Favourite Gelato Flavour

Oh, Allan. Ginger, chocolate so deep&dark it was just about black - name might have been Cioccolatta Ultimo, fresh peach, hazelnut...

Fresh fresh lemon and basil, in Florence. Sometimes I think I dream about the brightness and flavor.

Orange in Soller, Mallorca made using the local oranges. Hands down the nicest ice cream (it was ice cream not gelato) I've ever tasted.

It would be a toss up between the deep dark chocolate i had in Rome and the lemon in Florence.

I don't eat sweets, but Stan makes up for it. He loves pistacchio, no question about it. And his favorite ever experience was on Sicily, at Monreale, in the square outside the cathedral. The cone itself was lined with chocolate, rather like a ganache or the coating on a dipped ice cream cone. Then two scoops of pistacchio on top. That was his favorite food experience in Europe, ever.

Twenty years ago in the main piazza in Orvieto, I had a small cup of pink grapefruit gelato (not sorbet) with small bits of grapefruit in it and even one grapefruit seed --- I thought "This is fantastic --- I will order this at every gelato place I go to from now on!" Never found it again.

I love to carefully consider all the many choices of flavors, as if I am actually going to order something I've never tried, and then I order one or two of these three flavors: the espresso, the pistachio, and/or the toasted hazelnut. Then I snitch bites of whatever my husband ordered.

Nocciola (hazelnut) is my favorite flavor for gelato (in Italy), ice cream (in the US), or glacé (in France). Of course I'm also very fond of fruit flavors (peach, lemon, orange) and the best I ever had was a peach glacé in Roussillon France.

I've had a lot of very good, nut-based gelatos--hazelnut, walnut and pistachio--in Italy and occasionally elsewhere in Europe. However, the one I think of most often is a granita from Noto in Sicily. It was a scoop of almond granita with a small dab of espresso granita on top. That combination is apparently a specialty of that corner of Sicily. The almond granita was sweet; the espresso was intensely flavored and had little, if any, sugar in it.

Hazelnut gelato is my favorite. I have learned how to say hazelnut in many languages for this purpose. Although I had dark Madagascar chocolate gelato in Berlin many years ago that was divine.

I always go back to my first real Italian gelato--melone in Siena. Tasted better than the best fresh cantaloupe I have ever eaten! (Maybe it had something to do with it being the end of July and 90 degrees plus each day....) Went back to the same gelateria both days we were in Siena. I have not found that flavor elsewhere.

What ever is in the case. Why be picky??

Peach. Pistachio too.

Any nut flavor is my go to, but two that stand out:
Fig+goat cheese in Barga
Fior di latte (yes, just plain milk--it was that good) in San Terenzo

Fig, in quite a few places; and grapefruit too, though I don't remember where.
I carry a tiny notebook with me when I'm in Italy, and I remember writing down all the flavours I tried so I wouldn't repeat them!
Just had a look for a book...found the one from 2015 in Venice and Florence..
Limone
Yogurt Arancia
Pompelmo
Cioccolata
Passion Fruit
Peach
Frutti di Bosca
Café
Nocciola
Mojito
Arancia Sicilia

Not all authentic, but all delicious!

Visciola! The first time I tasted sour cherry gelato and sorbetto was at Giolitti, on my first trip to Rome.
The flavor is always on my “to taste” list whenever I’m in Italy or France (griotte in French). Also another vote for nocciola. Mmmm...this is a delicious thread!

My hand is in the air!! Profumi di Sicilia at Old Bridge Gelateria in Rome. There are two locations...a walk up near the Vatican and a shop in Trastevere. I make ice cream and gelato at home and my mission has been to duplicate, or at least come close to this! Pistachio, ricotta, almonds, chocolate, bits of lemon and orange peel. I was ordering my usual pistachio or limone and the owner said, “Try this”. Life changing moment.

