I scoured the racks in Fiesole and found a beautiful local magazine, Vista, with a subtitle, Being Cool and Keeping Cool in Tuscany. Since we’re in the midst of sweltering August heat, my interest was piqued. I thumbed through the issue and found many user-friendly ideas, but the one that whispered to me; okay, called to me; okay, screamed to me, was the article called, Gelato Dreams. Although we don’t eat many sweets, I still consider myself an amateur expert on the subject. One thing I do know about gelato is that it was born in Florence. It’s something of a “hometown honey.” And, I know that Italians pride themselves on the freshest seasonal ingredients.

Here are some interesting factoids about gelato.

1.  Gelato was enjoyed by the Medici of Florence in the mid-1500s, after it had been invented by Bernardo Buontalenti, a Florentine cook.

2.  Gelato is different from ice cream, in that it has less butterfat, some say by half. So, from a fat stand point, gelato is much healthier than ice cream. And as you know, we’re always looking for healthy alternatives.

3.  Gelato is a precise balance between the milk and cream; flavoring, which is typically fruit, or puréed nuts; and sugar. The sugar content must be exact to keep the gelato from freezing solid.

4.  Gelato is denser than ice cream and the flavors are more intense.

5.  In the 1920s-30s gelato became widely popular due to the development of the first carrello di gelato, mobile gelato cart.

Gelato Dreams provided many tips about how to spot the real thing. Color is very important! Banana gelato will appear almost white because no artificial coloring has been added. Same is true for nut gelato. Good to know! Beyond the few tips, the article listed seven gelaterie, along with brief descriptions of their specialities.

After reading the article, we decided to take on the challenge. With our copy of Vista in hand, we began our own taste comparison. We concluded that we would sample gelato from 2 shops each Friday, eliminating one from the competition each week. By the end of 3-4 weeks, we should have a clear winner—announcing it to the world—almost as if there was a great anticipation for the answer.

First, we went to Gelateria Veneta on Piazza Beccaria. It’s only a couple of doors down from the Astra, where we go to see movies in English sometimes. But, we’d never gone into Veneta. Just inside the door was the freezer case, lined with the beautiful colors of the gelati. There was lampone, raspberry, limone, lemon, crema, creamy vanilla, buontalenti, a chantilly cream, pinolata, pine nut, along with the usual chocolate, strawberry, and coffee.

Emerson decided on the ever popular crema and I went for the pinolata. Both were fantastic! And beautiful! While we each scooped out little bites from a piccolo coppa, small cup, the friendly clerk was happy to share some details about the store. It’s been a Florentine fixture since 1926, starting out with one of those mobile gelato carts. It’s been in the same family for 85 years. It was perfect. Classic. Exactly what we imagined. Very high marks, but of course no conclusions. Then on to the second gelateria of the day, Carapina.

Carapina has 2 locations in Florence and we selected the one near Piazza Beccaria, because . . . well, it’s near Beccaria. We parked across the street and went inside. It was a complete contrast from Veneta. It was ultra-modern, with lots of stainless steel. Rather than the rectangular open pans where gelato is softly mounded, all the gelato was INSIDE canisters. What?! We couldn’t see a thing!

So we read the large listing of flavors. Vistasuggested i grandi formaggi, the big cheeses, but we were told that it’s not available until September so we’d have to wait. Tuscans are quite season-bound which is a good thing. Since we’d just eaten 2 small cups of gelato at Veneta, we opted for a slightly larger single cup with 2 flavors and 2 spoons. Emerson selected the vin santo crema, vanilla with a dash of vin santo liqueur and I opted for the arabica coffee flavor. Both were very tasty. The vin santo (wine of the saints) was more “local” and unique, however, the coffee was good, too.

So, we blotted our mouths and climbed back into the car. Today’s winner? Drum roll, please. La Gelateria Veneta! But in all fairness to Carapina, we’ll have to give its sister location a try in September, rounding out the competition to an even number. After all, how could we begin to declare an Italian winner without checking out the “Big Cheese?”

Posted on August 27, 2011