There is no such thing as a matching ice cream, but it should be

All very well, then, but gourmetization, besides opening up new possibilities, also creates some potential short circuits. While in the days of exclusively traditional gelato, the only potentially execrable pairing was coffee and lemon, times have changed, and getting the composition of a cup right can require an effort worthy of a sommelier or bartender. How are gelato makers preparing?

Bitter, acidic and tannic ice creams

This question may seem like a nerdy exaggeration, but it's actually natural for any foodie to ask. It's no longer a matter of experimenting with a scoop of Parmigiano or Gorgonzola gelato, which go well with anything dairy-based or with a nice dark chocolate. In recent times, gelato has greatly expanded its sensory profile, including elements that make pairing very complex.

Acidity levels are increasingly pronounced, and we're not just talking about fruit and citrus fruits, but also vinegars and other sour elements, and even the elegance of bitterness is no longer a taboo: it comes from the albedo, of course, as well as from infusions of bitter spices or the use of alcohol, another increasingly common element that the hand of gelato makers who love the genre is instantly recognizable. Recently, green tea has also been making its way into carapina ice creams: a trend on TikTok and Starbucks, but certainly not for the artisan world, which selects precious matcha and carefully manages its extractions. So, tannins are also included in the composition's balance, and come and tell me, you'd never have thought of that.

Furthermore, in the true spirit of fine dining, many flavors include several of these elements already in balance, like fully-formed dishes that don't require the complementary wine but can exist on their own or open up the possibility of innovative and tailored pairings. The worlds that open up are infinite, their exploration not even considered.

Ice cream makers' help in matching flavors

Let's not get each other wrong: Italian gelato is and remains (for now, the only one with a Michelin star is in Taiwan) a joyful and universal experience, and no one expects a gelato shop patron looking for a refreshing treat to reason with. But it's equally true that if you're going to launch such daring flavors, you need to provide the tools to manage them, and as we tour Italy's gelato shops to compile our annual ranking, we're seeing the first tentative attempts in precisely this direction.

Generally, when it comes to cups assembled with "strange" flavors, those at the counter tend to make sure the person ordering knows what they're getting—an understandable precaution for those who deal with a general public on a daily basis. In some cases, there are those who recommend the order in which to taste the flavors: hearing things like "if you add cherry honey, eat it before the licorice with mountain pine" is like balm to the ears.

It's curious that in the city of Parma, for example, there are two avant-garde gelato shops, both aware of the issue but with very distinct approaches. There's Alex Erioldi of Al Polo, who lives up to his culinary training with "the chef recommends," a blackboard dedicated to pairings: mango and black lemon with Ecuadorian cocoa mass, or lime, St. Germain, and verbena paired with fir bud gelato. On the other hand, there's Stefano Guizzetti of Ciacco, who, despite his never-ending list of "difficult" options, like the entire range of flavors dedicated to botanical families, chooses not to intervene: everyone should feel free to choose even the strangest and most distant flavors, and take what they prefer.