THE BINGE Part 1 - Firenze Gelato Festival

Image courtesy of Firenze Gelato Festival 

You may remember this earlier post, when I was in Florence for the Gelato Festival - a celebration of all things gelato, in the city where the gelato originated. It was our last day in Florence and the first day of the Gelato Festival. My sister and I ambitiously bought a Gelato Card each, which included 5 free tastings plus a gelato cocktail. The festival had stalls set up for the maestros - some of the best gelato makers from all over the globe - each showcasing one special flavour to win the best Gelato of the festival. I was as determined as a Pokemon master, gotta catch 'em all! 

However, I didn't get off to a very good start. I began the day with a very large Gelato cocktail - a delicious Mojito (pictured below). I couldn't even finish it, knowing that I only had a few hours to get through 5 cups of gelato.

Our first gelato tastings were from the festival's main sponsor, Sammontana. I tried the Pistachio and my sister had the Strawberry. They were both pretty average and forgettable, in comparison with the rest of the gelati we tried.

The Sammontana gelato stand. Image courtesy of Firenze Gelato Festival.

Now for the Maestri Gelatieri (the Master Gelato Makers)!

The first and in my opinion, the best flavour of the festival was the Crema di miele con zenzero e timo limone - a ginger and honey gelato with lemon thyme by Cláudio D. Guerreiro (pictured below). The gelato was amazingly smooth and creamy, the ginger, honey and lemon thyme flavours were subtle but complimented each other perfectly. Who knew, the Portuguese are connoisseurs of gelato?! If I ever am lucky enough to go to Portugal, I'll be heading to Delizia in Tavira!

Another delicious flavour was the Cioccolato salto con scorze di arancia candida, or the chocolate gelato enriched with candied orange peel and salt crystals by Gianfrancesco Cutelli from the De' Coltelli gelateria in Pisa (picture below-left). This familiar flavour combination - orange and chocolate, but the added bursts of salt made this gelato a winner. The chocolate also came from Pisa, from the Dutch chocolatier Paul de Bondt.
Cristina Berto produced the Gelato al riso nero lomellino, a gelato with Venere black rice (picture below-right). This flavour was quite subtle and had an interesting colour and texture, but overall it didn't impress me as much as the others, so I dub this one The Shania (Btw I am feeling the urge to buy a head-to-toe leopard print outfit to wear in the desert).

Pine nuts seemed to be the big trend of the festival, with 3 maestros showcasing various pine nut flavours. The one we tried was the Pinolo flavour by Antonio Mezzalira from Golosi di Natura, which was prepared with pine nut paste, topped with toasted pine nuts and a ripple of caramel. This was the first pine-nut flavour I tried and I absolutely loved it! This flavour won first place of the festival and I can see why!

More from the Gelato Festival coming soon!