Thanks for all your well wishes at the start of our fifth season. It’s hard to believe we have been doing this for five years now! Many of you know I had the opportunity to further enhance my gelato making skills by working with Fabbri, (my beloved Italian supplier) at their American headquarters in Queens, NY this winter. I really learned a lot and brought back some amazing new flavors this season. Italian Wedding Cookie, Banana Chocolate Cherry and Lemon Vanilla with Panetone.  They sound great don’t they!!

New this season are Frosty Latte Infusions, Italian Sodas, Fresh brewed Ice Tea, and a greatly expanded slushy and hot chocolate menu. Our new milkshake this season is the COLADA…made with coconut gelato, fresh pineapple and banana. As always though….you can create any combo you want.

One request I have….if you like us here at  i dream of gelato….would you please go on Yelp.com and let others know about us. THANK YOU!!!!

See you all very soon..
Michelle and Barbara

People don’t seem to want the fruity flavors as much when it is cold, so now there are much fuller flavors in the case. Fabbri’s New York Style Cheesecake made a great hit. The selection of varigates is amazing. Amarenna Cherry, Blueberry, Raspberry Top Sauce, My personal favorite is the new Coco and Hazlenut. I think it is better than Nutella, I varigate lots of flavors with it and customers LOVE IT! It is also one of our sundae toppings and it gets ordered more than hot fudge.

Other fall flavors make use of the Vanilla Delipaste. Add fresh ground cinnamon to the base before freezing to make a great ‘Cinnamon Vanilla.’  ‘Kahlua Vanilla’ is always popular. I know all bases are different, but here is my recipe

3L base  

290g Fabbri Vanilla Delipaste

1cup Kahlua

Coffee flavors are popular and easy to come up with. I use the Moka paste, always 100g/L. Coffee can be varigated with chocolate sauces, stracciatella, chocolate covered espresso beans, even dulce de leche to make a ‘Cafe de Leche.’ The Caramel paste and Moka paste make a wonderful ‘Caramel Coffee’.

The recipe for Caramel Coffee is  3L base  230g Fabbri Caramel  Delipaste & 185g Fabbri Moka Delipaste.

Traditional nut flavors like pistacchio and hazlenut are always popular but the fall weather is when you can really be creative with the nutties. I tried for a while to sell plain nut flavors like marron glace (chestnut) and mandorla tostada (toasted almond). They didn’t move too much. Even though the taste was excellent and it was a unique flavor, it wasnt enough to get people intrested. I wondered what I could do to help them out and then…the most brilliant idea ever! What does everyone love? NUTELLA. (tm)  I swirled it in and low and behold  chestnut with nutella swirl was born. Works just as well with toasted almond or any other nut flavor. People love swirls and the exoticness of the flavor makes them want to taste it.  Once they taste it…you know they are going to want it!

Customers are always enthralled by our chocolate selection. I Dream of Gelato uses Fabbri coco powder that comes in convenient 1kilo bags. I have tried many brands of coco powders and this makes the best and richest tasting plain chocolate flavor. No funny aftertaste or texture. It also blends wonderfully with anything you may be adding to it to create other flavors..such as, fruity flavored Delipastes, mint delipaste or any varigate you can think of. I also make our signature hot chocolate with this coco, but more about that later.

I usually make chocolate in big batches and that way it is easy to make many flavors all at once.  As the gelato is extracting,  add peanut butter, fudge sauce, oreos, chocolate chips, vanilla sauce, nuts, any of the Top Sauces…the possibilities are endless.

As I am adding the coco powder to the base, I taste it to make sure it tastes like the best chocolate milk I have ever drank.  It should look dark and rich but you should still taste it to make sure, and add more coco powder if necessary. When it tastes perfect as a liquid, it will taste great frozen.

Plain chocolate should still be a dream flavor and Fabbri coco powder does the job. In the summer I make a lot of chocolate fruit combos using the fruit Delipastes but this time of year I make chocolate flavors like ‘Irish Mocha Mint’ made with mint Delipaste and Irish Creme Mixycafe. ‘Chocolate Coconut’ is made with Coconut Mixybar. Add one cup Mixybar to 3L base/coco. ‘Chocolate Ameretto’ is another simple Mixycafe flavor. I know you are probably wondering why I use the Mixycafe instead of the Delipaste. The Mixycafe gives the gelato a different texture. Richer and smoother. Because the Mixy is more sugary than the Delipaste, it gives it a more creamier feel.

