It is my opinion that, compared to the rest of the ice-cream/gelato/frozen custard/granita eating planet, North American frozen flavors are… uninspired to say the least.
It is as though we are still in the kindergarten of ice cream flavors, while the rest of the world moved on long, long ago to a whole other level of this universally loved sweet treat.
Even with the improved diversity of flavors that some of our better gelateria are serving up, we in North America are still far behind some of the magnificent flavors that have been enjoyed for decades in various parts of the world.
I have eaten ices, ice creams, and gelati in many countries, and this post will hone in on one shop in particular.
Fenocchio is a gelato shop on the Cote d’Azur, in the old city in Nice. This Italian-influenced French city does a pretty decent job of cranking out some fantastic flavors to enjoy in the dazzling Mediterranean heat.
I have been lucky to have made another trip in June to Nice and I have now probably eaten every flavor that Fenocchio has to offer. Of course, they do change a few flavors according to the season (yes, they have “seasons” for gelato flavors, exactly like there are “seasons” for clothes in the fashion world).
Some of my favorite flavors are ones that are far from ever being made available on this North American continent any time soon. I try to make these ice creams myself at home (certainly not as successfully) with my trusty KitchenAid ice cream maker. I hold on to my dreams with those homemade ice creams until I am able to travel to Fenocchio again.
My faves at Fenocchio are
(1 ) Calisson (a calisson is a specialty sweet from Aix-en-Provence made of marzipan and apricot – and when mixed in as a gelato flavor, it is astounding).
(2) Poppy (not poppyseed, but rather the actual poppy flower) gives a slightly spicy-floral gelato in a very pretty color; included in this flower ice cream section is jasmine, rose and orange flower which are all uniquely delicious.
(3) Rosemary – this was my first time trying a herbal ice cream and it was magnificent. So was the thyme and the lemon verbena. Note that these were not granitas or sorbets, but true ice creams. The sweet cream provides a mellowing counterpoint to the herbal flavors. The good thing about these herbal ice creams is that I can try making a real facsimile of these at home.
There were other flavors which I enjoyed very much such as tomato and basil sorbet – it was a sweet and summery flavor and interesting to taste the tomato as the fruit that it is rather than in the usual savory way that I am used to.
If you go to Nice, you have to stop by Fenocchio – there is now more than one location in Nice with the same flavors available in all the locations (I might be wrong but it seems like there are 3 locations). The “original” shop is in the old city.
A Tangle of Thyme 