Golosa per il Gelato

It is no surprise that I am golosa (gluttonous: to have a sweet tooth) for gelato considering the word "gelato" is mentioned several times on my blog. In fact, we could say I am a gelatoholic.

Recently, a new gelateria, Cantina del Gelato, opened up around the corner from my home, which is rather dangerous for me. I watched with curiosity as they reconstructed an old wine cantina, wondering what they would be opening in the upcoming weeks. The vaulted ceiling is a reminder of the cantina that once stood there.  The small, blue window next to the door is where one used to pick up wine after hours, which reminds me of the days when, once upon a time, we had fresh milk home-delivered in the States. That was when you could still buy fresh milk.

Street view

Florence is filled with gelaterias, but few are truly good artigianale (homemade, artisan, craft) gelaterias. Most serve gelato that has been mass produced with plenty of additives and preservatives. Cantina del Gelato serves a few of the best flavors of gelato each day -- mascarpone and nutella, pistacchio, caprino and noci, limone, biscotti, to name a few -- not 31 or more flavors. They cater to quality and taste as opposed to quantity of flavors.

What truly sets this gelateria apart from the rest of the gelaterias? They found their niche with something you won't find elsewhere in Florence. Fruit from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.

Cantina del Gelato offers Succhi Tropicale (tropical fruit juices).  The fruit is picked in Brazil when ripe as opposed to prematurely like we are accustomed to; immediately juiced from the pulp; without preservatives added, they are then frozen; and then imported to Florence, Italy.  Choose from fruit such as maracuja (passion fruit),  goiaba (guava), caju fruit (the fruit of the cashew tree. Did you know that each fruit bears only one cashew, and the cashew is actually the flower of the fruit?  The fruit itself has considerably more healthful than is the nut.), mango, banana, lime, acerola (the queen of vitamin C), and the number one "superfood," acai berry.   These fruits are rich in antioxidants, anti-aging benefits, omega-fats, anticancer benefits, fights against heart disease, lowers blood pressure, low in calories, high in fiber, helps one lose weight, and packed full of a large variety of vitamins and minerals.

Best of all:  Ask for a "Lo Frullo Acai."  Served in a bowl; eaten with a spoon.  

All that Cantina del Gelato serves is made with the finest, natural, top quality products, with no preservatives, and is made fresh daily.

A few of the many reasons why fruit from the rainforest is important in addition to what I've mentioned above:  Seventy percent of the 3,000 plants that the U.S. National Cancer Institute has found to have anticancer properties are found only in the rainforest.  There is an estimated 3,000 edible fruits found in the rainforest, but only 200 are cultivated for use around the world. At least 80% of our developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest.

As I move in the direction of what really matters to me on my journey living in Italy, I try to make healthful choices.  In other words, because all they offer tastes so good and is full of healthy reasons to eat it, I can righteously justify going daily to my neighborhood gelateria.  Right?  

Samio (left) and Giuseppe (right), gelateria partners

Whether you're an athlete, foodie, have a sweet tooth, are hot and need something cold to put in your mouth, care about your nutrients, when you're in Florence or if you live in Florence, make a point of visiting Cantina del Gelato, and tell them Josslyn sent you.  The winter hours are from 12:00 until 11:00 in the evening daily, closed Mondays.  Soon they will extend the hours and days for the spring and summer.  Giuseppe and Samio are friendly and will treat you right.

You can find them in Oltrarno, 200 meters from Ponte Vecchio at Via de' Bardi, 31, Florence, 50125, Italy. 

JUNE 2, 2011 UPDATE:

The summer hours are now in operation, which means Cantina del Gelato is now open seven days a week until midnight!  New flavors are in the house too.  My new favorite:  menta bianca  (white mint).  The flavor is incredibly refreshing on a hot day and tastes so clean being made from pure mint.

Piu' Biscotti / More Biscotti

Visible signs of the heavy snowfall less than a week ago melted away with our current heatwave (60° F) and rain, but evidence that someone has been baking in the kitchen is apparent with flour and cookie crumbs on the table, countertops, and floor.  So the snowfall is inside my home rather than outdoors.

The experimenting continues.

Cool before slicing and returning to the oven

The first time making biscotti since my attempts last December, and the biscotti are near perfect.  A bit of tweaking is still in order, but I learned a big lesson today.  

The first batch of batter would not come together; so the cookies eventually found their way into the trash bin.  With the second batch I learned I need to trust in the process, and that in time everything will come together.  Just like rain and freezing temperatures mix to create snow, if I just keep mixing (being patient, trusting, and doing the footwork), eventually it will stick. And then I place my hands in the mix and knead the dough.  The trick is to get the mix just right: not too farinoso (floury; figuratively: flowery) nor too appiccicoso (sticky, gluey; figuratively: clingy, clinging).

Ready to eat

In the case of my quasi perfect biscotti, today it worked.  Magical.  What a wonder it is to create.  The second part of the lesson is to take what I learned out of the kitchen and apply it in my day-to-day life.

Mabel gets comfy while I bake

Prato

Nineteen minutes by train from Florence (15 km), I arrived to Prato, Italy, to meet a friend a meta' strada (halfway) and see a town I've been curious about for quite some time.

Basilica Cattedrale Di Santo Stefano

I find it hard to imagine, coming from Los Angeles, that Prato, with only 180,000 inhabitants, is Italy's third largest city following Rome and Florence

Fresco on the ceiling inside the Basilica Cattedrale Di Santo Stefano

Prato has its history in textiles.  Today it is the garment district of Florence.  Full of immigrants in the past 60 years and Chinese in particular since the 1980s, it is also Tuscany's official Chinatown.  If you're really desperate to eat Chinese food while in Tuscany, then Prato is the place to find authentic Chinese cuisine.  The "Made in Italy" label on the scarves and many other items you might buy while in Italy are often made by the Chinese in Prato, Italy.