Like I have said before, expirement. When making a flavor, and tasting it, make sure you can taste all the flavors strong in its liquid form or you will never taste it when it is frozen.

Now that the evening temperatures are dipping low, hot chocolate is what’s on people’s mind. They always come in and ask what the Italian Hot chocolate is. I point to our wonderful  machine and say “It is the thickest and richest hot chocolate ever. It is like drinking a melted chcoclate bar. We make that from scratch as well. We serve it two ways. Straight up in a little espresso glass or in a bigger cup with steamed milk added to thin it out a bit.”

Once they taste it, they say how much they love it!

The Fabbri Coco Powder is so versatile, it makes the most fabulous Italian style hot chocolate. I’m talking the thick rich cocoa that is becoming all the rage. Right now there are a lot of manufactureres of instant powdered hot chocolate. Add milk and heat. I know I keep saying this but I have tasted lots of them. At the gelato expo in Italy there is a section of hot chocolate displays and of course you can sample, and of course I did. I thought my hot chocolate was better than any of them. Seriously.

Making hot chocolate is not difficult or time consuming.  You can customize it to make it as thick or chocolatey as you like. We added some Mixycafe to the hot coco this season to create some unique tastes. It was almost like making a hot chocolate latte with a flavor shot. Fill  a cup with a couple of inches of coco, add a flavor shot then stir together. Pour in steamed milk and stir the entire time. Ameretto and Amerena Cherry were the two most popular flavors.

Speaking of flavor shots, this season we added the Sugarfree Raspberry  and Sugarfree Vanilla Mixycafe. Once we had new signage made that featured these flavors, we had a lot of requests for them. I think there is a big sugarfree market out there. People seemed very happy with their coffees saying there “were no funny aftertastes.” These flavors can also be added to sparkling water to make Italian Sodas.

Another new item this year was the hot chocolate affogato. Instead of drowning the gelato in espresso….drown it in your rich and thick homemade hot coco.

If you don’t sell all your coco, don’t worry. Drain it out into cups and put into the fridge. It will stay for a while there. Now you can use it to make up a flavor with a chocolate swirl.

This season I have continued to learn and grow and that made this the easiest season so far. Knowledge of the product and an improved gelato production schedule made for an easier work environment mentally and physically. I really enjoyed working with all the new Fabbri flavors this year and am looking forward to next years treats. I am not sure if I will be attending next years Italian gelato expo, but i sure hope so!

 I Dream of Gelato will be closing for the year on October 19th. I want to thank everyone who came to our store just once or every single day.  It made me feel great to receive all your compliments.  Have a wonderful winter and we will see you in the spring.

Sincerely,

Michelle Jaffe

A few days ago I closed the shop and drove to Eliot, Maine. I went to meet Ronnie, Marty and Julie, the wonderful folks at BevTech and watch an introductory gelato workshop given by Donna Domiano. The  class got to learn about gelato production, equipment, decoration, and the latest trends in the gelato industry. Donna also gave demos about making verrines and shared recipies using the Mixybar products and the MixyCafe syrups. I got some great new ideas for cold beverages and espresso drinks. Everyone got hands on experience making, pouring and extracting the gelato and of course tasting!

It was great too see so many folks intrested in gelato and really enjoying the taste of Fabbri. Some of the receipes from the class are posted on the Fabbri Receipe section.

Our season is starting to wind down and the gelato sales are slowing but hot coffee and hot chocolates are starting to fly out the door.  I will be posting the next i Dream of Gelato/Fabbri article shortly and will let you know about fall weather menu items you will want to add.

At the end of the night, when the shop is closed, that slush is great for making special blender drinks!

Bay two has a frozen lemon slush. We use the Lemon L powder and although it is not fresh squeezed, the flavor is tremendous. The Arancia L can also be substituted to make an orange slush.

The recipe for the Lemon Slush is

2 gallon water

4 3/4 pound sugar

11 oz Lemon L

grated lemon rind

tsp. melted Fabbrisoff

Since we started receiving lots of requests for frozen yogurt, we decided to try the new Frozen Yogurt in bay 3. As the yogurt is dispensed, it can be varigated with fresh fruits or other Topp fruit sauces. Raspberry, cherry and blueberry are the most popular. Throw a few pieces of fresh strawberrys on top to make a parfait and you are good to go.

This summer we introduced two new Citrus Chillers. On hot days they are really light and very refreshing. The first Chiller is made with Lemon (L) sorbet, pink grapefruit sorbet (Simple’) and fresh pineapple.  The second Chiller is Lemon (L) sorbet made with fresh pineapple and banana. We used to make them special for a customer but then decided they were so good, they should be on the menu.

