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Katie Broyles
August 1, 2001
My Gelato Tour of Florence

    
     The Italian way of life radiates the feeling of relaxation, simplicity and enjoyment, and like other uptight Americans, I was eager to discover Italian secrets to the high life.  Each time I visit Italy I am immediately overwhelmed with smells, tastes, sights and sounds that make Italian lives so vibrant.  On this trip to Italy, I planned to turn up the intensity of my senses and to delve head-first into Italian culture.

     I started strolling through the antique streets of Florence, an idyllic setting for promenades, and noticed all of the shops, churches, piazzas, mimes, vespas and art that are the spirit of Florence.  Several times I had to dodge out of the way of an impending vespa, topped with an Italian who seemed to take no notice or care of the hundreds of pedestrians that lined the streets.  Dogs trotted in and out of alleyways and leered dangerously close to my feet and the wheels of the vehicles.  Mimes, painted head to toe in ghastly white, silver or gold, stood motionless atop blocks of wood and made the occasional twitch or nod that left tourists mesmerized.  I heard bits of conversations in Italian, English, French, German and others I was unable to decode.  Amongst all this diversity, I noticed one common link that seemed to bring a smile to anyone’s face--the cone or cup of gelato they held in their hands.  Of all colors of the rainbow, and dripping everywhere onto shirts, hands or chins, Italy’s version of ice cream seemed to be the biggest tourist attraction, next to the Duomo.

     Having worked at two prominent ice cream shops at home in Denver, and knowing quite a lot about ice cream and its place in American culture, I became very curious about gelato and its prominence in Italian culture.  The more I learned about it, the more I found that gelato is a considerable component to the simplicity and beauty of Italy.

     My parents went on a mission to cell phone shops, internet accessible places and churches, and I set out to find as many gelaterias as I could and see what this whole gelato craze was about.  Not surprisingly, on every crowded street I found two to three gelaterias, but the most intriguing were those out-of-the-way shops snuggled into a narrow cobblestone passageway.  At the end of my day, I tallied up about thirty gelaterias I’d found in Florence, whereas Denver has only six major ice cream stores.  With the considerable tourist crowd that Florence draws, these little shops have no trouble staying prosperous, and oftentimes have lines weaving out their doors.

     The word "gelato" is the Italian past participle of the verb "gelare", meaning "to freeze".  There are several kinds of frozen delicacies in Italy, each with a slight variation of ingredients and frozen temperature.  Gelato, though not as frozen (and thus softer than) ice cream, is still Italy’s richest and most dense frozen dessert.  It is usually milk-based with real fruits, chocolates or other fresh flavors whipped into it.  "Semi-freddo" is a term for a softer, smoother, creamier form of gelato, frozen at a slightly warmer temperature.  Sorbetti, like sorbet in the United States, has no milk products, yet is frozen like gelato and thus able to be free-standing on a cone.  Granite, on the other hand, is much like a "slushie", as it is pure tiny ice shards flavored brilliantly with fresh fruit and is eaten from a cup.

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