Tastebud Traveling - Il Gelato Campionato (Edizione #1)

Can you really come to understand a culture through what it eats? Mayhap. Certainly. You understand in many ways the mentalities of scarcity and what these people turn to when there is little to eat - after all, so many of our favorite foreign dishes are just thrown together "everything soup" to make the most of every last scrap. And while I wouldn't call myself a particularly adventurous eater, I do try to make the most of my traveling adventures and sample the cuisine (unless it's slimy. or weird. or gross in some undefinable way.)

And while traveling Italy, it's a job not enjoying the cuisine :)

For our holidays this marvelous Indian summer, we decided to explore a bit of southern Sicily, and couldn't very well do so without some proper gelato sampling. It was an exercise in proper etiquette and science, we were professional, methodical with our findings. We'd even grown long beards to stroke thoughtfully by the end of the Campionato.

Before we continue, it would be fair to point out @godfish was actually responsible for visually documenting the journey and coming up with fancy words to actually describe the gelato. I was just along for the delicious, mouth-watering ride.

I. L'Isola del Gelato

Nestled on the shoreline of Giardini Naxos, just waiting for our enjoyment, L'Isola del Gelato was by far my favorite gelato place in terms of vibes. Situated on the waterfront, it saw a good share of travelers, but also many locals. I see vividly even now this skinny, elderly guy waltzing in shirtless, still wet from a swim, saying ciao to all his gathered friends there.

Accompanied by the sound of another elderly pair at the next table, playing dice while their grandkids ran around the shop, we began our Campionato with

Pistachio

Did Sicily's nutty reputation proud with its thick pistachio paste and non-threatening, not-too-sweat cream. The sort of ice cream that's here just to fawn over pistachios for a couple minutes and ain't ashamed to admit it. Described as dense with caramelized pistachios and a smooth cream base by connoisseurs (and, more simply, as 'proper nutz' by yours truly), this was the definite winner of the day.

Amarena

Also an intense, rich taste, this version of Amarena managed to blend the cherry pieces well with the cream itself, but came out too sickly sweet in the end, probably in an effort to balance out the sourness of the fruit (where's the fun in that?).

II. Gelateria Fresta (Gelateria Artigianale Taormina)

While Taormina itself is fantastic, I must say the gelato places, especially along the main street, were something of a disappointment. Intensely colorful and bearing exotic names, they seemed to cater more to an Americanized idea of what gelato should be rather than the actual product. Still, we managed to find this nice little gelato shop to cool off with

Etna

"A hike from an almond orchard through a pistachio plantation to the creamy-sweet peak of Mount Etna. My pick for the originality and local relevance." - I'm just quoting my fellow juror here. (See? I told you he had words.) Etna was an intensely almondy - some might say overpoweringly so - carrousel that took your taste buds for the ride, and might've been my pick also, were it not for...

Cioccolate Fondente

Need I really say more?! This fantastic cup of darkness opened on sweet notes before transitioning to chewy - we both detected cocoa powder and perhaps even cocoa nibs - and ending bitter and heavy. The kind of gelato you can't or at least shouldn't eat too much of at once, this felt like a delicious, if naughty little afternoon treat, making up in taste what it lacked in geographical points of reference.

III. Gole Alcantara

The following day, before visiting the Gole Alcantara Botanical Park, we thought we'd take a moment to gather our wits after a long and odd, winding, bus-changing bus ride. And though the only offer was the gelato entrance shop, we figured hey, it's Sicily, so they must still know their stuff.

Zuppa Inglese

You know when you're sitting by the fire, having your third eggnog, and think "this would go great frozen and blended"? Me neither, but aparently somebody did. As @godfish well pointed out, this quite queer drink would go better perhaps with coffee or even spirits than served on its own. As it was, it tasted to me like cheap bastards' eggnog with too much vanilla and too little brandy.

Arachide i Caramel

Then again, they made up for the Zuppa with this one. Starting on a strong hazelnutty tone, it really let you relish in the caramel salty-sweetness in the middle before gliding into a more bitter, more peanutty aftertaste. Described by some as "amazing ice cream", it was a truly perfect blend of just the right amounts of peanut, hazelnut and caramel. Just the stuff before setting out on a mild park hike.

IV. Casablanca

Returning to Giardini Naxos, we'd been teased mercilessly by this sweet shop situated right next door to a much-stranded, much-maligned bus stop of many timetables and even more confused tourists. So we decided we had to return to it before the end. I'm guessing this could easily be a locals' hangout, being quite on the edge of GN, but as it happened, in the middle of the day, we were the only two customers.

Torrone

A very mild offering for a summer's day, mostly a blend of cream and nuttiness. A shade of the well-known butter pecan ice cream, il Torrone had a pleasant, not too sweet taste, really good combination of not one but two different types of nuts (how risque! how 21st century!) but didn't overwork you. Keeping it light and enjoyable, but sadly no match to...

Bacio

Anyone who is familiar with the Baci chocolates brand will understand what a very good and noble idea it is to translate it into gelato form. Intensely hazelnutty, it hits you with a teasing dose of sweetness to throw you off its scent, but the overpowering taste in this one was the bitter nuttiness - perfetto come un bacio buon'!
Hands down the day's winner for both judges.

V. Levante Gelateria Catania

Alas, the final day found us in this fancy little gelato place, bordering the main street and boasting a decent toilet. Quite a charming, elegant place, though it seemed to draw more tourists than locals. Still, a nice place to wrap up this first edition of Il Gelato Campionato with...

They even gave us wafers! Fancy!

Canella

Cinnamon ice cream? Quoi? A smooth delivery, walking a proper balance between sweet-ish cream and the strong, uncompromising punch of cinnamon. Felt like a wake-up and a kiss both at once, the best kind, albeit a somewhat unusual gelato, all in all. The clear winner for the last day of the Campionato, though not to put down

Mascarpone i Pistachio

Which, in all fariness, came hot on the heels of other delicious pistachio offerings, and as such, no longer delivered the initial wow effect that all things pistachio (see, much of Sicilian goodies) typically deliver. Nice, but a tad boring, and overall extravagantly sweet for what it had to offer.

The fantastic beautifying effects of a week of sun and gelato!

Which brought us right up to the end of Edizione #1 of Il Gelato Campionato, which ended up as...

...a tie! In the end, we couldn't decide between the Arachide i Caramel (@godfish) we'd experienced at the Alcantara Gorge, and il Bacio (me), reminiscent still of Casablanca's roadside loneliness.

Which only means we'll have to return and redo tge Campionato until a clear, indisputable winner has been chosen. Thank you, as ever, for following along and congratulations to all participants. Ciao :)