I may have learned how to pick out good gelato from “fake” gelato while on a food tour in Rome, but I learned the art of tasting gelato and discovering new Italian gelato flavors while spending multiple summers exploring food in Bologna.
Thankfully, Italian portions are small compared to the melon-sized scoops of ice cream you get in the states. So, it makes tasting multiple flavors more pleasurable to the palate as well as the waist line.
Initially, I confess, I stuck to flavors I easily recognized. Even without an Italian translator, I bet you too will instantly know flavors such as nutella, caffè, pistacchio, and limone. Cioccolato is pretty easy to decipher. But after having been in Bologna for nearly a month, I ventured out of the ordinary and tried some flavors I didn’t recognize in Italian, but they were favorites I instantly knew after tasting them. Next time you’re in Italy,
6 Italian Gelato Flavors To Taste While In Italy
1. Nocciola – hazelnut
2. Croccantino – caramel with crunchy nuts, either almonds or hazelnuts
3. Zabaione – egg cream, like a custard flavor
4. Stracciatella – vanilla with chocolate chips
5. Spagnola – vanilla with sour cherries (though the literal translation is “Spanish”)
6. Fragola – strawberry
And if the mere mention of those flavors aren’t enough to get your mouth watering, here’s some gratuitous food porn. Candid iPhone photos of some of the gelati I couldn’t resist while in Italy.
The apartment in Bologna was provided by the Emilia-Romagna Tourism Board as part of the #BlogVille campaign created by iAmbassador. As always, my thoughts, opinions and enthusiasm for travel and food are entirely my own.
All excellent choices! I almost always select a fresh fruit flavor and I love the seasonal ingredients. Some of my favorites are basil with strawberry (basilico e fragola), pumpkin and ginger (zucca e zenzero), and green apple (mele verde).
Pretty sure I tried all 5–plus many others. My children were set on Fragola and Stracciatella–at least 2x a day.
Twice a day? Glad I’m not the only one. 😉
Fragola was my FAVORITE!
Have you been to the Gelato Museum (www.gelatomuseum.com) and to the Carpigiani Gelato University (www.gelatouniversity)? While in Bologna you couldn’t miss them! 🙂
Actually, I have not! I’ll have to go next time I’m there. 😉