Gelato Season has Begun!

As Rachel announced last week, Spring has come to Alessandria and that means I have now consumed un cono per day since March 1st. I can't tell you how happy I am these days! I am partial to nocciola (hazelnut) and stracciatella (chocolate chip) which means I rarely waver from those two. However when Gabriella was here she mentioned a flavor I should try- riso (rice) which tastes like rice pudding- that she loved so much that she now rates the quality of a gelateria by whether they carry that flavor. A woman after my own heart "rating" gelaterie- fantastico! I like riso but it hasn't knocked my two favorites off the top of my list.

Now this is when I tell you that I died and went to heaven. When you ask? Well it started in February when both Rachel and I noticed the most amazing aroma wafting in our courtyard and it seemed to be coming from somewhere in our apartment building or at least nearby. We smelled it every day for at least a week before we ran into our neighbor Massimo in the courtyard. When we commented on the delicious aroma, he motioned for us to come with him. And there in one corner of our courtyard (which all along we had assumed was a storage unit) was a room where hazelnuts were being roasted and the syrup extracted from them to make MY nociola gelato! He introduced us to Guglelmo Cercena

whose family has been in the gelato business for over 100 years, starting out peddling ice cream on the street

before opening up their first store in Alessandria and now with gelaterie in most of the major northern Italian cities. Guglelmo was happy to show us what he was doing in this dark tiny little room. The equipment is all over a century old

He indicated that we should bring over a container to take home some hazelnuts. Timidly we brought back a small butter container which he filled. The taste of those warm and freshly roasted hazelnuts was out of this world. A few days later our favorite hazelnut roaster laughed when we returned with a much larger container.

Of course my first question back in early February was when will the gelateria reopen for the Spring and summer months? He said March 1st which meant he would be roasting hazelnuts for much of February to extract what you see below for my nocciola

Who would have thought that the first place I ever had gelato in my new home of Alessandria was made in my very own backyard? And that first gelato was solamente nocciola- both scoops!

And from opening day, March 1st, (as I mentioned at the beginning) being true to what feels like my destiny , I have had a gelato every day... because who am I to mess with such fate?

Just who IS that tall woman blocking your view of me? The gelataia (the ice cream seller) in the white cap waited on me on my very first day- it was (unrequited) love at first sight. She has taught me how to pronounce my favorites, too. Is anyone in the entire world luckier than me??