I may be 'meh' about returning to a location, but I have no qualms repeating favourite Gelato flavors. For me, it's the nut or nut chocolate ones. Hazelnut, almond, not so much walnut. I recall a Bacci like the wrapped chocolate and other similar flavors. Dinner in Pisa was a 3 scooper on the way to the train.
Elsewhere, the maracuya (passionfruit) Gelato in the Larcomar Mall cliffside in Lima, Peru. I usually avoid line ups, but this was worth waiting for. Passionfruit elsewhere hasn't let me down either.
Slightly off topic, but I would be curious to hear from folks who ate gelato in Italy 40+ years ago. I heard about it before a cruise in 1976 so had some in Naples. It was not very good...just tasted like very sweet frozen water. No distinct flavor other than 'sweet'.

Ah, a wonderful topic! Like most of the above posters, I have more than one. When in the mood for chocolate, I like a good fondente al cioccolato, the most chocolaty-chocolate taste I can imagine. Had a zenzero e miele (ginger and honey) in Siena that brought tears of joy to my eyes. In October, fresh pear from a little place at the base of the hill topped by Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence. But, really, as another poster upthread stated--proper gelato is all good!

Ah, Frank...we must be kindred spirits when it comes to gelato. I have to admit, I have never met a gelato flavor I didn't like.

Oh my, all of the above! I do recall the last time we were in Rome we had been on a Walks in Italy Tour of the colosseum. After the tour we joined two couples and walked toward the Jewish Ghetto. On the way we stopped at a small restaurant and enjoyed the best Chocolate Gelato ever. I can still taste the richness. Heavenly.

I “may” have been at our local gelato shop twice in the last week! Gelato by the Lake at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho has fantastic authentic gelato made by Marco Napolitano. I’ll begin with my favorites from this shop: Mascarpone pear, Amarena cherry cream, and his wonderful pistachio!

In Washington State at Seabrook, I had a memorable black licorice. When I returned the next year, it wasn’t in the options, but they had it available in the back - whew!

In Italy, there’s so many flavors that are memorable! I can’t begin to narrow it down because so many are linked to the villages where I ate them. My favorites tend to be in the nut, coconut, fruit with cream types with a chocolate one, occasionally.

My 3 favorites are nocciola, nocciola and nocciola. I usually taste 3-4 flavors, but always end up getting nocciola, sometimes with a scoop of dark chocolate for variety.

Similarly in the US, I taste several but invariably get strawberry.

It's hard to go wrong with any, but I've zeroed in on Stracciatella gelato when in Italy. Vanilla with chocolate shards, yum.. In America, I love this Black Cherry gelato at Chef Vola's in Atlantic City, NJ. It may not be an authentic Italian flavor but boy is it good.....

I’m kind of like Chani, I taste several unique bites on a trip but I always think it’s my job to evaluate the depths of one flavor of gelato in Italy, coffee. Yummmm so far so good and I’m not finished evaluating yet.

Pistachio-Mint. If the vendor didn't have it, we would find another that did. :)

Hmmmm, seems no one has spoken for the dairy-free options, so I'll do that.

For Denis, every chocolate, the best being a Tanzanian one in Rome.

For me, hands down would be the concord grape at that same gelateria. Also frutti di bosca in Rome, peach whenever it was available, and in Vienna, blueberry that was as in your face as the apricot I got with it was gentle.

There is a local option owned by a man from Pisa that is my choice for after the allotted post vaccine time. Sigh, this time of the year I'll have to get a citrus one, won't that just be so hurtful?!

Another gelato lover here here who first was smitten in Florence in 1977. Imagine my surprise when we moved to Tucson and discovered Frost. So here's some info for anyone who might visit here sometime. BTW, at first I thought that the dark chocolate with the kick was a Tucson thing. Only later did I learn that it's an Italian thing, too.

How Frost got started: https://www.frostgelato.com/about/our-story/

About the master chef: https://www.frostgelato.com/about/meet-the-master/

The blurb doesn't talk about how difficult it was for the owners to jump through the hoops needed to bring him here. The powers that be had no clue that gelato was any different than ice cream and thought no one needed any particular expertise to make it.

