a celebration of Humans, Food, & Culture
GIUSEPPE THE GELATO MAKER
We stumbled upon Buongusto Gelateria during a stroll through the town of Pienza, Italy. After many failed attempts to find authentic artisan gelato in Italy, Anthony was feeling discouraged and was not interested in entering the charming, off-the-beat shop. Leila took a peak inside and saw a rare, good sign: only 6 flavors for sale. She brought Anthony back to the shop for a tasting. Anthony began his religious battery of questions at the poor gelato maker, such as who makes the ice cream? Do you use a base? Eggs? Where do you get your pistachios from? Instead of turning red and shrinking away, the gelato maker became enthusiastic and excited to have the opportunity to answer..."The sugar is organic, it took us awhile to find, we have it imported from India...oh and the pistachios, it's not paste...we use the actual nuts." Before we knew it, we were thirty minutes deep into dorktopia of gelato kingdom munching on Bronte Pistachios.
We returned a week later to learn Giuseppe's Zabaione Gelato Recipe, Made with Love...Frozen Love.
Why did you choose to make Zabaione Gelato for The Recipe Hunters?
My grandma and mom used to make the zabaione cream back when I was growing up in Puglia.. Most people enjoy Zabaione as a dessert but I remember having it as a breakfast before school especially if I had a test that day because my mom and grandma told me that it would give me enough hardy energy throughout the day.
How did Gelato become a part of your life?
I grew up near Barleto in Puglia, Italy. Growing up in my home, we always ate traditional food. I left Puglia to study in Ferrara and received a masters in communications. Upon graduating, I moved to Toronto where I worked making pizza from dough to table, the Italian way. The same pizzeria wanted a gelato maker so I started doing that as well. However, the Toronto pizzeria bought the industry standard ingredients and products that to me were never used in the gelato that I used to eat as a boy. I quickly realized that the food industry had altered people’s tastebuds and that people were used to this type of gelato...It was heart breaking. This invigorated a passion in me and I realized i needed to start to follow my passion by making gelato the real way and bringing the real flavors back. Even nowadays, the word “artigianale” or artisanal that is used throughout Italy is misrepresentative. How can something be artigianale when you simply pour mixes of flavors in an ice cream maker and wait for it to freeze? Throughout the world people are trying to market themselves as homemade, fatto in casa, hecho en casa, and artisan because there are no standard for that label. It is a misrepresentation because many of these same places throughout the world are using high frustose corn syrup, sucrose, milk mixes, stabilizers, food coloring, etc. I knew I needed some theory before I started making gelato the real way so I studied at Università dei Sapori to learn how to make gelato while balancing the emulsification of fats into sugar and water to form a perfect combination of frozen awesomeness. We both agree that gelato, just like any other true food, needs to be served fresh. Without an unnatural stabilizer, gelato will only stay fresh for 3 days. After 3 days the perfectly balanced dessert will start to come out of form and the melt in your mouth flavor will be lost just like the art of gelato making. We want to discover the flavors of the past and bring them back. That is the big goal.
THE RECIPE HUNTERS
TRADITIONAL RECIPES
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Why did you decide to work at Buongusto?
Buongusto sells sorbet, gelato, smoothies, and other locally sourced jams that are all sourced from high quality producers. We do extensive research as to the places we buy our products from. We visit the people where we buy from and constantly inspect our products to ensure we are using top quality ingredients. Our motto is "the best gelato we make is always the next one” since we are constantly improving. Aside from the gelato making of Giuseppe, the owner Nicola Scarbi has perfected some interesting mixes of flavorful jams and spreads that they sell in Buongusto. Nicola is the perfect owner because he understands the importance of my role at the gelateria and he allows me to create an environment where I can bring back the traditional gelato making to Pienza and Siena!
How did you meet Nicola?
Nicola had sent an email to the cooking school looking for a gelato maker for Buongusto. I immediately talked to Nicola about my passion for traditional gelato making. After I discussed my plans to only use natural ingredients, it was a match for the ages and we have formed a nice partnership ever since. I come into work every day doing what I love and sharing gelato with happy customers.
Why is Giuseppe a great fit for The Recipe Hunters?
Anthony and Giuseppe spent 3 hours talking about true gelato and their passion for it. True gelato: milk, sugar, cream, sometimes eggs, and natural ingredients for flavoring meaning real fruit and nuts. Giuseppe is keeping the gelato tradition alive each and every day by serving fresh gelato. When Giuseppe talks about gelato, his brain is transferred into a zen-like world. As he talks about the idiosyncrasies of gelato making, you feel inspired about the changes he is making but also cheated that you have eaten the non-traditional stuff. Giuseppe makes each batch from scratch and wakes up extra early if he is low on inventory. He loves being at the store, making people happy with his incredible flavors, and teaching his customers what true gelato should taste like. When we were with Giuseppe we encouraged the customers to try gelato for breakfast rather than the fruit smoothies offered at the shop and they were blown away by how flavorful his gelato was. “No progel, no sucrose, no fructose, and no hfcs we only use the same products that my nonna [grandma] used to have in her cupboard.”
Written by The Recipe Hunters: