L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS T he late July heatwave has been making sun, sea and sand lovers happy this year, with temperatures w ell into the high 80s and a gentle breeze caressing the land and freshening up the evenings. And even for those who find the heat less agreeable, this summer has- n't been all that bad so far: in the end, they always have gelato. The association between il Bel Paese and its most colorful and refreshing creation is auto- matic for us all, because gelato is the quintessential symbol of the Italian s ummer: nothing speaks of it as much as un cono, perfect companion to an evening stroll on the promenade. Going for a gelato is a must during the hotter months and often takes the place of the ubiquitous ci facciamo una pizza stasera? typ- ical of colder times of the year; indeed, gelato in Italy is not only the freshest of treats, but also a great way to socialize. And let's face it, we Italians love gelato: w e cons ume an average of more than 100 scoops per capita every year, which makes us the largest consumers of the stuff in Europe. We're also the continent's greatest pro- ducers, with about 157 million gallons whipped up in 2016 - 19% of the whole EU produc- tion - against the 135 million of Germany, our first runner up. Crucially, though, Germany, France and Belgium export more ice cream than us: quite simply, we love it so much we eat it all. Simple data, but sufficient to show how important the gelato b u s i n e s s i s f o r o u r n a t i o n a l economy: we count more than 19.000 gelaterie in the country, with numbers increasing expo- nentially every year. In the small village on the Italian riviera where I live there are 5 gelaterie within 50 meters from my apart- ment, all of them family run, all of them producing fresh, authen- tic gelato, all of them incredibly busy. The gelato business is truly one that knows no reces- sion, if it's true - and it is - that it accounts for yearly earnings nearing almost 2 billion USD and employs a whopping 69.000 people across the country. At the Peccati di Gola gelate- ria, the one I favor here in Pietra Ligure, on Liguria's Riviera di Ponente, there are sometimes queues stretching around the corner and everyone leaves with a smile. You could really take its standards as those of every good gelateria in the country: a small, solid, family run busi- ness, which bases its popularity on quality rather than quantity, with an eye for the creation of new, quirky flavors or the valu- ing of uncommon ones: "take licorice" says its owner to me "I don't make it often, but when I do, it goes as quickly as a flash." Elegant variations on classics a r e a l s o w e l c o m e d b y c u s - tomers: "I like their dark choco- late flavor, because it's not as sugary as your regular chocolate ice cream. It's somehow refresh- ing, especially now in the sum- mer," says Erica, a teacher from Turin, on the riviera visiting friends. Here, ingredients are locally sourced and flavors change from a day to another, depending on the fresh fruit available: and this is the way it should be, always keep it mind. Ten to twelve fla- vors are more than enough when all your ingredients are natural and the end product is made fol- lowing rigorous methods. In other words, when you see an ice cream parlor with rows and rows of flavors, chances are at least some of them have been made with surrogates and pastes. That doesn't mean you should refrain from trying peculiar fla- vors, though, just keep in mind n o t a l l a r e t h e s a m e : d o n ' t expect bubble gum ice cream to be natural, but certainly give a go to rarest but all-authentic ideas, such as gelato alla manna, made with a sugary resin pro- duced by specific trees of the fraxinus family, usually collect- ed in Sicily: it is sweet, delicate and aromatic at the same time and it was a delightful discov- ery. "We make a cream and gin- ger flavor here, we call it crema antica (old fashioned cream), and people do like it a lot. It's one of our best sellers," the peo- ple at the Peccati di Gola gelate- ria tell me: as you can see, there are plenty of flavorsome choices for gelato lovers, even without mingling with artificial concoc- tions. Italy, the queen of gelato. But why? Well, because the history o f t h e t r e a t w a s m a d e h e r e . Some believe it was Marco Polo who brought ice cream back to Italy from China, but modern historians no longer support this theory. Indeed, the habit to mix fruit and sweet additives like honey with shaved ice or snow was common in China as well as Persia, but it is very likely other areas of the world where snow and ice were easily accessible had developed the same habit. Roman Emperors, for instance, had a penchant for shaved ice and honey, made harder by the addition of rock salt to it, and the Arabs are thought to have made sharbat, a concoction of ice and fruit juices, popular in Sicily during their domination of the island. Both instances came well before the times of Marco Polo. And by the way, you guessed it right, our sorbetto - and your sorbet, of course - do come from A r a b i c s h a r b a t a n d s o d o e s granita. So, we can't quite say that the first frozen desserts were invented in Italy, but gelato, the creamy, milky gelato: that's another story. It was Italian chefs during the Renaissance w h o t u r n e d i c e d d e l i c a c i e s , made with ice, sugar and natural flavors into a European trend. And it was an Italian, Caterina de Medici, who supported such a diffusion, by bringing her own chefs to the royal French court, where early gelato became a dessert très en vogue. It was to take another couple of centuries before milk was added to the mix, finally creating our modern g e l a t o , w h i c h a p p e a r e d i n a recipe book for the first time in the 18th century. Wondering who came up with the idea of adding a dash of milk to the ice? Neapolitans. Gelato is the real king of the Italian summer. It's delicious, it's gloriously decadent, it's refreshing. It supports an indus- try that goes strong in spite of the recession and it is, without a doubt, one of the most appreci- ated traditional Italian products. What you may not know, yet, is that gelato can even be good for you: milk based flavors have carbs, proteins, calcium and vit- a m i n s , w h i l e f r u i t o n e s a r e lighter in calories and are full of v i t a m i n s a n d a n t i o x i d a n t s . Because it is rich of water, it's a good way to keep you hydrated during the hot season and it can be consumed as a meal replace- ment, especially if you opt for fruity flavors. There is more: according to Alessio Penzo, vice-president of the Internation- al Society of Psychology, ice cream is a mood booster, can h e l p r e d u c e s t r e s s a n d e v e n make you sleep better, because it contains L-tryptophan, which relaxes our nervous system. No wonder its sales keep on rising, summer or not: gelato may not hold the secret to eter- nal happiness, but it surely help keep us smiling. Nothing speaks of Italian summer as much as a fresh cono gelato: Italians are the biggest consumers of ice cream in Europe FRANCESCA BEZZONE The coolest summer: why Italian gelato doesn't feel the heat of a slower economy

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