Upon arriving in Florence eager to soak up everything Italian, my days were governed by the driving quest for what Americans think of as Italian cuisine: pizza, pasta, paninos and gelato. It did not take me long to figure out that even in Italy, just like everywhere else in the world, quality food was not as easy to find as one would think. Most of the pizza slices sunbathing in the shop windows tasted more like cardboard than the cheesy, doughy heaven I had imagined and the paninos were inescapably bland, though the store keepers insisted that they were just semplice (simple). Temporarily giving up on my savory cravings, I turned to the sweet. Luckily, I learned quickly to avoid the gelaterias where the gelato was piled foot-high, sculpted into perfect towers, and adorned with fruit and chocolate drizzles. Although visually alluring, the gelato that looked perfectly untouched was a sign that the locals knew not to eat it because it was it was actually a low quality tourist trap. Instead, I was instructed by those more experienced than I to challenge my sweet-craving tastebuds and stray off the well traveled roads to find places where the Italians got their fix.
I discovered Il Gelato Di Filo on Via San Miniato tucked into the side of a building right before passing under the old city wall on the trek up to the view from Piazza Michelangelo. In fact, I debated publishing this because one of my favorite things about Il Gelato di Filo is its lack of notoriety and its local friendliness. The little shop only fits about five customers comfortably but the squeeze is well worth the decadent, smooth, perfectly creamy flavors being offered to you by their small, friendly staff. In my eight months of being in Florence, I have encountered only three staff members; one who speaks perfect English but will encouragingly speak Italian to you if you try, and the other two who speak broken English but seem to enjoy bantering in mixed dialects to figure out what I would like to have. I have come here more times than I could count to the point where the woman behind the counter knows exactly what I am having. As a chocolate enthusiast, I have not discovered a Cioccolata Fondente (dark chocolate) this satisfying anywhere else in the entire city. Not even the places the tour books rave about (I'm talking about you, Grom). Each time I am handed over my rich brown, almost black in decadence, piccolo copeta it is as if it is my first taste all over again and I walk out into the sunshine in a happy daze of delighted taste buds. Now that the summer has turned sweltering, even my chocoholic self cant always handle the richness of the Cioccolata Fondente so I've been opting for the light, creamy, and incredibly tangy Limone flavor (as pictured).
Il Gelato Di Filo opened two years ago in 2009 when Filipino Lorenzo (hence the name of the gelateria) backed Edmir Prenga to open the gelateria, design the flavors, and make them. Edmir, who quickly introduced himself as Eddy, attended Carpigiani University where he found his passion for the process of making ice cream. Every morning he makes at least twelve flavors from scratch. After showing my interest in the process of making gelato, he invited my friend and I to come in one morning before they opened to watch him make it. In broken yet enthusiastic English, we communicated back and forth about how the gelato is made, how the shop was opened, and the history of gelato. Listening to the history of gelato was like listening to an Italian folklore. The origins of ice cream are debated. Some say it originated in China, some in Arabia, but this far back in time ice cream was more of a sorbet being made up of ice, fruit, and honey. Arabians inhabited Sicily and brought sorbet making it Italy. It was in Florence though that the first creamy based gelato was created by an architect named Buontalenti who had an underground passion for cooking. Buontalenti combined eggs, milk, and honey to create the first La Crema (cream). Over time, ingredient experimentation, and industrial inventions, gelato as we know it was made individual to each country who adapted gelato making.
Eddy began his morning with Fior di Latte, whose ingredients make up the base of all their gelato. In the batch he mixed mostly whole milk, a bit of cream, a bit of powdered milk for thickening, and five different kinds of sugar that each play a different part in the process. Because of the milk to cream ratio, gelato has much less fat that the ice cream in the United States. Even though he noted this, Eddy insisted that fat is healthy and a key part of a nutritious diet in moderation. He was quite convincing when he claimed that despite everyone wanting to be thin these days, gelato is actually great for the feminine figure. A promising thought!
The ingredients are then thoroughly whisked together, then put in the first machine to heat up until the mixture is pasteurized. Once pasteurized, the liquid filters into the cooling, rotating machine to make the ice cream. Finally the ice cream is put into tubs and then placed into an incredibly cold freezer and thermally shocked to reach negative -13ยบ C very quickly, making it hold its form. Then the tubs are put into the glass case, which is kept somewhere between -12 and-13 degrees, ready to serve. I have tasted almost all of the flavors and you really cannot go wrong. Il Gelato Di Filo has something for every taste and craving weather it be Limone cone to keep you refreshed for the hike up to the Piazzale or a decadent Cioccolata Fondente to reward you on the way down. Find this gem before the tourists do and you will be rewarded.
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