My beautiful friend Katie and I went to taste some of the real stuff while we can. Together we ended up tasting 8 out of 16 flavors. We just didn't have stomach room or money to taste them all (tragic I know!), and since she has a nut allergy we didn't want her to die in this experience.
While the festival was free, you did have to pay to taste the gelato - which is the sole purpose of going. For 10 dollars you get a ticket. With each ticket you are allotted 3 small cone tastes and 2 small scoop tastes. It doesn't seem like much, but we filled up pretty quickly. Those flavors were intense! Here are the flavors we did taste:
This one was Goat Cheese Cashew Caramel, from the Black Dog Gelato in Chicago, Illinois. It was interesting to taste that goat cheese right off, but wow. It was tasty! The distinguishing flavors in this were milk, cream, sugars, egg yolk, kosher salt, goat cheese, cashews.
Katie took a stab at La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty), from Carpe Diem Gelato-Espresso Bar in Lafayette, Louisiana. The distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, fresh avocados, fresh basil, Mediterranean Sea Salt. She loved the hint of avocado and was tempted to get it a second time.
This flavor was Raspberry Beet, from the Bent Spoon in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The distinguishing flavors in this were milk, cream, sugars, fresh raspberries, heirloom beets. It sounds like an odd combination and it is. But it totally works. Very good, though so far I like the goat cheese better.
The next flavor to taste was Turtle, from The Turtle Gelateria in Brownwood, Texas. The distinguishing flavors were milk, chocolate, organic caramel, salted and toasted Pecans and chocolate. If you like the turtle treats that come in a box you'll love it in the gelato form. Fantastic! And it moved into my first place standing so far. That's saying something because I DON'T like chocolate ice cream.
The next tasting was Chocolate Orange Liqueur, from the Tazzina di Gelato in Tucson, Arizona. The distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, cacao rouge, 65% cacao Sur del Lago, orange juice, orange liqueur. The orange flavor was very strong, and while it was over all tasty, it was just a little too much for the both of us.
This one was Chocolate Stout Beer with Caramel Crunch, from Glato di Babbo in Lititz, Pennsylvania. The distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, Irish Stout Beer, Dulce De Leche, Dark Chocolate, Pretzels. Wow. This was amazing. So good in fact that Katie got 2 tasting of this one.
This was Salted Pecan with Montmorency Tart Cherries and Tahitian Vanilla, from Bella Gelateria in Vancouver BC Canada. The distinguishing flavors were milk, pecan puree, Tahitian vanilla bean, Montmorency tart cherry sauce, Maldan sea salt, organic sugar cane. This one moved into my first place standing the minute it hit my tongue. Need I say more?
So ended our trip to the competition. It was amazing, it was really hot, and we were really full of gelato. Worth every bite too. The remaining flavors we did not taste were the following:
Fior di Bronte pure Sicilian Pistachio, from Cafe Dolce Gelato in Houston Texas. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, pistachios.
Maple Brown Butter Pecan, from Carmen's Gelato in Anchorage, Alaska. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, pecans, maple extract, brown butter, Alaskan sea salt.
Bananas Foster, from Devine Gelateria & Cafe in Sacramento, California. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, rum liquor, banana liquor, pecans, bananas, butter, brown sugar.
Sweet G's Candied Bacon Gelato, from Sweet Ginger's Gelato in Fort Myers, Florida. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, candied bacon, cinnamon, nutmeg.
Carmastachio, from Nucci's Gelato in Franklin, Tennessee. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, mascarpone, caramel, salted pistachios.
Texas Kulfi, from Sweet Cup Artisan Gelato & Espresso in Houston, Texas. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, toasted pecans, Bourbon-Whiskey, praline, cardamom spice.
Nuts, from Caffe Tea in Austin, Texas. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, chocolate hazelnut, peanut butter.
Profumi di Sicilia, from Versace Gelateria Italiana & Gourmet in Miami, Florida. Distinguishing flavors were milk, cream, sugars, nougat, ricotta, pistachio, caramel, chocolate chips, fresh oranges.
Update. The three finalists representing North America are:
Salted Pecan with Montmorency Tart Cherries and Tahitian Vanilla
Profumi di Sicilia
Nuts
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