Pistacchio di Bronte

Our Pistacchio gelato has always been one of those flavors that I was never fully satisfied with. I went through a million tweaks, fine tunes and experiments, trying different proportions of pistacchios, different roast times, etc. I could never quite arrive at the right flavor or texture. Well, this endless search has finally ended. It is one of those things that happens to you as you go deeper and deeper into something, as we continue to do into the art of gelato making, kinda like the further in you go, the bigger it gets.

Pistacchio di Bronte, known to be the best pistacchio in the world. They are the Smeraldo variety of pistacchio, which are harvested on the rugged slopes of Mt Etna in Bronte, Sicily every two years, as the pistacchio produces fruit one year and rests the next. The flavor is earthy, nutty and intense, and mixing it with our cream, milk and sugar leaves a beautiful creamy texture that goes beyond my possibility of description.

Pistacchio di Bronte, ineffable, luxurious, mature, smoky and smooth. Not to be missed, and might I add, goes beautiful with our Chocolate Amargo gelato.

Here comes the sun

Today was the opening day of the Dupont Farmer's Market, and Violeta and I went to chat with the farmers, cheesemakers, orchid growers and chefs. We love the farmers market for so many reasons. There are so many amazing products to choose from, so many passionate and cool people to talk to. We hung out with the folks from Toigo Orchards, shooting the breeze about every random topic you can imagine (as always - the folks at Toigo are a little crazy and I think that is why we get along so well), we spoke with a cheesemaker from Blue Ridge Dairy Co. about using their Mascarpone and Ricotta cheese for our gelato, we discussed when the strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are coming with the folks at Sunnyside Farm & Orchard, we chatted with our orchard man from Arbec Orchids and got to see the beautiful little twin girls of RJ Cooper from Vidalia. The vibes are so fresh at the farmers market, so ripe with anticipation for the upcoming season, when the fields and markets are bursting with spring and summer fruit. This all translates directly to our shop and our gelato. It means so much to us to know who our farmers are, that we know they live on their farm and how they personally take care of their fruits. This is not just a job to them, it is a way of life and how beautiful is it to cultivate the land bringing forth such beautiful food. We feel priveleged to know these people and to be able to use their products when creating our gelati. It adds this unseen dimension that you really can't put your finger on, but one that we can feel when we are pitting the peaches, cutting the strawberries or infusing the herbs.
So, here comes the sun...doodoodoodoo...here comes the sun...& i say, it's alright...it's alright