A lot of conflicting stories are written of the origin of the favorite treat of many – the cold delicious ice cream. So it is very difficult to determine which of these are true and which are lies.
Ice cream has been accompanying humanity for thousands of years. The first ice cream appeared not in Antique Greece or Rome, but in ancient China over 5000 years ago. Chinese emperors were the first people known to have eaten ice cream. They mixed snow and ice brought from the mountains and added oranges, lemons and grains of pomegranate to the mixture, and also wine and honey. With this delicious dessert, the rulers were refreshed while they were resting.
Europe learned about the frozen dessert in the 13th century by famous traveler Marco Polo, who brought recipes of fruit ice cream from China to Italy. The ice cream immediately entered the list of the most refined desserts of the Italian aristocrats. Recipes for making it were kept secret for a long time and courtier cooks gave a vow of silence to everything that had to do with preparing it.
Since World War II, ice cream production and consumption has gained increasing popularity and it has begun to be offered in a variety of flavors, with a variety of toppings and aromas. Today, the ice cream industry earns billions of dollars a year, but consumers are gradually turning to artisan ice cream, which is made only from fresh products.
Tiramisu flavor - Dolce Fellini
Since 2013, this delicious ice temptation is also honored with a special day announced by the European Parliament. March 24 is declared Artisan Ice Cream Day, making it the only food that has its own holiday.
Tiramisu was chosen as the taste of 2019. And the best thing is that all the favorite places of the Lost in Plovdiv team have already been prepared and are mixing real Italian gelato. Only fresh milk, seasonal fruits, nuts, and whole cream are needed to prepare it. The secret is in the origin and quality of the products used – the milk – truly fresh, and the cream – by no means plant-based.
There is hardly any food that will tempt us more, especially at the moment when the warm weather has settled permanently in the City under the hills. We have repeatedly recommended favorite ice cream places, and last summer we have even found another 5, where ice cream is divine.
Dolce Fellini, Argento, Stenata, Gelateria Vivaldi are just a small part of those which we can’t pass by and we use every free moment to steal a little bit of sunshine with a cone in hand.
Bacio - Dolce Fellini
In Dolce Fellini, they add the best hazelnuts from Piedmont, Sicilian pistachios, South American and African chocolate, the purest vanilla beans from Madagascar and southern Polynesia, fresh cheese imported from Europe, and the best selection of liqueurs and syrups. You can’t help but pamper your eyes, palate, and soul when real ingredients are used for the making, authentic Italian recipes and cooking methods are respected, and the innovative ideas and culinary talents of the masters are added.
Argento offers you Italy in a cone and we recommend you try the pistachio. Argento's gelato is never deeply frozen and its durability is within 2 to 3 days. This ensures that the ice cream is always fresh, preserves its maximum taste, and maintaining a constant temperature of up to -14 degrees makes it suitable for consumption all year round and you don’t have to worry about losing any sensations just after the first bite.
Another place for artisan ice cream is Gelateria Vivaldi, where they rely on more unconventional tastes and experiment with ingredients that you probably won’t expect to try in the form of the ice dessert. Gelato with sea salt crystals, Jack Daniel's with almond and avocado are just a few of the suggestions that if you're adventurers, you have to try.
Savini Gelato is already open in Plovdiv too. There, they only work with bio ingredients to make ice cream. They also put an absolute veto on the plastic, so all cups and ice cream spoons are 100% biodegradable. We look forward to seeing what tastes they have prepared for the City under the hills and how will they surprise us in our year as the European Capital of Culture.
Which is your favorite taste and is the Bulgarian gelato close to the Italian one?
