The Eternal Quest for Great Gelato, Part 2

Have you ever had a hankering for one of those discontinued sticky treats from your youth? Just down the street from the aforementioned Dolce Spazio sits the ultimate candy store, Powell’s Sweet Shoppe, who specializes in those tantalizing favorites. A soundtrack of old movie songs plays in the background while children young and old scurry from one delicious treat to the next, remembering their favorite candies from a time gone by and discovering new delights along the way. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory takes its place on the back wall, repeatedly playing through the classic children’s story. Usually it’s the parents that stop to watch the movie, rather than their children, who are far more taken with the surprises that they find with each new candy toy from their parents’ generation and older. Even the oldest customer is transformed into “a kid in a candy shop” upon entering. Because of the stunning amount of candy covering the store like a blanket, many customers often overlook the bevy of gelato flavors near the register, which is my primary reason for visiting.

On my most recent visit to Powell’s, I discovered that they serve Ciao Bella Gelato, a brand that originated in New York’s Little Italy from a Torino recipe and oddly enough, is sold pint-sized at Costco. More than Dolce Spazio, Powell’s features flavors found in any gelateria in Italy, including spumoni, tiramisu, pistachio, coppa mista, cappuccino, dark chocolate, and a variety of sorbetto. I’ve tried several flavors, but so far, the only two that immediately transport me to an Italian piazza is their dark chocolate and tiramisu gelato. From the perfect creamy, smooth texture to the dark, intense flavor, every bite teases me into believing that I’m in Rome and not on the streets of Los Gatos. It melts in your mouth (and I don’t just mean literally because it’s gelato); the flavors are richer and more intense than ice cream, bringing greater pleasure to your taste buds than even a pint of Häagen Dazs’s famous dulce de leche. Powell’s also offers three different serving sizes, and encourages all guests to mix flavors.

Verdict: The dark chocolate and the tiramisu are, I believe, even better than Dolce Spazio, mainly due to the fact that they have a creamier texture (which is closer to true Italian gelato). Just don’t try mixing Powell’s candy with their gelato; it will ruin the gelato experience.

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe

35 N. Santa Cruz Ave.

Los Gatos

408.395.5200

www.powellssweetshoppe.com

The Eternal Quest for Great Gelato, Part 1

No quest for the closest thing to Italian gelato would be complete without starting where I typically go for gelato, Dolce Spazio (pronounced dōl-che spŏtz-ee-ō) in Los Gatos. Long considered the hotspot for Bay Area gelato, Dolce Spazio has won numerous awards for their version of the classic Italian treat. A quaint little shop on the main strip of downtown, Dolce Spazio caters to the elite of Los Gatos. Saturday mornings blur into a rush of joggers, bikers, families with strollers, and visitors who line up for their treat of choice—coffee, Italian soda, tea, giant cookies, muffins, smoothies, and for those brave early-morning souls, gelato and sorbetto.

With a variety of flavors that run from the seemingly health conscious—strawberries & cream, pistachio—to the deliciously scandalous—oreogasmic—to the mouthwatering divine—chocolate liqueur, snickelicious, cappuccino chip—to the traditional classic—vanilla bean, menta chip—Dolce offers temptation to everyone. Sizes take their cue from the Italian numerical system of scoops, including uno (for one scoop), due (for two), and tre (for three). You may be tempted to choose the tre, but tre is not for the faint of heart, or for the tiny bellied. Dolce’s gelato is rich and dense—heavy even, causing even an uno to be overwhelming if consumed after any semblance of a meal. The gelato is creamy (although, depending on the flavor you order—those with chocolate chips or cookie crumbles—it can sometimes be slightly granular). Every serving of gelato comes with a perfect pie-slice-shaped wafer cookie that crumbles under the weight of the gelato. Enjoy your gelato out behind the shop in their hide-away courtyard at one of the dainty café tables.

Verdict: Dolce Spazio’s gelato tastes fantastic (seriously, it’s one of my favorite place to splurge on dessert), but it’s more the love-child from the marriage of ice cream and gelato than authentic Italian gelato.

Dolce Spazio

221 North Santa Cruz Ave.

Los Gatos

408.395.1335

www.dolcespazio.com

Gelato vs. Ice Cream

In a recent issue of Bon Appetit, I was shocked at the claim of one writer that after much researching and taste testing on her part, she discovered there is no difference between ice cream and gelato. No difference?! I don’t think so! There is a major difference between ice cream and gelato (pronounced gel-a-toe).

Americans tend to be copycats. We like to take other cultures’ fashions, traditions, and cuisines and make them our own. The same is true with gelato. Many manufacturers will make their version of Italian gelato and slap a label on the box claiming its authenticity. However, there is no way that it can be true gelato, because while they may be using the same process, they are not using the exact same ingredients—such as the milk from Italian cows. California cheese companies are constantly bragging about their cows, but in order to make authentic Italian gelato, Italian cows eating Italian hillside grass and drinking Italian river water, I am convinced, must be used.

