Rich and creamy, Turin ice cream is recognisable at the first lick. For some the 'secret' ingredient is condensed milk for all it is the use of excellent ingredients processed in an artisanal manner. Here are the best six gelaterias in Turin.
Best gelaterias in Torino
Ice Creams d’Antan
There are the now iconic flavours - successful classics and creations - and always new innovative proposals among Nicolò Arietti's ice cream research. He aims for ice cream made the old-fashioned way: d'antan in fact. Among the perfect and best-loved pure flavours are zabaglione, 70% dark chocolate, cream, hazelnut, stracciatella, an excellent 100% Sicilian pistachio, Sorrento lemon Igp, ginger, farmhouse yoghurt. Then the must-haves: the raspberry sorbet with sweet Malvasia Doc, or the Gelato del vignaiolo, winner of several awards, together with the Profumi del Bosco (Alpine milk, wildflower honey, dried lavender flowers) and the cocoa, peach and amaretto flavour, an ice-cream version of the Piedmontese dessert persi pien. Among the most innovative are the tea-flavoured ice creams, first and foremost Beviamo un tè with white chocolate, Earl Grey tea infusion and Biscotti Digestive - created in collaboration with Erboristeria Orsini (which his partner Federica runs a few metres from the ice cream parlour) - the aromatic kiwi, the farmer's cream with goat's milk and savory, and the very popular Mojito sbagliato ice cream with lime, ginger and sage leaves. Gastronomic savoury ice cream is also available to order, as well as cakes and parfaits, red fruit cheesecake and hot zabaglione.
via N. Fabrizi, 37c – 331 4675801
Mara dei Boschi
Mara dei Boschi, an all-Turin project (but which has also arrived in Milan, at the Mercato Centrale) set in the city's most animated neighbourhoods, is a continuous search and discovery. Where you can taste flavours that are now legendary, such as the Mara dei Boschi strawberry, Marotto, the gelato version of gianduiotto, salted caramel, the Bocuse flavour dedicated to the great chef (salted pistachio, candied lemon and crunchy almond powder variegation), salted almond with apricot compote, and Fondente 100%. Now the new line of research goes towards an increasingly dessert ice cream, enriched with pastry elements and with special attention also to the aesthetics of the cone. And so here is the peach flavour Melba, a challenge, the white chocolate caramelised with citrus fruits, the white marotto with raw white chocolate, the delicious cone freshly covered in chocolate, with a perfect crunchiness. And, with the collaboration of Enrico Costanza, famous culinary gardener, the dairy-free ice creams with plant extracts (fig leaves, lavender, violet...). Taste, fun, aesthetics: this is how Mara dei Boschi surprises and convinces every time. Other locations: via Berthollet 30 and via De Gasperi 57, in Crocetta.
piazza C. Emanuele II, 21 – 011 0266159 - www.maradeiboschi.it
Alberto Marchetti
Alberto Marchetti's philosophy is clear: selected raw materials from the territory - fresh milk from the Piedmont valleys, Gobino chocolate, hazelnuts from the Langhe, coffee from local roasters - careful mantecatura (and that touch of condensed milk typical of Turin) for an ice cream that expresses itself in traditional flavours, from pure flavours that enhance the product, such as fiordilatte, pistachio, hazelnut, chocolate, extrafondente, gianduia, and Farina bona di mais, to tried-and-tested combinations such as white chocolate caramel and salt, apple and cinnamon cheesecake, as well as flavours with fresh seasonal and local fruit, from Val Bronda ramassin to Tortona strawberry, both Slow Food Presidia. One of Marchetti's passions is then zabaglione, proposed in a jar, the Zabà, declined in different variants - with Marsala, with white chinato, with vermouth, with Aironi rice sake - perfect to combine with traditional Piedmontese biscuits, melighe, canestrelli. The latest novelty is the ice cream version of this unusual zabaglione (besides the classic one of course) and a perfect coffee ice cream, both the results of long and patient experimentation. Other locations are Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, Via Po 35, Via Cernaia 18. Also present in Alassio, Milan and Alba.
piazza CLN, 248 – 011 544383 - www.albertomarchetti.it
Nivà
Opened by Diana De Benedetti almost twenty years ago, it has now reached an international dimension: two offices in Turin, three in Portugal (two in Lisbon and a more recent one in Porto) and one in France, in Cannes. Basic philosophy: local raw materials (milk from Italian alpine pastures, Piedmontese hazelnuts, seasonal fruit as close to 0 km as possible) and touches of creativity, which translate into delicious flavours such as sheep's milk ricotta and figs, mascarpone and gianduia cream, and salted hazelnut chocolate, extra noir chocolate, mocha flavour, fiordilatte with cherries, chestnut ice cream, Passito ice cream with amaretti, Mediterranean cream, almond crunch and Savona chinotto flavours, elderberry, ramasin or vineyard peach sorbet. Excellent is the delicious lavender apricot cream, made with white chocolate and almond paste, a recipe created together with chef Mariangela Susigan. Very good are the granitas (almond, lime and ginger), semifreddi, the classic ice cream in a biscuit, and in the right season hot chocolate and zabaglione to take away.
piazza Vittorio Veneto, 7 – 011 8125064 - www.nivagelato.com
Ottimo! Buono non basta
Research, passion, and experimentation are the guidelines of Ottimo!, a project with continuous novelties alongside those classics that cannot be missed, from the Saint Tropez cream (Chantilly flavoured with Bourbon vanilla and lemon peel), to salted sheep's ricotta with caramelised figs, chocolate with Mothia salt, to the superlative seasonal fruit flavours. Experimentation now focuses on dairy-free ice creams, now more than half the flavours on the menu and increasingly in demand. The absolute gianduja flavour is very popular, as well as the Torino fondant and then the persi pien (peaches and macaroons), roasted chestnut ice cream, salted pistachio, Lecce coffee, even cream without milk and golden milk made with turmeric, almonds and spices. In summer, the granitas are also worth mentioning. Great attention is paid to compostable packaging, waste, reducing water consumption (milk-free ice cream saves money), and using energy from sustainable sources. For an ice cream that is more than just good.
Corso Stati Uniti, 6c – 011 19504221
La Tosca
In the liberty district of Cit Turin, Riccardo Serra's ice-cream parlour (with cafeteria corner) focuses on craftsmanship and tradition, with careful research into raw materials. The ice cream, presented in innovative transparent boxes that guarantee perfect preservation, is offered in different flavours. Among the most popular are: Tosca, a hazelnut cream variegated with chocolates with different cocoa percentages, lemon cream with "paste di meliga", as soft as a meringue, and chocolate flavours, from dark chocolate with orange, to chocolate with amaretti, to dark chocolate bunet with white rum. There is also the nougat flavour with gianduja crunch and hazelnuts, the classic hazelnut and pistachio, gorgonzola ice cream, with honey and raspberries, caramelised peanut, salt cream, and the timeless coffee ice cream. And every month the Vissi d'arte, a new flavour to discover. The seasonal fruit sorbets are very popular: black figs, lemon, ramassin, orange and ginger, lemon and ginger, wild berries, melon, and the wine sorbets, a must are those with Moscato and Malvasia, and now there is also the one with Primo vermouth, produced by an expatriate from Turin in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, with Malvasia grapes planted on volcanic soil. Also try an affogato or a classic coppa.
via L. Cibrario, 50 – 011 4379807 - www.gelaterialatosca.it
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