Current flavors: https://www.frostgelato.com/menu-items/flavors/

My favorites anywhere is the chocolate so dark that it turns my tongue black. It tastes great and is fun for kids. I'm another fan of ginger and anise. Both are so hard to find and so worth it when you do.

Chani, I agree with you-nocciola is the best. Never knew how to spell it. Coffee ice cream at home.

Amarena
Back in 2015 I did a 13-day road bike tour from north of Milan ro north of Venice through the lakes, Sud Tirol, and Dolomites. Towards the end I got better at ordering my daily gelato in Italian. In the town of Asolo our group trouped up to the local gelato shop at the end of the day and I marched up to the counter to order first. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Italian" was to reply I got. She was Australian, visiting family and helping out in the shop. :-)

Fig, definitely fig....in Florence.

When we were in Padua, I had a scoop of apple and a scoop of cinnamon pear and it was amazing.
In Venice, at Gelateria Il Doge, the crema del Doge is my pick - it's crema, with chocolate and I think candied orange peel.
Otherwise, I seem to gravitate to amarena - black cherry.
But even in Vienna I had banana and dark chocolate and it was incredible!

Dark Chocolate, sometimes with a 2nd ball of mocha. Feeling fruity, I go with mango and either blueberry or coconut.
All the Eis Salons in Germany are Italian and serve Gelato.
Spagetti Eis is another favorite.

Ms. Jo, I had never heard of spaghetti gelato, but it is offered at the gelato shop here. Now that you mentioned it, I remembered that Marco had a shop previously in Germany and won some prestigious awards.

https://gelatobythelake.com/about-us/

Okay, imagination's flailing - please describe spaghetti gelato! (& if there's also rigatoni, fettuccini...)

Riso is a good flavor - why not pasta?

Spaghetti Eis, only available in Germany as far as I know.
Big pile of whipped cream, add vanilla gelato that has been put through a potato ricer so that it looks like spaghetti. Add strawberry sauce and grated white chocolate. Variations include Pesto (sauce made with kiwis) Carbonera (sauce made with chopped walnuts and Eier Liquor) Whole Wheat Noodles (chocolate Gelato) and often served with a chocolate sauce. You can also find "schnitzel with pommes", all made with gelato. Simply a fun way to eat more gelato.

Ms. Jo, yes! This is it! “Big pile of whipped cream, add vanilla gelato that has been put through a potato ricer so that it looks like spaghetti. Add strawberry sauce and grated white chocolate.” Marco had a shop at Bingen am Rhein, Germany for awhile, too.

Stewart&Vicki,

Here’s a video of the spaghetti gelato: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=275776740368084

Instead of dairy-free gelato, I opt for granita.

A couple of you mentioned black licorice. That's my go-to ice cream at home, but now it reminds me that I had licorice gelatoas well, in Venice. there is a place right by the train station that made it. Licorice is a go-to of mine, no matter if it's gelato ice cream or candy. Every Christmas, Santa leaves me a tin of licorice Allsorts in my stocking.

Cathy's reference to Old Bridge Gelateria (walk-up near Vatican) made me smile. Went there around Midnight, on a warm (July) Friday Evening, after sitting on the Sistine Chapel's side benches for over an hour. The perfect close to a perfect day, walking along the buzz of locals' energy with my chocolate and pistachio.

But the best gelato I've ever had was at Suso in Venice. Different flavors on different days, they were all fantastic.

All pistachio, all the time. Actually, that with a scoop of another nutty flavor, in a cup.

Ms. Jo & Jean, thanks! And another kind of schnitzel to look for - ah, the world is wondrous.

What a wonderful thread! Isn’t it interesting how salads come and go, but we remember gelato flavors and shops so well. And Jean, you’re giving us a very good reason to take a little road trip to CDA!

Melone. Oh, so good! I am a cantaloupe lover, so that was the first flavor I tried and is still my favorite. I do make myself try other flavors once in a while, but it is hard to pass up a scoop of melone. On my first trip the Rome, the first thing we did after dropping luggage off at out hotel on Borgo Pio was to walk around the corner to Old Bridge and get gelato.