What exactly is the difference between gelato and ice cream? I’m glad you asked!

Gelato typically has 35 percent less air than ice cream, creating a denser and creamier texture. By adding air to their product, American ice cream producers get nearly double their quantity, but at the cost of quality. Gelato is made with whole cow’s milk, containing only 4 to 8 percent butterfat (significantly lower than American ice creams’ 18 to 26 percent). Since gelato ingredients are not homogenized together and it uses less butterfat, it melts quicker than ice cream. Also different than American ice cream, gelato uses a forced air freezer, holding the temperature a constant 0-6°F (a good 10-15°F warmer than American ice cream), which keeps it at a semi-frozen consistency as opposed to being too frozen.

Other fun facts:

Gelato made with water instead of dairy products is called sorbetto (pronounced sore-bet-toe). Sorbetto is usually found in fruit flavors, as they mix best with water. Gelato is believed to have originated in northern Italy, while the fruit-flavored sorbetto claims its origins in southern Italy.

Aside from the above evidence spouting the production differences between American ice cream and Italian gelato, and in spite of the fact that only true gelato comes from Italy, it is possible to tell the difference between ice cream and gelato made in America. For example, if you were to visit Baskin Robbins and order a scoop of their chocolate ice cream, then visit Powell’s in Los Gatos and order a scoop of their dark chocolate gelato, you would immediately be able to see, taste, and smell the difference. And that’s just between American ice cream and American gelato! Come with me as I look for the best American Gelato in the Bay Area!

The Italian Flag

Food can be a reflection of so many different things—emotions, personalities, geographical locations, and…a country’s flag? Yes, it’s true. For example, the Italian flag is quite symbolic of the food found within its borders. While I am happy to concede that this is not true of every national flag (otherwise, England’s flag should be brown with a fish), it is certainly true of the Italian flag. Perhaps this is a coincidence, or maybe it's truly symbolic of Italians' love affair with particular foods.

Think about all the different foods Italy is known for. Now, how many of those dishes incorporate the colors of the Italian flag?

There are four major sauces enjoyed around Italy—pest, alfredo, ragu, and marinara (notice the green, white, and red?). All of these I’ve mentioned before, but these are the sauce staples of the country. Sure, you can find other sauces, but several use those same colors—think of a pepper sauce with red and orange peppers or a sage and butter sauce. Even a mushroom sauce takes on an off-white color when paired with pasta.

Ravioli and other stuffed pastas can be filled with many different filling combinations. It becomes a matter of taste preference or creativity. And while there are endless filling possibilities, it’s very common to stuff ravioli with a spinach and ricotta mixture and then add a ragu or marinara sauce on top. I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t love this. Also, when we make stuffed shells or stuffed cannelloni, we fill them with a spinach and ricotta mixture before adding the ragu sauce on top.

I’ve mentioned caprese before as one of my favorite things to eat, especially on a summer day. This combination of basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomato is extremely easy to make and very tasty. And it even shows the Italian flag in the correct colored order: green, white, and red.

Who doesn’t love the Margherita pizza found in Italy? With its thin crust, slight layer of pizza sauce, just enough mozzarella cheese to cover the sauce, and a sprinkling of julienned basil, it’s the perfect afternoon meal. And because they don’t overdo any part of the perfect combination that is the Margherita pizza, you can eat the equivalent to an American large pizza without having to be rolled home! And again, it is the Italian flag with the basil, then the mozzarella, then the sauce.

The region that my family is from tends to make a spinach pasta lasagna. This means that spinach is added to the pasta dough before it is rolled out into the paper-thin sheets that get assembled into a mouth-watering dish of lasagna. So, each layer of the lasagna gets the spinach pasta, a combination of the ragu sauce and the béchamel sauce (a rich white sauce), and a little bit of mozzarella and parmigiano. I actually believe that the spinach lasagna tastes better than the regular lasagna, but I doubt this has anything to do with the color of the Italian flag.

Gelato is another thing Italy is known for, and no one can seem to get enough of it, as evidenced by the mass-produced copycats found in any supermarket (but let’s admit, the gelato you get here in the U.S. in no way compares to the real thing). Until recently, I didn’t think gelato really would work in this example; although I suppose I could argue that with the vanilla gelato, the pistachio gelato and the raspberry or strawberry gelato, you get the Italian flag. Just a couple weeks ago, I was reading the restaurant edition of Bon Appetit Magazine when I saw an article about a chef who created the Italian flag combination in gelato with a basil gelato, a tomato gelato, and ricotta. To be perfectly honest, I’m a little wary of basil and tomato gelato, since gelato is supposed to be sweet, almost like eating candy, and while I love basil and tomato, I don’t feel the same about them that I do about chocolate gelato. But I should probably give it a try before completely writing it off. I will let you know how it goes.

Isn’t it interesting that so many Italian dishes resemble the Italian flag (and I've only mentioned a few here!)? Can you think of any that I didn't include?