Il Sport del gelato

I’m all for a good ice cream, but I have completely underestimated the passion people have for their gelato. As soon as you meet someone, and after pleasantries, somehow the conversation always turns to gelato and where the best one is. There are the artigianale ones and the mass produced ones (at which points the cognoscenti make a face of utter disgust). There is one around the corner from my school Vivoli that is supposed to be one of the best - although I did try Perche Non, and I have to say that it was one of the very best so far, all local, fresh, organic and a “slow food” sticker in the window.

You always get recommendations from the locals along the way.   Even people who find out you are coming to Firenze send you emails with the best gelaterie. I personally have not had a bad gelato while here, and I am doing my best to sample all different kinds. The flavors are unbelievable – everything from vanilla and chocolate to all the berries, Sacher Torte, hazelnut, rice, pistachio, after eight and everything in between. 

The gelateria in Viareggio offered a Nutella flavor and although I was expecting gelato that was flavored like Nutella, this was actually a spatula full of Nutella heaped onto my After Eight gelato. Not a bad thing, mind you, just unexpected.

  

You can have your gelato in cono or chocolate covered cono or in a bowl. The bowls come in various sizes , but they are tricky because they have a false bottom so the bowl looks deeper than it is.  Very sneaky. You can fit two flavors into a piccolo, but a media is better and you usually get a small wafer as well as a spoon. 

And once you have gone for gelato and you mention it to someone, they grill you - they need to know if it was good, where it was and then they give you the address of their favorite one that you absolutely have to try.

On my last day in Firenze, I went to a gelateria in Oltrarno that my friend who lives here told me about. I followed her map through the tiny windy streets, across the Ponte Vecchio, passing the landmarks she drew for me and ended up at this tiny gelateria with unbelievable gelato (grapefruit and chocolate in cono this time) which was right up there with Perche Non, but the ambiance won out, hands down.

I sat in the tiny little piazza in front of it, nursing my gelato wondering how I am going to get back to my normal life.

Don’t even get me started on Canollis.