Tubs of tempting treats
There was a time when frozen dessert simply meant ice cream. Nowadays, it could mean frozen yogurt, sorbet, parfait, or ice cream’s Italian cousin, gelato. So how exactly do the two differ?
Both consist of three basic ingredients—milk, cream, and sugar—yet gelato has less of these. Ice cream has more cream than milk, which means more butterfat. The high butterfat content results in round and firm sinful scoops. Gelato has less, hence the inherently light mixture. As it is light, it needs only 20 to 30 percent air as it thickens and freezes, resulting in a denser and creamier consistency.
Ice cream uses egg yolks to bind the mixture, while gelato rarely uses eggs. It is also served a few degrees warmer than ice cream so it doesn’t numb the tongue, allowing one to savor the flavor better. And as it has less butterfat which tends to coat the palate, the flavors in gelato are more intense.
Well, enough technical stuff, and on to the tastier bit.
In its newest venture, Cebu’s top French bakery and wine library La Vie Parisienne has recently introduced its own gelateria, the La Vie French Artisan Gelato. It offers authentic gelato brought directly from Italy by gelato virtuoso Chef Manuel Minelli.
Chef Minelli and his family have been making gelato for the past 200 years in Toscana, Italy. He believes one should serve gelato that he would give his son, so he uses only premium ingredients and topnotch technology to churn tubs of the famed dessert.
This gelateria boasts 46 different flavors, including the classics, the usual fruity and sweet suspects, as well as funky flavors like chili crab, balut, salmon, and onion and chives. Local ingredients are also highlighted in the buko, kalamansi and jackfruit gelato. Other special flavors are added weekly.
Bizarre ingredients aside, good quality gelato, as many a gelatiere would say, shouldn’t be too sweet. It shouldn’t feel greasy on the tongue, nor should it make one feel immoderately thirsty. Real artisanal gelato, upon hitting one’s tastebuds, melts into a harmonious blend of creamy flavors and cold sensations, which disappear almost immediately after. It doesn’t leave an assortment of aftertastes. What it does leave is a desire for more.
La Vie French Artisan Gelato is available at La Vie Parisienne, Plaza Pino, and Michel’s Deli.