Ms Jo and her spaghetti ice remind me that Stan once had a Margherita gelato in Florence. It came with three scoops: tomato, basil, and mozzerella flavored gelati. He was not converted.

That’s wild, Jane! They forgot the dough flavor, which maybe would’ve made the 4-scoop gelato a winner!

I guess it wouldn’t have helped to put the gelato in a 800-degree pizza oven for a couple of minutes?

My favorite? Definitely limone/citron. Classic and refreshing.

Rick Steves’ Website used to provide bios of his staff, which included their favorite gelato flavors. I wonder whether determining one is a prerequisite for employment?

Hard to pick a favorite. Depends on my mood.

1) Limone (my favorite if I could pick just one)
2) Pinnochio (cherry and dark chocolate chips, kind of like Cherry Garcia, but better; probably a kid flavor, but I like it)
3) Sour cherry
4) Zabaione

Also, I had a very good amaretto and orange rind flavor in Matera once.

I sure would like to try the fig and melon flavors mentioned in other posts.

I mostly remember the name -- Due Torre in Bologna from a shop facing the city's Two Towers. Chocolate and chocolate. But I don't remember ever turning down gelato.

Gosh what a fun thread! Gelato is my one weakness and I can't wait to get back to Italy to taste my favorites again (like several others, I have more than one). Nancy8: I will forever keep my eyes peeled for pink grapefuit & I snitch tastes from my DH's cone too 😂 Cathy: your story is pure gold; I clearly need try Profumi di Sicilia at Old Bridge. I had a similar, very memorable experience twenty years ago ...

It was prime passeggiata hour in Rome, on the first day of our first trip to Italy, and my DH and I began noticing an inordinate number of people, including many Italians, walking towards us while eating gelato. Eager to try some, we "swam upstream' against the tide of people headed towards the Pantheon until suddenly we turned a corner we came upon Giolitti. I ordered pistachio and dark chocolate; I liked the latter, but LOVED the former. To this day, pistachio is my go-to flavor, but only if it doesn't have pieces of pistachio in it; I prefer it perfectly smooth. Over the course of that first trip, I also fell in love with nocciola (hazelnut) and gianduia (hazelnut & chocolate). But the flavor that caught me completely off guard and set my heart aflutter is one I never would've tried on my own. After ordering my favorites day after day, the guy behind the counter handed me a little spoon of pale, muted yellow ... BANANA. It was a revelation. He smiled at me with one raised eyebrow, as if to say “am I right or am I right?” and without missing a beat, scooped some more for my cone, paired with gianduja and topped with whipped cream. It was pure heaven.

Since then, I've also tried castagna (chestnut) once and liked it very much. And in Sicily we had a wonderful Fior di Latte (flower of milk), paired with a smooth pistaccchio, that was out of this world.

Now I can't wait to go back and try the amarena / black cherry that NicoleP mentioned. That's my favorite flavor here in the states and I can't believe I've never tried it in Italy!

Thanks Allan for such a great thread!

Carolyn, I've heard that there are experts skilled in the pairing flavors of gelato like a sommelier, and if you find one, you stick with them.

Stan, that's so true! He knew what I liked, then made me a combination I'll never forget.

In France I had a honey-rosemary flavor that changed my life forever.

My husband is an absolute gelato fiend. I plan on stopping for gelato twice a day, every day of our trips. He gets cranky otherwise!

My most memorable gelato was the last night of our first trip to Italy in 2001. We were finishing up a two week trip in Rome. It was New Year’s Eve. We stopped at a place called Blu Ice and I had what I think was called Baci. It tasted like the candy called Divinity, which my mom used to make. It was just heavenly. Rome, New Years Eve and gelato. Can’t go wrong.

But the BEST “gelato” (although they called it something else) we’ve ever had (and we’ve had ALOT) was in Ljubljana, Slovenia. A little street cart right next to the river, across the triple bridge from Preseren Square. Best, smoothest, most flavorful ever. I usually order lemon, because it’s so refreshing. My husband loves cantaloupe/melon.