Shadows above the candles

Finocchiona salami

Finocchiona is a Tuscan salami made with fennel seed and one of my all-time favorites.  Its origin is from Prato when allegedly someone stole a salami from the market and hid it in a bushel of finocchio (fennel).  When he later retrieved his salami, he discovered the salami had absorbed the aroma of the fennel. And a new salami was born.

Prato (field under grass, meadow) is a small town with a very old historical center and well worth visiting.  There are several churches to see with a few important pieces of artwork, the textile musuem, a castle, some nice piazze (squares) to pass some leisure time and fare una bella chiacchierata (to have a good chitchat).

And I am always in the mood for a caffeè macchiato (espresso with a spot of milk).  Don't forget from my recent post, this is also home to the famous Antonio Mattei biscotti.

-- Josslyn

Prato, Italia

Biscotti - Cantucci - Cantuccini

When it comes to food, wine, and vinegar, there is much to be learned in Italy.

Remember last year when I was trying to perfect my biscotti? Without preheating the oven, I have recently made a head start. The outside temperature has cooled off considerably, and I am nearly ready to once again resume perfecting my authentic recipe.

While at lunch with family and friends a few days ago, my Lucchese friend explained to me (100% in the Italian language) the difference between biscotti, cantucci, and cantuccini. Biscotti (twice-baked/ cooked) is the generic term for any cookies that are twice-baked and loosely used for any type of cookies. Hence my head start. So I am not incorrect when I call my cookies "biscotti" since I do bake them twice, but isn't that a bit general when I want to be specific? In the States, most of us think of biscotti as the hard cookies we like to dip into our coffee or hot chocolate. Previously, I was under the impression that cantuccini referred to the miniature version of what I used to think was specifically, not generically or generally called, biscotti and baked only in the town of Prato.



No, no, no. Let there be no more confusion for me, nor for you. Biscotti are any twice-baked cookies or cookies in general. Cantucci and cantuccini originated in the town of Prato, possibly made famous by Antonio Mattei, and they always have almonds. The diminutive "-ini" means little. So cantucci are the larger cookies, and cantuccini are the smaller, fit-the-whole-cookie-in-your-mouth-at-once, bite-size cookies.

If your biscotti has raisins, figs, chocolate on top, or some other variation, you are not eating cantucci nor cantuccini; rather, you are eating biscotti.

In the States, we typically have our biscotti/cantucci/ cantuccini with a hot drink to dip the cookies into. In Italy, either cantucci or cantuccini are served as dessert with vin santo, a sweet desert wine, not an espresso.

In the coming weeks and winter months, it is cantucci I will be perfecting. And if I get really good at it -- which type of yeast is best to use? eggs or no eggs? how long to bake the second time to get the perfect crunchiness? -- I hope to end up with cantuccini, meaning the smaller cookies. Last year, my goal always was to bake the smaller cookies, but on the cookie sheet, the dough would spread and make the larger version.



Soon I will put on the apron and heat up the oven because, for me in Florence, it is approaching biscotti - cantucci - cantuccini season. Mmmm........

-- Josslyn
Firenze, Italia

I Biscotti

Cantuccini di Prato Los Angeles but homemade in Florence, Italy.

Twice-baked cookies. An easy recipe but nearly impossible to make just right. But I'm on a mission. I'm determined to get it down.

Not being the most proficient in a kitchen, I'm no master chef nor baker. I blame it on my busy professional lifestyle, but reality is I had other priorities and grew up eating out more than in the home.

In the past several days, I have attempted to perfect my biscotti. I have compared countless recipes and tried a number of them. Only a few ingredients are called for, yet it is amazing how differing the quanties are per recipe. Not only that, some call for huge amounts of butter or olive oil or only a small amount of butter or oil, but most call for none at all. Being health conscious but also being peccato di gola ("having a sweet tooth"), I prefer the recipes that don't include butter or oil. Each day I learn something I need to do differently; mostly, I use one recipe and learn from my mistakes. I have the flavor down. The form needs some work. The batter is different with each batch I bake. Of course, it probably doesn't help that I don't have any apparecchiatura ("equipment" in this context, "measuring cups" or a "scale"). Even though Italians eyeball measurements and learned their family recipes by watching their mothers cook who watched their mothers cook, who in turn watched their mothers cook in the generations prior, not being so well-versed in the kitchen, it may behoove me to at least buy a bilancia ("scale").

I have been timidly making the rounds to my friends in town, people whom have probably been eating biscotti since they were teething. Even the local police have tasted my biscotti and identified which ingredients I have included. I am receiving valuable information, feedback, constructive criticism, and even compliments. Oh, and I have the one friend that claims to have broken her tooth on my biscotti, which I know was a joke. Overall, everyone says the flavor is right on. I have several people volunteering to sample my biscotti daily. Getting just the right amount of croccantezza ("crispiness") with still a bit of chewiness is what I'm going for as well as the form.

Who knows? At 18 to 22 Euro a kilo, I may be able to start selling my special biscotti soon. A girl's got to make a living!

Cantuccini is most often enjoyed following dinner with Vin Santo, a sweet dessert wine. I prefer it with my coffee. However, I like it just fine all by itself.

Today's batch seems to be almost perfect. Time to go make the rounds ... after a few biscotti for energy.

-- Josslyn 'Giosalina'
Florence, Italy