L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS T h e r e ' s a b r e e z e rising up from the s e a , f l u t t e r i n g through the Piaz- za della Repubbli- ca in Pizzo on a Saturday night. Surrounded by couples, f a m i l i e s , a n d g r o u p s o f friends laughing over late- night drinks, you wait, then watch as the waiter places a small, slightly misshapen cocoa-dusted globe in front of you. This is your authentic encounter with the tartufo di Pizzo, the gelato confec- tion for which the town is widely known. Pick up the s p o o n a n d g e n t l y s l i c e through the soft hazelnut and chocolate gelati that encircle a warm, molten chocolate center. You'll only have a few minutes to eat it until the gelato melts into liquid, but t h a n k f u l l y i t t a s t e s g o o d either way. Sicily has granita and Flo- rence is arguably where gela- to was first invented. Howev- e r , C a l a b r i a — f a m e d f o r foods like the spicy pepper, sweet Tropea onion, and the citrus bergamot that's used in producing Earl Gray tea—is also famous for its ice cream confection aptly named for the forest fungus it resem- bles—the tartufo. W i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f around 9,000, Pizzo-Cal- abro sits 30 miles north of its decidedly more glamorous (and with it, more touristy) sister city Tropea. Both are situated in the Vibo Valentia p r o v i n c e , b u t t h e l a t t e r receives most of the attention f o r i t s d r a m a t i c c l i f f s i d e views, earning Italy's 2021 title of the most beautiful vil- lage. But one would be remiss to skip a visit to down-to- e a r t h P i z z o , w h o s e s m a l l town center sits high above the water, allowing for easy views of a peaceful seascape. On a balmy weekend night, the piazza is happily animat- ed with locals and the occa- sional pocketful of tourists wandering about, taking pic- tures from the vista point, or enjoying the town's signature ice cream indulgence. Pizzo became known as a t o w n i n t h e 1 4 t h c e n t u r y w h e n a s e c t o f B a s i l i a n monks settled there. Fishing also took hold, and it subse- quently became the site of the a n n u a l t u n a m a t t a n z a . W h i l e t h e p r a c t i c e i s n o longer allowed there today, Pizzo remains home to the popular Callipo tuna process- ing plant, and the town is k n o w n f o r i t s t a s t y t u n a steaks. Later, in 1815, the town saw Napoleon's broth- er-in-law and former ruler of t h e K i n g d o m o f N a p l e s , G i o a c c h i n o M u r a t , b o t h jailed and executed. Hence the castle took on the name Murat. But by the mid-20th century, Pizzo and the Castel- lo Murat would be known for something much sweeter. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and this holds true for the tartufo. In the early 1950s, a Messina- born baker Giuseppe de Maria, known locally as don P i p p o , w a s c h a r g e d w i t h dessert preparations for a wedding to take place inside the Castello. He ran out of the molds needed to make the d e s s e r t , a n d a s s u c h w a s forced to improvise, using his hands to pack hazelnut and chocolate gelati together in a ball shape around a core of dark chocolate. To preserve it, he wrapped the ball in food-grade paper and later dusted it with cocoa. A sweet invention was born. Today, Pizzo's main piazza boasts a half dozen bars and gelaterie that compete for attention with their personal- ized creations—unique takes on the tartufo flavors as well as other icy treats, including the nocciola imbottita (lit- erally translating to stuffed hazelnut). The local master gelato makers—i gelatai— insist that the imbottita is not unique to Pizzo in the way that tartufo is, but nonethe- l e s s i t i s o n n e a r l y e v e r y menu here and unlikely to be found outside Calabria. The i m b o t t i t a i s a t y p e o f spumone or zuccotto, a lay- ered semifreddo and gelato dessert with Florentine ori- gins. (Unlike gelato, a semi- f r e d d o i s m a d e u p o f a m e r i n g u e a n d w h i p p e d cream that is then molded into a metal pan). The popu- lar version features an outer shell made of hazelnut gelato with a hazelnut semifreddo interior. One imbottita mold is usually sliced into 4 por- tions, each showing off the a t t r a c t i v e l a y e r i n g o f t h e dessert. While hazelnut is one of the most popular flavors, the dessert can be found in others like chocolate, straw- berry, or pistachio as well. The best way to determine which is right for you is to b r i n g a f r i e n d a n d o r d e r both—compare the tartufo and nocciola imbottita side by side as they gently melt into each other. Local gelatai formed a con- sortium (Consorzio Gelatieri Artigiani di Pizzo) to pre- serve the tartufo recipe and commitment to high-quality ingredients, demanding only whole milk, sugar, egg yolks, hazelnut paste and cocoa be u s e d i n o r d e r t o b e a r t h e name. Although they origi- nally sought IGP status for the tartufo, and the label is s o m e t i m e s e r r o n e o u s l y applied, it hasn't actually received official recognition from the European Union. Labels aside, the fun is in trying the confection from one of the competing gela- terie, which are all rightfully proud of their craft. There's Bar Dante, which is under a different name and owner- ship today, but is home to where the tartufo was initially created by Don Pippo, with a p l a q u e p o s t e d o u t s i d e t o honor the local history. Fur- ther up in the piazza is Gela- teria Belvedere, known by l o c a l s a s I l G a t t o , w h o s e tartufo now comes in a vari- ety of flavors—alongside the traditional, there is pistachio, strawberry, coffee/almond, chocolate, and lemon. And across the piazza sits the ever-popular Bar Ercole, w h e r e o w n e r F r a n c o D i Iorgi carries on his father Gaetano's tradition of making handcrafted and personalized t a r t u f o r e c i p e s s i n c e t h e 1960s, after the elder Di Iorgi learned from Don Pippo him- self how to make the treat. It's easy to see most of P i z z o i n l e s s t h a n a d a y . Arguably a couple hours are enough. But you haven't real- ly visited Pizzo unless you've taken a seat in the Piazza della Repubblica for a tartufo, or a slice of nocciola imbotti- ta. Chat up the waiters at Bar Ercole, pair the tartufo with a n A m a r o d e l C a p o a n d watch local Calabrian life pass by. That's la dolce vita, Pizzo-style. Just don't bother a s k i n g h o w t h e t a r t u f o ' s chocolate center oozes out so perfectly through the frozen i c e c r e a m . " T h a t ' s t h e 100,000 dollar question," laughs Di Iorgi. A Gelato Tale: getting down to the molten core of Pizzo-Calabro JESSICA S. LEVY The tartufo di Pizzo while it's made … (Photo: FVPhotography/Shutterstock) and while it's eaten! (Photo: TommoT/Shutterstock)

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