Our Gelaterie d'Italia guide – presented at Sigep on January 22 – is now in its 8th year, eight years of progress achieved by both gelato makers and inspectors. During these eight years, the highest recognition has been awarded to an increasingly large number of professionals. However, there's a small group of master gelato makers that Tre Coni has awarded from the very beginning, including Ottimo! Good is not enough in Turin. It's a choice that we enthusiastically confirm today, especially after tasting their latest, surprising creation at the Rimini Fair: garlic-flavored gelato.
Gastronomic gelato beyond borders
Reviewing the 2017 profile (the guide's first edition) leaves no doubt about the reason for such enthusiasm for Ottimo! Good is not enough. The collaborator wrote, "In the recipe book, there are more than 100 flavors, presented in rotation. Among the must-tries are Saint Tropez cream (inspired by Brigitte Bardot's tropezienne cake), sheep's ricotta with honey and saffron, and Passeggiata nel bosco (bread crusts, pine-flavored fiordilatte, forest fruit sauce). Gastronomic flavors are not lacking." These gastronomic flavors have become increasingly focused and clean over time, such as tomato sorbet with anchovy dust or cress gelato (2018), the surprising taste of roasted peppers with hazelnut sauce, and green bathing sorbet (2019), the bold anchovies in green, date tomato, and gorgonzola gelato (2020). All the way to hazelnut and porcini mushroom gelato – awarded as the Best Gastronomic Gelato in 2021 – surpassing the distinction between gastronomic and counter gelato.
Garlic ice cream
Gelato that transcends borders, in line with the attitude of Giulio Rocci and Emanuele Monero. The former with experience in Davide Scabin's kitchen, the latter an heir to the family that created Pastiglie Leone. This year, during the presentation of the Gelaterie d'Italia 2024 guide, the two brought a perfectly balanced garlic gelato from Carigliano for tasting. "It's a Slow Food presidium, a historical production, very limited, that we, together with Carlo Catani of Tempi di Recupero, are recovering. The idea of using it to make gelato arose from the desire to experiment with new flavors that go beyond Italian ones; garlic, for example, is highly appreciated in the East. We cook it whole in water, changing it with each boil, remove the core, and then put a small percentage of it in a cream made with fermented cashews."
The cashews – a product criticized for causing deforestation due to its widespread consumption (like avocado) – come from small Brazilian producers with whom the gelato makers have established a relationship of trust. However, nothing prevents them from being replaced with other equally fatty fruits, "Sicilian-grown macadamia nuts could work just as well, or even hazelnuts probably." Once the gelato is obtained, it is flavored with saffron from the Valli di Lanzo. For a surprising effect, the garlic flavor releases on the palate for a second, no more, and in the end, the sweetness of the cashews remains, reminiscent of caramel. Worth trying, perhaps paired with hazelnut, chocolate, sage, and lemon sorbet. "It's a gelato born to be served in a cone or cup, beyond all predictions, customers appreciated it."
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