This is one of the reasons we like customers to make their own creations. It gives us the opportunity to try new things we would of never thought of.

Some of our new summer flavors were expansions of flavors we already had. Peach Delipaste is great but when varigated with a raspberry sauce, and layered with crushed graham cracker, now you have a great Peach Melba.  Peach Mango (Delipastes) mix well together for another new summer flavor.

Banana delipaste can be dressed up with ameretto Topp sauce for a wonderful Banana Ameretto. It can also be made into Banana Walnut Chip with stracciatella and walnuts.  Banana and Blueberry (Delipastes) also mix well.

As you can see, the summer presents lots of opportunity for creativity.  Having a specials menu so you can rotate all your ideas makes it easier than having everything on the menu  at once, then having to have all your items in stock. Don’t be afraid to try something new…!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you are interested in Fabbri products you can contact Donna Domiano at DDomiano@fabbrinorthamerica.com. I will have another blog in October about warmer things you can be making in your shop.

Take Care and Stay Cool,

Michelle Jaffe

Talk about nervous!!!!! I surprisingly was having a hard time getting a grip. I was thinking about the gazilion flavors I wished were in the cabinet that I would like to show off.

The verdict came back extremely positive and I couldn’t of been happier.  We took a few photos together and then they were gone. I am hoping the Fabbri’s return next summer and get to spend a little more time in Provincetown.    

Print out this Coupon and present it on your next purchase at I dream Of Gelato and receive $1.00 Off your purchase.

pistachio-amarena-cup-verrines.doc

Gianduia Amarena Verrine

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 Amarena - Tiramisu Verrines

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Christmas Semi Freddo Verrine

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There are many gelato flavoring manufacturers in Italy. They are not all created equal. When I first started my gelato training, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Fabbri. From the beginning, I love their flavors.

Don’t let the marketing of other companies fool you. Just because it’s from Italy, doesn’t mean it’s good! Fabbri is the oldest and most respected company in Italy.

At the end of my first season in business, I went to the SIGEP Gelato Convention in Italy. I tasted many flavors from several different companies and I still thought that Fabbri was better than all of them. There are other companies who put out good products, but , in my opinion, Fabbri has the majority of the richest, best tasting flavors.  Even in the jar, the paste is a superior product. Once I received a free sample of coconut paste from another company. As soon as I opened the jar I couldn’t believe what I saw. The paste was dry, crumbly and didn’t have much of an aroma. Against my better judgement, I made it anyway. Fresh out of the machine, it still didn’t look very good. The flavor was weak and a customers actually asked what happened to the “old” coconut gelato. I pulled the pan before it was even empty. When you open a jar of Fabbri, no matter what the flavor, the wonderful aroma is the first thing you notice. It is like using pure fruit, nuts, chocolate or whatever you are making. Only the finest ingredients are used.

i Dream of Gelato also uses Fabbri coco powder (22-24%) for almost all it’s chocolate flavors. I don’t make a chocolate base. Instead, the coco powder is mixed directly into the white base to make a rich chocolate flavor. This chocolate base is easy to combine with pastes such as orange or cherry to come up with great new flavors.

During SIGEP 2008, Fabbri revealed their sensational new line of gelato flavors and toppings.

The new Yogurt Light gelato, when paired with the new Amarena Cherry Light topping,  has less than 100 calories per serving. During the sampling, I would not have guessed that this was a light product. It was still as rich and creamy as their classic yogurt, Yog30. I use Yog30 and swirl it with the regular amarena cherry paste. It is a huge crowd pleaser! Besides having the beautiful red swirls that captures everyones attention, it taste great. The yogurt is rich and the cherry is the best. Yogurt can be marbled with many different flavors, to give you an even larger flavor list.

For those of you who are white chocolate fans, this is the ultimate combo. White chocolate gelato mixed with white chocolate stracciatella. It is called Galactica. The flavor is rich and really does taste like white chocolate. The beauty of  that paste is that it can be mixed with a number of other products to create a whole line of white chocolate flavors. Caramel swirl, peanut butter swirl…be creative!  The White Stracciatella also has amazing possibilites. By adding any flavor Delipaste, strawberry for example, you can create a phenomenal Strawberry White Chocolate Stracciatella.

