Faces of the Sligo Food Trail
ARE there many towns in Ireland that can boast an authentic Italian gelateria?
Sligo is lucky to have Fabio’s Ice Cream in the heart of the town where real Italian gelato is available all year round served by real Italians. Fabio hails from the gorgeous Renaissance city of Florence in Tuscany. Famed for the Ponte Vecchio, Michelangelo’s sculpture of David it’s pretty well known for ice cream too which is why the young Fabio Boni got his first job in an gelateria.
There he served an informal apprenticeship making ice cream the old fashioned way peeling peaches and pouring in the milk and learning all the secrets of the trade.
As a typical Italian Fabio has a genuine love for food as did his entire family. Although they lived in the city, his parents came from farming backgrounds. He treasures early memories of the annual get togethers with extended family, everyone working to harvest and preserve crops.
The terms roll off his tongue: the Venn demmia ( grape harvesting for wine), the Brucata ( olive harvesting) and best of all the Pomarolata. When the huge crops of Pomodoro Costoluto, the ancient Florentine Tomato ripened everyone took to the fields.
Massive pots of the ruby red fruit seasoned with basil and oregano bubbled over an open fire as they made enough tomato sauce to last the entire year. He describes it as a glorious celebration of food, preserving not only the crops but the time honoured traditions too.
Fabio’s route to opening a gelateria was anything but straightforward. He studied geology in university in Florence. He took the opportunity to travel after college and lived for some years in San Francisco. There he met his wife Maura, an Irishwoman from Carrick on Shannon and eventually she lured him to the Emerald Isle via Florence.
Their first child was born in Italy but given an Irish name ( Seán); the second born in Ireland to an the Italian name of Lorenzo. The couple
moved to Ireland full time in 2008 and Fabio finally realisedre his dream, opening his own ice cream parlour in Wine Street.
Although Sligo is now home the family spend a couple of months in Florence each winter.
Even when he’s away, Fabio’s Ice Cream still stays open at weekends – it seems we like a frozen fix, even in the depths of winter.
His range of flavours is legendary and he likes to ring the changes, producing unusual ‘ specials’ on a regular basis. It could be Mascarpone, Figs and Walnut or Black Forest Pavlova or Wild Atlantic Elderflower sitting alongside the alarmingly named Bull’s Blood ( a sorbet of dark chocolate, orange juice and cayenne pepper!).
Whatever it is, you can be sure they are the real deal with no emulsifiers, no hydrogenated fats and certainly no premade industrial mixes! Fabio is passionate about ice cream and loves to discuss the technicalities – especially when it comes to differentiating between ‘ ice cream’ and ‘ gelato.’
The calorie counters will be delighted to discover that gelato is made with less cream and more milk so it contains a remarkable 50% less fat. This, and the fact that gelato is served at a higher temperature than ice gives it a more intense flavour. A slower churning rate gives gelato a denser and creamier texture, says Fabio.
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