Eat Like Ushi

After an evening of seafood dining at Drunken Admiral, the walk home up Elizabeth Street was briefly interrupted. Dessert? I don't mind a good dessert these days much more than I used to, although it's usually a pretty specific set of things that appeal to me such that I'll order it.

Gelato is one of those, rarely from a restaurant, almost always from an artisan. In Europe, the word artiginale means homemade and interpreted as more likely to be good.

Despite looking like a standard fluoro gelato place, Pel seriously impressed me. My baseline standard of pistachio was at a very high level. The gelato is extremely nutty and strong with much less sweetness than other versions. The servers also fill the cone such that gelato goodness is edible all the way to the bottom.

The other flavours are good and I can't be more specific, but the pistachio is fantastic for a connoisseur. I went back a few days later and this confirmed my memories.

Noticing them in the Entertainment Book, I proceeded to order two of them. All for myself.

I ordered chocolate custard with cheesecake and also vanilla custard with cookie dough.

Sure it was a hot day but there was no way a non-sweet tooth like myself could (just after lunch at Malaysian Chapter especially) finish two let alone one. It was sugar overload. It was an unfortunate day for wastage but at least I've tried it and know that I really just prefer good quality gelato (eg. Frugii) with no additives. I think the days of Cold Rock or concretes from Shake Shack and the such are behind me. Part of growing older...

On a hot Braddon evening, it seemed most apt to head to Frugii for dessert. The heat of the weather and also from the mild chillies from Mandalay Bus were still fresh and a cooling finale was sought.

The icecream and gelato flavours were varied but it seemed difficult to go back the great 2-flavour combination of dark chocolate and cherry. I've spent a bit of time at home trying to recreate the dark chocolate cherry king shake that used to be on the winter menu at Cupping Room and so this was an easy choice. The dark chocolate was smooth and sweet, similar to a 65% block. The cherry had moderate flavour and complemented well. Of course the gin & tonic, lychee and espresso flavours also appealed but you have to can't have them all (well I can't at least)

Additionally they were advertising some alcoholic dessert pops and the dark chocolate one had an unsweet, mildly bitter cocoa dryness, similar to eating 80-85% dark chocolate. I didn't mind it, but I can see lesser chocolate people (ie. those who prefer white or milk) wouldn't like this at all.

I've seen Frugii being sold by the tub at Essential Ingredient in Kingston. I'll have to grab a tub before I leave.

It wasn't the biggest deal until I read a few weeks later they had actually won the title of best gelato in the world at a competition in Italy for their almond affogato flavour. Considering the amount of gelato I've eaten in Italy (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/gelato-trail-italy-07-2012) and to a lesser degree Spain, I couldn't see when I'd next have an opportunity to visit this place and test this flavour.

Interestingly enough on the second night of Vivid in Sydney, I was walking through Martin Place looking at the light shows that were honestly not overly impressive. What interested me was the food stall booths that appeared, and then there is was - Cow & Moon. I was hoping for the famous almond affogato and to try my staple benchmark pistachio, but unfortunately the former had sold out and the latter sold their last scoop 2 persons before me.

The flavours tried on this evening - from top left to bottom right:

- Hazelnut - good quality nocciola and my substitute for pistachio when not available. The best I've had still remains in Alba, who have their own famous hazelnuts, but this was an excellent milder version;
- Salted caramel and banana - good banana taste, didn't have the saltiness that I don't particularly like;
- Popcorn - very sweet, caramelised, a little too sweet for my usual liking;
- Dark chocolate - slightly bitter deep cocoa flavour.

I was slightly disappointed that there was an occasional ice crystal, but given the booth stall outdoors I have to be a bit forgiving. What I can say is the flavours were elegant, prominent and truly world class in quality.

I look forward to the next time.

Italy and gelato. There aren't many other things to trawl through place after place in Italy. Everywhere you read online will point you in directions of favourites and the reality is all of the ones I visited are good, because they generally have to be;

If in doubt, look for somewhere that states Gelato Artigianale which translates to homemade gelato. Some say those in metal tins with closed lids are more authentic and retain flavour longer also. But with the quality and turnover, I don't think it makes too much difference.

My benchmark is pistachio flavour and generally the murkier green or lighter brown, the better. I tried pistachio nearly everywhere which ranged from light to intense, sweet to nutty. Each was slightly different and I can't say I didn't like any of them. There were no hints of ice or crystals. However trying to pick my favourite of the lot is indeed difficult. I think one of the best was in Vernazza - considering the location in the middle of a plaza, it was a pleasant surprise - check the light brown pistachio on the right of the photo.

- Gelato Passione (Rome) - great pistachio and tiramisu
- Fior di Luna (Rome) - no photo
- Giolitti (Rome) - known mainly for creamy flavours, but melon was very good
- Ciampini (Rome)
- Carabe (Florence)
- Gelateria Perche No! (Florence)
- La Carraia (Florence)
- Antica Gelateria Fiorentina (Florence)
- Slurp! (Monterosso, Cinque Terre)
- Gelateria Artigianale Vernazza (Vernazza, Cinque Terre)

I hit all these gelato places around Italy within 6 days. My list was still longer. Here's the ones I didn't make: Gelateria dei Neri, Vivoli, Gelateria Santa Trinita, Grom (all in Florence), Gelateria Il Porticciolo (Vernazza).

I flew to Turin (Fiorio) as the airport stopover to the white truffle festival. I had an extremely creamy version in Alba (Darios), where after I tried their delicious gelato pistachio and nocciola, the shopowner made me come back on the day it was made fresh. The texture was smooth and untouchable.

When in anywhere, find gelato. It isn't a difficult concept to understand the logic behind. Especially when the weather even at night is 25C and 75% humidity. Ubud supposedly has two gelato places of note - Gelato Secrets and Gaya Fusion. Gaya Fusion is a taxi trip away whereas Secrets is conveniently located towards the top of Monkey Forest Road.

Our very first Bali eat ended up being here, before finding dinner. To be honest we initially couldn't find the particular warung and so ended up snacking here to keep us going. The gelato is fresh, some texture, and there was honestly a couple of small ice crystals in amongst 5 flavours - but I'll forgive them for that.

Flavours included as expected the local fruits such as a rich smooth mango and something I haven't seen before dragonfruit. Great for any time of day or night.

I didn't realise Amorino was a worldwide chain (until just now). I happened to stumble across this gelataria in the middle of Lisbon's pedestrian street - which made the quality of this even more exciting given the convenience. I went twice in 2 days and even considered a third had I not been leaving town.

The process is simple - you pay for a cup, they fill it with as many flavours as you like. That's right - as many as you like. The other thing that hooked me was the presence of two different types of thick light brown pistachio flavours, one sweet and one more nutty. They are both good and I recommend them, amongst everything else. The nutty one is very intense and probably only can be eaten in small amounts, so much to my surprise I liked the sweet version more overall.

Sit outside, eat the gelato, watch people and the world walk by.

Considering Lisbon had one of the finest gelatarias in the middle of town that I've ever been to (complete with large servings and unlimited number of flavours even for a small cup), it was surprising I didn't see many in Porto.

I actually had to specifically look online to find one in Porto. Sincelo came up and happened to be very near a food destination I was planning (Solar Moinro de Vento) and so it seemed the perfect dessert follow-up. The gelato is fine without being overly memorable. It's nonetheless something to look forward to.