Strawberry Stracciatella

White Stracciatella             500 grams   Strawberry  Delipaste          80 grams                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Warm the stracciatella and mix with the delipaste. Use as a coating when dipping monoportions or variegate in a flavor as it is ejecting from the batch freezer.

I am a fan of all that is chocolate and this year there a several new chocolate masterpieces.

The Dark Chocolate gelato is nice and dark without being too dark. It is made with water and can be served as a sorbet. I have many customers who are tired of eating fruit sorbet and are looking for something new to satisfy their “sweet tooth”. There is another product which is a ready made sorbet base. This summer I will use it to make all sorts of non traditional sorbet flavors. 

The following new toppings enable you to varigate your gelatos with exceptional tasting sauces as well as offer more choices for your sundaes.

Hazlenut and Cocoa So rich. So Chocolaty. So nutty. This can be easily varigated into a number of flavors as well a sundae topping.

Crockantella  A rich, dark chocolate sauce loaded with nuts, cereals and raisins.

Crockoloso Giandua This variegate of velvety Giandua Sauce with crisp biscuits goes perfectly over the new Biscotti gelato.

The new Peanuts gelato flavor, tastes like exactly that….Peanuts!! Definetly not peanut butter. The peanut gelato is then smothered with a creamy chocolate sauce with whole peanuts swimming thru out.

WOW!! Those 4 sauces are the bomb! The chocolates are all smooth, rich and satisfying. The crunch in the toppings are strong, not soggy and full of flavor. It is now easy to add the “crunch” customers are always looking for.

Getting out of the chocolates and in to the fruits….

Caramelized Fig  This tasty topping goes well with the classic Walnut Flavor (Noce). The sauce is not too sweet and has a creamy texture. It also goes well swirled in the Sicilian Ricotta base to make a wonderful Fig Canolli.

The Passion Fruit (Maracuja) sauce tasted light and fruity when blended with the yogurt gelato. July and August are the months that we serve passion fruit. People really enjoy the refreshing feeling in the heat. I think that by variegating with this sauce, it will bring the flavor up to a whole new level.

The Iperfrutta line has now become Simple’ . This easy as 1-2-3 gelato can save you lots of time in the kitchen. There were always a large selection of flavors but this season, 6 new flavors were added. Cranberry, blood orange, lime, green tea, hazlenut and pistachio. 

All these new pastes and toppings give you the opportunity to create an original flavor list. It is possible for you to take the products you are currently using and mix and match them to come up with a multitude of flavors. Your customers want to try new things and will continue to come back knowing there are always new choices.

I love coming up with new ideas. It gets boring making the same flavors over and over. Fabbri has a large range of products for gelato, pastry, coffee and slush drinks, etc. I have found through experimentation that it is possible to cross use products to come up with unique flavors. Mixybar and Fantasy in Cafe, products made for granita and coffee drinks, can be used in combination with regular gelato pastes to come up with flavors that will seperate you from the all the other shops. For example, either Mixybar watermelon or lime can be combined with strawberry delipaste to create summer flavors you can’t find anywhere. You can even mix two delipastes together. Mango and coconut or blueberry and banana for example. The possibilities are endless. You just have to make sure you can taste both flavors in the base before freezing without turning the flavor to soup (because of too much sugar.) It is very rewarding to create your own flavors. I have seen customers drag their friends in to try some crazy flavor we have.

In addition to gelato, the industry as a whole was pushing the concept of the “monoportion.” A 1, 2 or 3 bite dessert that shop owners can easily produce. Monoportions were everywhere. These visually appealing treats ranged from gelato filled pastry puffs to verrines which are clear plastic cups layered with mousses, cremes, chocolates, etc. Silicon molds were being used all over to create a wide selection of desert shapes. Bite sized delicacies of sauces, cremes and biscuits, were frozen in these molds. Once removed, they were then dipped in chocolate and served mounted on a toothpick.

When I first learned how to do verrines, it was time consuming. You had to make the mousse creme flavors in the Kitchen Aid and then scoop them individually into the cups. Now, what is similiar to a whip cream dispenser, is filled with the mousse creme and shot directly into the cups. this is such a time saver that it is going to make production easy. You can make a lot of verrines at once, freeze them and pull them out as needed. Since this is a mousse type dessert and not a gelato product, you do not need a blast freezer. Just display them in a refrigerated case.

All gelato cakes and some of the monoportions do require a blast freezer. This is necessary so the layers harden before another flavor is placed on top and, so no ice crystals form.

Please check out the recipies in the Recipies category, but for now, I am going to describe the production of a tasty little morsel called a hazelnut semifreddo. 

