Eat Like Ushi

Given the beach location and general heat of Puerto Pollensa, I tried hard to find a gelato place to look forward to. Gelats Valls was the closest I found even though it seems like the location I initially found was closed and moved a short way away. It may have converted in that time from a little stand to an actual shop, I'm not sure.

There was a broad range of flavours and pistachio and hazelnut jumped out at me. It's possible that the two nut flavours were too similar for contrast but I didn't find myself enjoying them all that much. The hazelnut was moderate strength because it really it difficult not to and I'm used to it being incredibly strong in other areas of Spain and Italy. Also the pistachio was a very weak flavour and I like it bursting and strong.

Overall adequate and I don't know if there is a better heladeria in Puerto Pollensa. But if so I'll look for it next time.

Walking through the heated humid 28C streets of Palma at midnight, it was clear the beautiful stone buildings with high construction also did a good deal for absorbing and radiating heat. After a brief dinner, the queues outside Rivareno Gelato may have been a sign of just the climate but inside revealed a serious gelato place.

The metal canisters show business rather than display. The Sicilian pistachio was reasonable strength and quite sweet whereas Sri Lankan coconut was a milder flavour with little bits of flesh dotted in. I suppose my biggest issue was how soft they were even from the outset.

Nonetheless a reasonable gelato start to the trip.

All good seaside towns need to have a gelato place. In Ploumanac'h this is the one. It is advertised as artisanal which is reassuring considering its the only one in town. Other restaurants do serve gelato also but a dedicated place is always better.

The pistachio here was extremely mild and tasted more like vanilla with a little sweetness than pistachio. It was quite disappointing for a strong flavour person like me. The kouing-amann was also selected considering it would be the regional specialty flavour. It was very sweet like caramel, with pieces of the pastry chewy through it.

It wasn't the best flavourwise but the texture was fine with no ice crystals either. I'd happily go again, albeit partially also because there aren't any others in the area.

Every Spanish town, particularly every costal town needs to have decent gelato/helado. In Gijon, the names seem to be Regma, Islandia and La Ibense. There isn't much information about them online. I didn't get to try Islandia. Regma has a few branches and looked ok from the outside. La Ibense was the conveniently located one when taking a nice long walk to the east coast statues.

I was very pleased to see the words "Asociacion de Artesanes del Helado" as we walked in. Whenever in doubt, the words artesanal always reassure me.

The flavours were quite standard but a good variety. As usual I had a small €2.5 with pistachio and avellano/hazelnut. The pistachio had some nuts throughout but really the flavour was quite lacking. It was disappointing. The avellano was a much stronger nut flavour and enjoyable. I tried a few fruit flavours too which was ok.

Overall it was fine but next time I'd try Regma or Islandia instead.

After staying in Salamanca for 2 weeks, I had the opportunity to try many of the gelato places. Essentially each day where the sun warmed up the afternoon in Plaza Mayor, I would enjoy my helado as the sun started to set around 6pm.

Umami
I came across this on my first afternoon in delightful sunshine along the busy Rua Mayor. It turned out to be the best of the lot, with its Italian artesenal heritage and authentic steel tins keeping the goods safe. The pistachio was strong and not overly sweet, the coconut was a bit too mild, and the unpictured avellano had a potent beautiful hazelnut flavour.

Valencia
That first day I saw people queuing at Valencia around the corner from Umami. It looked like a fairy place for children. I tried their chocolate which was a little darker than standard (which I definitely prefer) but the pistachio wasn't as good even though it had little nut bits which I do like generally.

Santa Lucia
I saw the helado here but didn't end up having it. I got a hornazo that day instead. A friend tried the kitkat flavour on a later day and thought it tasted like standard chocolate.

Novelty
I was recommended this place by the profesora at my escuela as her favourite. I must say the huge mounds visible from Plaza Mayor definitely mean it would not have been my choice if it wasn't for her recommendation. I must say it wasn't bad at all, with the chocolate not too sweet and the avellano quite strong. I did get a small rather than medium for the other places, but the serving size was significantly smaller.

Overall Umami was my favourite. I'd be happy to go back for the pistachio and avellano/hazelnut. I'd have to remind myself to get a small though as I struggle to finish medium by myself.

It was funny that I had listed Mo from Viña del Mar as my gelato place for after the beach Playa Acapulca. It was serendipitous that I stumbled across another branch in Santiago (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/gelateria-mo-santiago-10-2016).

The staff here were quite unfriendly, laughing at my attempts to speak Spanish. The female serving was very unhappy letting me try one or two flavours (the Spanish-speaking couple before me tried about 8 and they didn't mind).

The coconut was outstanding with pieces of flesh riddled throughout. It was nice and creamy. The chirimoya al agua had a nice flavour but the "al agua" part make it more of a yoghurt or cream and very soft - not to my textural liking.

After the exceptional icecream in El Calafate and Puerto Iguazu, Buenos Aires seemed an usual dream where every corner around San Telmo had either a Freddo or another helado artesanales. I meant to try Freddo but didn't get around to it which is a shame. Apparently all are good but everyone has their preferences.

Volta and Jauja were closely located. I walked past Volta and their special deal of one scoop for ARS20 in favour of Jauja only to find their double scoop for ARS68. Oh well, it seems a standard price in Argentina.

Jauja is run by some people from Patagonia. I was hoping to try some of the berry flavours but they didn't have calafate. Luckily they did have corinto, a tiny red berry that I had tried at Cangrejo Rojo in Punta Arenas (there they called it parras), which is a sweet zingy berry with hints of raspberry tones but not sour. I also had their cardamom which was unusual and tasted strongly spiced as expected.

It definitely wasn't the best I've had, it was thinner and less creamy than the other places in Argentina. But the range of flavours is definitely more creative and experimental and that's one of the best things that separates this from the rest.

After very fortunate weather of heat and moderate humidity at Iguazu falls, the late afternoon beckoned some icecream. Luckily there is one right next to the bus station and even more luckily it's artesanal. Like all heladerias in Argentina seem to, there is a large variety of chocolate and dulce de leche and a shorter list of fruit flavours for balance. They keep theirs in silver lids - less for show and more proper.

Chocolate Amargo (dark) was very similar to that in El Calafate - dark, not too sweet, rich and delicious. Frambuesa (raspberry) was expected slightly lighter, sweeter and more tart for contrast.

Similar to the excellent experience in El Calafate, although expensive these people also pack it right down to the bottom of the cone.

I didn't realise Argentina was known for icecream (despite reading it alot about Buenos Aires). I'm glad to have found some along the trip.