Gelato!
While I was in Italy I had many good foods including great pizza, delicious
pasta, and gelato. I had gelato in many places in Rome and Sorrento, on
a bridge over the Tiber River, Trastevere (across the Tiber River) on the
ledge down by the river, and by the sea in Sorrento. All of these places
had good gelato but the mood of the little market on the banks of the Tiber
River was the best.
Some so-called “gelaterias” make ice cream with Italian names
and call it gelato, but if you have tried real Italian gelato you will
be able to tell if it is actually gelato or not. The differences between
Italian Gelato and American ice cream are:
a) Ice cream has a lot of air whipped into it whereas gelato has very little air, making gelato have a dense, more concentrated flavor.
b) Gelato is made with water and milk, instead of the cream in ice cream allowing for a much lower fat content.
c) Most gelato has a gelatin base added for a denser taste.
One of the cool things about eating gelato in Rome is that the spoons
have a flat bottom, like a shovel so you can actually get all of the gelato
out of the little plastic bowl. To me that is a really good design for
a spoon especially for a food as good as gelato so you can enjoy every
last little drop.
My favorite gelato flavors of gelato are stratiacella (chocolate chip), lemon and chocolate. But I like many others, but I like the classics best.
Gelato is good in America but you can’t beat gelato in Italy because it is the experience that is really the best!!
January 24, 2006
Isis (not her real name) is sixteen years old and is really interested in food
because her dad is a good cook. She was practically raised in a Vietnamese
restaurant, and as a baby ate her first solid foods there, which were rice
noodles. She tries most foods that are offered to her and her parents urge her
to also. For example, when she was 7 years old, she was at a French restaurant
and her parents were having snails and they easily talked her into trying them.
They ended up being pretty good!
Isis takes ballet, plays soccer, sings in a choir, and loves to travel. She thinks that if you are going to eat, why not eat well if you can? There seems to be no reason not to.
Email questions or comments for these two young women to webmaster@drgourmet.com.