Whisk Moussecream +5, pastovo, hazlenut cremosa and cream in the Kitchen Aid. Place into a pastry bacg and pipe into little rectangular molds. Fill the mold half way. Pipe in another bag of Pinoli Crockolosi to fill up the rest of the mold. Flaten everything down with a spatula then place in blast freezer for a few minutes. Pull trays out and insert a toothpick at a 45 degree angle into each mold then place back in freezer. When frozen, remove from freezer and carefully pop out of molds. Dip in Strawberry Stracciatella, roll in nuts,  sprinkles or whatever, and keep them in a freezer display. Pretty simple huh?!    

These deserts have unlimited creative potential. They are a great way to catch people’s eyes as they walk past and an easy way to expand your menu. Click on the images below for more recipies.

People ask if I am sick of gelato yet and I say “no way”. There are so many new flavors and treats to try. It never gets boring. I know these new flavors will be a success. You can be as daring as you want. Your customers want new treats. If the flavor doesn’t work, you don’t have to make it again.

If you have any questions about Fabbri products or other gelato related questions, you can contact Donna Domiano at   ddomiano@fabbrinorthamerica.com and she will be happy to answer them for you. You can also drop me a line at idreamofgelato@yahoo.com.

Stay tuned for the next blog.  I’ll let you know about all the frozen drinks and desserts you can offer to beat the heat.

Stay Cool,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Michelle Jaffe

February 2008

THIS SECTION IS DEDICATED TO FABBRI 1905.

In this space I will be discussing lots of products, flavors, ideas and possibilities for your own gleato shop. The following blog is about my recent rip to Rimini, Italy for the annual SIGEP gelato and pastry convention. Single click on the thumbnails to open.

THIS IS MY TICKET TO HEAVEN………..[SinglePic not found]

My trip begins on Jan 24 and after a few long flights, layovers and bus rides, I finally arrive in Rimini, Italy. I am staying in the next town over, Riccione, at the Mediteraneo Hotel. A wonderful accommodation, steps away from glamorous shopping as well as the beachfront of the Adriatic Sea. The town is a little quiet this time of year but from what I understand, in the summer there are a gazillion European beachgoers.

The Fabbri 1905 company sponsors the stay of their entire worldwide team at this hotel. I immediately feel at home when I see all the giant Fabbri logo material in the lobby. There are sales people, distributors, importers and many other important folks from around the world. I am the only gelato shop owner being sponsered by Fabbri North America. How special do I feel?!

After checking in, I go to my room. I hear loud music so I open my balcony door. Across the way is a large ice skating rink on the beach with Adriatic Sea practically touching is back wall!! Once I settle in, I go to find Donna Domiano, my friend and Fabbri sales rep. She lets me know drinks at 7:30, dinner at 8. I head down to the bar to meet the rest of the Fabbri North America group. What a wonderful group of people! Some I had already met but everyone I was now getting to know were extremely nice and made me feel very welcome.

Dinner turns out to be one of the most amazing buffets I have ever enjoyed. The presentation was stunning, the wine was flowing and the chefs had really outdone themselves. I’d been dreaming of eating this was since I found out I was going. Although Fabbri started out as a small family run operation, they now have a large worldwide team and most of them were there. I was fortunate enough to spend time during the week with Nicola and Umberto Fabbri, two very special gentleman. It was their grandparents who started the business in their house in Bologna, Italy in 1905. The company has an amazing history and has grown to have production plants in 6 countries. For as big as the company is, those brothers are friendly, genuine, easily accessible and know how to make everyone feel special. I felt welcomed and appreciated.

Since the time difference is 6 hours, I was barely able to get up at the first alarm. 2 more snoozes did the trick. Once on the train for the two stops I was riding, the adrenaline was pumping. Everything was as I remembered when I got off the train. Especially the giant inflatable Amarena cherry vase next to the train stop.

Passing through the ticket gates, experiencing the rush of the people and the energy of the show, I know I am in gelato heaven. In addition to gelato, the show featured chocolate, pastries, coffee, bread making and the latest and greatest production and display equipment. The expo is held at Rimini Fiera, one of the worlds largest convention centers. Last years attendance was 90,000 people!! It takes several days to see and eat your way through here. Several competitions were also held during this event. The Gelato World Cup (which I hope to be pasrt of next year), numerous chocolatier, bread baking and pastry competitions. I even got to see them making ice statues with chain saws.

