What is your favorite flavor of gelato?

Everyone wants to know what the BEST flavor of gelato is. While that's hard to say because they're all delicious, we set out to find out which flavor got the most votes from people on the streets. This was supposed to be a formal video with interviews of different locals and students around Florence, but it turned out to be hilarious! Interacting with everyone in the city was so fun, and I learned a little bit more about gelato as well. So here's our interview, hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

-Alyssa

Rain or Shine

How is it already December 5^th? Our blog project is due in two days and our group just concluded our final meeting, tweaking and perfecting our paper and presentation. To wrap up what has been a great semester, we decided to treat ourselves to what else but GELATO! Although we’ve researched, eaten plenty, and discussed gelato, the three of us had yet to indulge in it together as a team. We packed up our belongings from the LDM library and headed out, planning to go to one of our favorite spots just around the corner on Via Faenza. Literally just as we walked out the door of the library, what had been merely a drizzle of rain earlier in the morning turned into an absolute downpour. Aracely was the only one who was prepared with an umbrella. We hustled through the rain only to find that our chosen gelateria was closed! At this point we were fairly wet so we ran in the direction of the Duomo, stopping at the first place we came to just to escape the unexpected downpour. Vero Amore was the name of the small café that also sold premade paninis, cannolis, and a variety of other treats. From our research, we knew this wouldn’t be the best gelato Florence has to offer but it would have to do. We ordered, a cup for me and cones for Alyssa and Aracely, and enjoyed our gelato at a table watching and waiting for the rain to die down. It definitely wasn’t the best but I wasn’t complaining. Rain or shine it didn't matter. Here I was in Florence Italy, with two girls I met for the first time about three months ago, sharing a bond over our love for gelato. This entire semester has been the experience of a lifetime and Dolce Firenze has played a part in the making of those amazing memories.

-Jessica

Gelato-Eating: A Long Time Tradition

Walking through the Gelaterias of Florence, you can notice that eating gelato involves more than just the simple action of eating it. Many customs exist around the eating of the gelato. In many Italian houses, gelato is offered as dessert for the guests. For the young people it is a good way of going out with friends and socializing. Even when they grow up it is a nice way to meet with old friends. Lately, I have been going quite often to Gelateria Vivoli, and a few days ago I noticed that there’s one special group of old men that, most of the times that I have gone , are there just chatting having a gelato as they used to do when they were younger. It is nice to see how people still keep the custom of just going with friends and eating a gelato without hurry or guilt. People eat gelato mainly in the afternoon or after dinner, and this has been the custom for many, many years! There is, of course, a little of romance around the gelato. They call it “strumento di conquista” that means something like “flirting instrument”, and it is an innocent way to flirt with someone that you like. According to the Instituto del gelato Italiano (Italian Gelato Insitut) , for Italian people the gelato is synonym of taste and pleasure(95%), joy (84%), company(75%), and freedom(55%). So gelato is not just about eating it, it is about tradition, reuniting old friends, and bringing together new ones. There's no better way to spend a day with the people you love than eating delicious gelato!

-Aracely

How you eat gelato is related to your personality!

A little while ago the Associazione Industrie Dolciarie Italiane came out with one article about the way people eat gelato and what it means from a psychological point of view. Just for fun, we wanted to let you know what they came up with!

Do you prefer gelato with cono or coppetta (glass)?

A glass is the choice for those who can’t let go all the way back and enjoy pleasure ( dirty hands or clothes), and by whom must maintain good manners even to himself. The cone is for those who prefer complete sensory experiences without denying anything. The person that eats the cone is usually a type of wishful thinker.

A person who prefers a popsicle (or cone) at first sight is an enterprising person, but at the same time is unsure. This person needs something tangible ,the stick, in fact, to play or just keep it in the mouth.

The also discuss the differences in the way you eat the gelato:

Licking: This is the most frequent thing of eating gelato. This person loves social life, and is willing to participate in really social contexts and loves meeting people. It is the thing of the optimists, in some cases even the ambitious and those who like to provoke those who are around them. They are extroverts.

Sucking: This is more like child licking; the person that eats like has really strong emotional bonds.

Biting: This person tends to be rather carful and cautious in every circumstance of life. A person who doesn’t like to make decisions, hasty, kind and sensitive, and reflective. They are introverts.

Definitely we can have so many meanings to the way we do things, but it is really interesting how in Italy they actually make this kind of research about how people eats gelato. It is more than just information, it's fun! So keep eating your gelato, doesn’t matter how you do it, it is just about enjoying it!

-Aracely

Firenze Gelato Festival!

Yes, you read the title of this post right; there IS an entire festival dedicated to gelato!!! For five days in Florence (May 25 to the 29), you can try EVERY flavor of gelato ever made. In Piazza Pitti and Piazza della Repubblica shops from all over Italy come to showcase their gelato. Each shop also showcases a "warhorse" which is their flavor of gelato they want you to try and vote on at the end of the festival. The gelato with the most votes becomes the "official flavor of the event!" On top of tasting gelato, there are demonstrations on how to make gelato as well as other seminars and workshops. It should be an extremely fun event!! For more information go to the OFFICIAL WEBSITE!

Eat away, gelato lovers!!!

-Alyssa

How To Make Gelato!

I only have three more weeks left here in Italy. What am I going to do when I get home without gelato?!?! This question had me scowering the internet for homemade gelato recipes, and while the gelato making process isn't too rigorous, it's a little hard to understand by simply reading a recipe. That's when I stumbled across "Laura in the Kitchen", a Youtube channel featuring a famous chef, Laura Vitale, showing you how to make your favorite recipes via video. And yes, gelato was one of them! I thought I would share the video with you in case any of you out there are like me and will NEED gelato in your life once you return to wherever you came from :)

Hopefully you are all as excited to go home and make gelato as I am! Keep eating Gelato!!

-Alyssa

Grey Gelato?

On my quest to find my favorite gelato flavor, I have been testing out a new flavor of gelato every week. I was told about a great gelato shop called Gelateria Santa Trinita.

They have a reputation of being one of the best gelato shops in Florence, so naturally I wanted to try their chocolate, which is my favorite flavor. However, when I got there I saw the strangest thing: grey gelato!

Although it didn't look very appetizing, I HAD to try it. It is "sesame" flavored. I got some strange looks walking around with mold-colored gelato, but it was surprisingly good! Not too sweet, but very different from anything I've tasted thus far. I highly recommend you give it a try!

-Alyssa