could not decide which one was the absolute best, so we each gave a vote to one!
When we went back to get our cups of each flavor, the ladies were so sweet and excited, knowing that their flavor stood a good chance of getting our vote. The festival provided me with more gelato that I ever knew I could eat in just a few hours, and made for one of the best days I have had in Europe!
Just know that if you find yourself in Italy, gelato is a must every day of your trip, and if you happen to find yourself in Italy during one of the four gelato festival weekends in Milan, Florence, Turin, and Rome, you need to get yourself there and drown yourself in gelato!