Favorites of Florence: Gelato Flavors

My time in Florence is quickly coming to an end, with a mere four days in this city left. For my last week, I’d like to focus on some of the best things Italy has to offer, beginning with my favorite gelato flavors.


Honorable mentions:

Popcorn
This very odd idea for a gelato flavor works one hundred times better than the similar Jelly Belly experiment. I’ve only found it at one place (in Sorrento), but it merits a mention because it was so much better than it could or should have been.

Cioccolato Fondente
Dark chocolate is a particularly tasty flavor, and in my opinion much better than similar tastes like traditional chocolate and stracciatella (chocolate chip). I definitely prefer the fruit flavors here, but if you’re going to go for something more like American ice cream, your best bet is dark chocolate.

Tiramisu
This has been, for the entire semester, the best flavor for me to try at nearly every place I’ve been to. I don’t actually like coffee, and therefore tiramisu itself doesn’t quite appeal to me. Once I taste the coffee, I’m done. Up until then, however, it’s marvelously delicious. At one place, Gelateria dei Neri, the tiramisu looks particularly incredible, and that first sample is just as good.

My Top Five Gelato Flavors in Florence (in descending order)

Pesca
Peach is a relatively new addition to my repertoire of frequently-consumed gelatos. Fruit flavors here in Florence are delicious, and really taste like the fruits themselves. While I might be up for eating a real strawberry, blueberry, or apricot, I don’t find the gelato to be as delectable. Peach, on the other hand, is a great balance between tartness and juiciness. Since discovering it, I’ve ordered it almost every time at gelateria Festival del Gelato.

Cannella
Cinnamon is a bit of a strange flavor, but it’s absolutely worthwhile. It’s very strong but a good surprise, especially among the flurry of fruit flavors I usually consume. I’ve found it at two or three places, and each time, I’ve been slightly worried by the first stinging sensation on my tongue, but it’s ultimately pretty delicious, and goes well with my favorite flavor, which you’ll learn about below.

Macedonia
The Italian term for fruit salad is dominated, when I’ve had it at least, by watermelon and strawberry flavors. As I mentioned above, fruit-flavored gelatos are excellent, especially if you love the fruits themselves, and so what could be better then combining them all into one? It’s a bit alarming if you suddenly taste kiwi or green apple, but the refreshingly full taste is worth the risk.

Melon
One of my first days in Italy, I decided to try this odd cantaloupe flavor. Fortunately, it was one of the best decisions of my trip. Cantaloupe, when it’s really fresh and if you stay far enough away from the rind, can taste really juicy and good, and that’s what melon gelato is like. Sometimes it tastes a bit too sorbet-like, but generally it’s been the most reliable flavor I’ve found.

…and my number one gelato flavor…

Banana!
I really do love bananas, and I had already sample banana ice cream back in the United States. Banana is a tricky flavor since it can be wonderfully delicious but also rather blah at times. I’ve heard a theory that banana gelato is only good if it’s white, and that yellow gelato is a sign of poor mixing and bitter taste. I haven’t found that to be true, since some white banana gelatos have been so-so and yellow banana gelato from the bowling alley I went to was fine. When I do find the good banana, it’s really, really, really good. There’s a place I’ve recently found, Corona’s Café, where the banana is incredible, and I think I may get it several more times before I go.

Up next…we’ll see. Gelaterias, perhaps? Stay with me in the final week of this blog!