An Edible Voyage

September 2021 Having had the most extraordinary gelato in Florence, I didn’t think there was any point trying to compete in Bologna, but I’ve always found something alluring about ice cream shops and cafes, places that traditionally in the UK close late afternoon, that are open late in to the night.   Maybe it’s feeling a little bit naughty having ice cream at night-time, or maybe it’s that feeling of being able to sit outdoors with a warm breeze, a late night culture meaning there’s a buzzy atmosphere despite it being dark.   So, to avoid competing, I went for something totally different – vegan ice cream in Bolognina, Bologna’s edgy, multicultural northern suburb. Often, whether home or away, I’ll pick the weirdest sounding thing on a menu just to try it.   Sometimes I regret it and think to myself “why don’t I just stick with the nice things sometimes!”, but when I saw wasabi ice cream, there was absolutely no way I wasn’t going to try it.   I like wasabi (exce...

September 2021 If there’s one requirement that has to be fulfilled during any trip to Italy, it’s visiting at least one gelateria, and I firmly believe I found the best one in all of Italy.   And not just because I’d hiked 166km across the Apennine mountains to get there! As soon as we stepped off the Via Degli Dei in to the outer reaches of Florence, we had one mission, and one mission only.   Gelato.   Google Maps reliably informed us that there was a gelateria just a couple of minutes walk away.   Unassumingly tucked on a residential street, away from the throngs of tourists and seemingly frequented mainly by locals, it was love at first sight! With all of the Italian classics – Stracciatella, Hazelnut, as well as juicy fruit sorbets and rich chocolatey offerings of various darkness, it was a tough choice.   Rarely do I have two scoops but this felt like a two scoop occasion, plus it meant I could go for the winning combination of pistachio and dark choco...

April 2021 During my weekend in Aberdeen, I made an exciting discovery.  A few miles outside of the city, close to Kinellar, is Forest Farm Dairy - an organic dairy surrounded by lush green pastures where their cows roam free.   Not only can you get their delicious non-homogenised milk straight from the source via Scotland's first milk vending machine, you can also get many other delicious products made on the farm.  In the cheese line up, there's Scottish curd cheese and some of Connage Highland Dairy's cheeses, as well as Forest Farm's own haloumi - I'm a big haloumi fan anyway so didn't need much convincing, but this was a whole other level - absolutely gorgeous cooked over a BBQ until the outside caramelises and the inside goes all gooey... Anyway, I digress.   Artisan gelato is the highlight of any trip to Forest Farm.  Made in small batches on the premises, it has zero food miles and flavours change regularly.  The honeycomb is an absolute m...

 August 2019 It would take quite some time to sample every gelateria in Porto, but if you only have time for one, make it Gelataria Portuense.  The Classics menu, featuring all-time favourites such as vanilla, chocolate and straciatella, site alongside the Collection menu – think Tawny Port with pear and caramelised nuts, Earl Grey tea, goats cheese with cinnamon and tomato compote… there really is a flavour to suit every mood and season.  With super silky textures, powerful but not overpowering flavours, and an upmarket yet whimsical vibe, this is one gelataria not to miss.    Find it on Rua do Bonjardim.

November 2019 Gelato, classic or innovative, take your pick of ice cream shop in San Francisco.   I love experimental interpretations of conventional foods so I couldn’t walk passed Salt and Straw in Hayes Valley without having to go in to investigate.   Flavours change monthly so being a week before Thanksgiving, that was the theme of most of their flavours.   Think turkey, sweet potato casserole, stuffing and pumpkin pie in ice cream form.   Initially I wasn’t convinced, however taking a look at the ingredients revealed how cleverly this had been done.   I sampled the Thanksgiving turkey – caramelised turkey skin folded in to salted caramel ice cream.   An explosion of flavours – sweet, salty and a definite meatiness that meant it had a very rich mouth feel.   Delicious as a sample but not sure I could have managed a whole scoop.   Much fresher was the goats cheese and winter spice ice cream, streaked with baked pumpkin pie.   The ta...

March 2020 For a great scoop of ice cream, check out Hackney Gelato.  Run by two chefs who met whilst working at a Michelin starred restaurant, this is grown-ups ice cream.  Vegan offerings are made with coconut cream and have a mousse like texture which I really enjoyed. although the Coconut and Lime flavour could have done with a little more zestiness.  The Chocolate Marmalade was smooth, rich and luxurious, perfect for any chocolate orange lover.  It was a divine mouthful, although I'm not sure I could manage a whole scoop.  Following my taste test, the one I went for was Pistachio, Almond and Lemon.  The lemon made it refreshing, and the almond added another dimension to the nuttiness.  A delicious scoop which held its flavour right to the end of the scoop.  Even the waffle cone was flavoursome and perfectly crispy, and there was the added benefit of a flake on top (I thought those were limited to childhood 99s when they were actually 99p)...

January 2020 When Italians migrated to Argentina, they brought with them their love for gelato.    Ice cream is everywhere in Buenos Aires.    You won’t walk more than a couple of streets before you find a heladeria boasting a whole menu of chocolate flavours, another of fruit flavours, and of course, a whole menu of dulce de leche flavours, making it near impossible to choose.    Maybe it’s the choice of flavours, maybe it’s the heat, the local thing to do seems to be to buy quarter kilo tubs, but with so many heladerias, it’s difficult to know where to begin.    After consulting bar staff and taxi drivers, I settled on Volta and stuck to the basics.    The Chocolate Negro was a little disappointing – I was hoping for a serious cacao hit, the Dulce de Leche on the other hand was dreamy.    A strong caramel flavour, not too creamy, slightly salty, I could have savoured it for hours, but it was melting at a rate of knots!...