THE BINGE CONTINUES Part 2 - Firenze Gelato Festival

The gelati binge continues! As you may have read in this earlier post, I indulged myself in the creations of the world's best gelati makers at the Gelato Festival in Florence, Italy.

The gorgeous orange colour of the Alkermes gelato by Aurelio Saffi from the Istituto Alberghiero Saffi is what attracted me to this stall, like a starved seagull to a potato chip. The gelato is based on an old Florentine recipe that is said to be originally prepared by the nuns of Santa Maria dei Servi, as early as the thirteenth century. The gelato contains a sweet, red-coloured liqueur which is infused with sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla and more! I was rather surprised to later read that its bright red colour comes from Kermes - a small parasitic insect! Here's another fun fact for you, crimson red dye comes from the female Kermes Vermilio insect species, I guess that's why we call it Vermillion Red. Urgh, it's no wonder I felt so ill afterwards!

Captured by the spirit of the festival and desperate for a break from all the gelato tastings, we went to a book presentation by Gianfranco Vissani, an Italian celebrity chef, who gave a very passionate talk in Italian (without any English translation) about food (I assume!) with lots of hand gestures! We were sitting in the second row in a small crowd so we thought it too rude to leave. The talk went on for what seemed like the longest time and the chef even directed a question to my poor sister, who just nodded along without any clue what he was talking about! Luckily it seemed to be a rhetorical question so she got away with it!

One of Vissani's beautiful gelato creations, although he did all of the talking! Image courtesy of Firenze Gelato Festival.

The chef Gianfranco Vissani giving a very passionate talk! Can you spot The Gelatosmith? Image courtesy of Firenze Gelato Festival.

The prettiest gelato award definitely went to the Lampone Divino gelato by Valerio Esposito from the Gelateria Tonka in Aprilia (Latina). This was a delicious raspberry gelato blended with a rosé wine from a cellar in the Castelli Romani region. This had a far more subtle alcoholic flavour, unlike the Alkermes bug gelato! And like all of the fruity gelati I tried in Italy, this one did not disappoint - it was super creamy!

The Armonia di mascarpone e panettone Milano loison was a like an Italian Christmas party in my mouth! This flavour, by Andrea Portolani from Le Botteghe di Leonardo, was a mascarpone based gelato with bits of panettone mixed in. If you haven't heard of Panettone before, firstly - shame on you! Secondly, it's a delicious sweet bread loaf that originates from Milan that's eaten during Christmas and New Year period. This Panettone is made by a confectioner in Vicenza, Loison. I like to use Panettone for trifles, it's divine!

The last flavour we tried was the Acquolina, named after the Florence-based Gelateria from Paolo Lombardi. This gorgeous looking gelato was a smooth mascarpone cream was studded with mini caramelised choux buns filled with hazelnut and cocoa cream and coated with chocolate. If I hadn't felt like I was a gelati-filled balloon about to explode, this one probably would have been my favourite. I'm such a sucker for a good mix-in!

Check out those chocolate covered choux buns! Image courtesy of the Gelateria Acquolina facebook page.

And this is the reason why I started running when I got back from my trip!

At the start of the festival, I was a bit like the guy in the video, on the right. Mwah!! Bravo!!

And this was me at the end of the festival - gelato hangover!