eat/drink
GELATO
THIS EXISTS ...
Great any time of year, but especially in summer. Erika Donald scopes out where to get the real stuff. Photos Dina El-Hakim.
SCANDAL Ice cream controversies. Ben & Jerry’s has had its fair share of controversy stemming from the names of their special edition flavours. There was Hazed & Confused, which people saw as insensitive towards victims of hazing. And the Lin-sanity flavour, after AsianAmerican basketball player Jeremy Lin, was criticised as racist for its use of fortune cookie pieces. Gelateria Cremona – 5/151 Baroona Rd, Paddington
Jeppo Gelato – 109 Bloomfield St, Cleveland
Co-owner Gerardo has perfected his gelato-making skills by working in both Italy and Germany. They use an old-school Effe machine – the specially designed blade helps to put lots of air into the concoction, resulting in a creamy, fluffy, frozen treat. Try a Thai milk tea gelato or go for the durian fruit sorbet.
If you’re a serious fruit lover, then Jeppo Gelato is for you – their fruitflavoured gelato boasts more than one kilo of fresh fruit! Apart from the standard flavours, you can also get your hands on some interesting combos – saffron and toasted pinenut or dried fruit and crystallised pomegranate – or some classic Aussie flavours like Vegemite, ANZAC biscuit or Milo.
La Macelleria – 29 Florence St, Teneriffe We eat with our eyes. So why wouldn’t you want to see the creation of your favourite gelato? You can at La Macelleria; the open plan store allows you to see all the gelato-making goodness. Try the spagnola (egg custard with sour cherry and a hint of cognac) or the pumpkin, almond and amaretto. 26 • THE MUSIC • 21ST JANUARY 2015
Sugo Mi Gelateria – 3/190 Oxford St, Bulimba Located within the Sugo Mi Groceria, this gelateria offers a range of quality gelato. Interesting flavours include baklava – walnut, honey and spice – or the black sesame and honey variety. And take home packs are available – because you need it.
Weird gelato/ice cream flavours. We’d try them. Il Laboratorio Gelato, New York City, US: fig & fresh brown turkey; beet; olive oil; peppercorn (black, white and pink varieties) Gilroy Garlic Festival, California, US: garlic Japan (store-bought): pit viper, made of viper snake; squid gut, with real pieces of squid guts; fried chicken wings; crab; eel; fish, octopus; shrimp; wasabi The Creole Creamery, New Orleans, US: avocado with mint & sour cream; cayenne lime butter; cucumber-dill; sweet curry Gelateria K2, Modena, Italy: pumpkin; asparagus; pecorino Max & Mina’s, New York, US: beer, pizza, sriracha caramel pretzel, lox
Welsh company Lick Me I’m Delicious developed a Viagra ice cream that contains 25mg of Viagra. Many criticised it as encouraging recreational use of the drug. Longtime Mariners scout Butch Baccala lost his job in September last year after a disagreement with Mariners player Jesus Montero over an ice cream. After yelling at Montero to hurry off the field, Baccala reportedly then bought Montero an ice cream and had it delivered to Montero in the dugout. Montero got really mad, chucked the ice cream at Baccala and then was suspended for the rest of the season. Some say it seemed like a misunderstood peace offering.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GELATO AND ICE CREAM? Okay, so gelato might translate to ‘ice cream’ in Italian, but the two dairy delights as we know them are very different. Gelato is churned at a much slower rate, which means less air gets in and the product is denser. Then, it’s served at a slightly warmer temperature than ice cream, which gives it that soft and silky, like-licking-a-cold-cloud kinda texture. It also has a lower percentage of fat than ice cream. And any one who really knows their ice cream and gelato will be able to tell you the difference in the way flavours cut through; in gelato, it’s more intense.