photo credit : flickr
Gelato. Just seeing the word in print and hearing it spoken perks up my taste buds and gets my mouth watering. I’ll admit, it doesn’t take much and those who haven’t tried gelato may not be able to fully appreciate this craving if all they can compare it to is ice cream.
I have nothing against ice cream, so please don’t send me hate mail. I’ve had some tasty ice cream in my time, but I’ll take gelato over ice cream any day of the week.
With flavors like nutella, nocciola, pistachio, stracciatella, fragola, lampone, lemone, melone and mandarino who wouldn’t want to work their way through all the offerings?
Every city, town and village in Italy has at least one gelato shop. Large cities seem to have one on every corner. Finding the best gelato in any city is always a hot topic of conversation.
There is an entire culture around gelato that Italians are very proud of, since it’s a culinary creation born in the Bel Paese. And though you can find and enjoy artisan gelato anywhere in Italy, if you want to learn about gelato, there is one place you need to go. Anzola dell’Emilia, a small town near Bologna. Here are two reasons why:
1. The Gelato Museum
For the ice cream obsessed foodie, who yearns to know everything about gelato, including its history, culture, technology and interesting tidbits and factoids about its creamy goodness, Carpigiani, one of the largest makers of gelato machines, is opening a museum dedicated to gelato.
On September 27th, 2012, the Carpigiani Gelato Museum will open its doors. On display will be over 20 original gelato machines, both old and new tools of the trade, media presentations, documents and photographs. Laboratories and tastings will be coming soon as well. Admission is free, but reservations are required.
2. The Gelato University
For those who are a bit more serious and wish to kick their gelato education up a notch, you can actually attend a gelato university. Geared toward those looking to own a gelato shop or get into the business, Carpigiani Gelato University has been teaching the age-old craft of making artisan gelato since 2003. Courses are about four weeks long and are taught in a few languages, including English.
If you’re a foodie heading to Bologna, you might be interested in a cooking class, food market tour or a foodie adventure. Get in touch, I’d love to help.