Now, back to the entrance gate. I slide my pass thru the turn style and put my Fabbri pass on around my neck. Fabbri and i Dream of Gelato logos on the same card….I am really feeling important now. I know that to the left of me is the heavenly kingdom of gelato…..here i come!

It is almost a little overwhelming at first. Gigantic booths with fabulously decorated gelato cabinets as far as you can see. Almost looks to good to eat. More than half the show is geared toward gelato and all the companies are out in force. They all have their new product lines as well as the classics. You can go up to them and taste as much as you want.

I started my tasting adventure at the Fabbri booth.Their newly redecorated area was filled with all sorts of new products and I sampled all of them. Products included new gelato and sorbet flavors, frozen coffee, granita and yogurt drinks, rich Italian chocolate and nut sauces, pastry products and their new line called Simple’. I spent quite a bit of time at this booth because I was really enjoying all the tasting but also because they had a demonstration area. Every couple of hours the Fabbri chefs and Donna Domiano would present “how-to” demos. The demos included frozen gelato desserts, monoportions and cakes. I learned a lot from these presentations and plan on adding some of them to my menu next summer.

In addition to learning about new products, I had a meeting with Bob Bruno, the head of Fabbri North America. We discussed the newsletter format I would be working on. Instead of a mailed out quarterly letter, we decided to dedicate a section on my website to Fabbri. I really believe in their products and am happy to do so. Future blogs will include new flavors and ideas that you can easily introduce in your store. I will include recipies and describe in greater detail the products necessary and the ease of making these creations. In the summer we will venture into frozen drinks and desserts and in the fall, all types of hot beverages.

After leaving the Fabbri area, I looked around to see which way I would be venturing next. Slowly I proceded thru the crowds taking in all the sites, not wanting to miss anything. The gelato cases had stunning presentations. Some of the cases were just for decoration while others were for pure eating enjoyment. The list of companies there was endless and I sampled so much. New flavors, new toppings and a multitude of hot and cold beverages. I really got to do a lot of comparison tasting. There were great and not so great samples.

I noticed many companies were trying to expand a “healthy” line to their product repertoire. Lots of all-natural, gluten free, sugar free, lactose free, rice and soy based flavors and the use of vegetable fats instead of dairy. Although not all the flavors were great, some of them were. I will be adding the great ones to the i Dream of Gelato flavor list for next sumer so people with special dietary needs can enjoy desert as well.

By the 4th or 5th booth I was starting to feel a little full so I decided to take an eating break and see what was happening in the rest of the show. Working my way out of the gelato area, I entered the section of new gelato display cabinets otherwise known as dipping cabinets. Some of these models were absolutely breathtaking. Classic, retro and futuristic cases with matching decor and equipment for the gelataria. I can only hope that my store will have such a spectacular look in the future. In this section there were even little self contained kiosks. Adorable and portable gelato stands. How I would love to have one of them set up at the beach! This 1/2 open orange is a portable kiosk by Gelito. They are an off shoot of Fabbri that is only available in Italy .

I decided I was ready to do a little more eating so back to the gelato section I went. Quickly stopping back at Fabbri, I grabbed a bowl of Red Passion Chocolate and Mascarpone al Chocolate and headed off to watch the Gelato World Cup.

There were several teams from around the world competing. The U.S. was represented but did not place. Next year, I hope to try out for the team…..wish me luck. I sat in the stands for a while and watched. There were lots of judges and sctivity but unfortunately, everything was in Italian and I couldn’t understand anything so I decided to keep going. I kept going right into the chocolate section. Although I still couldn’t understand Italian, I could certainly understand chocolate. I watched as a chocolate master was creating an Easter Egg. The Italians are really the masters of the easter egg and a five pound egg is small. the elaborate egg decorations are their own art form and there were so many of them to admire.

It was starting to get late in the day and I was heading back to the station to catch the train back to Riccione. The Fabbri North America group met back at the hotel bar for a drink before getting ready for dinner. Walking back into the dining area, to my delight, was another stunning buffet, All of the Fabbri worldwide team was there and the excitement in the room had carried over from the excitement during the day. The wine was flowing, the people were laughing and the energy high!

The next day at the show was similiar to the first. I decided to start off with some light flavors so I went to the Fabbri booth for a bowl of Mojito sorbet and Passion Fruit yogurt. I was there to “suffer” thru all the gelato eating I could do and I wasn’t going to let myself down! Even though it was only 11:30 am, I went on to the other booths to sample the goods. Spoonfuls of this and cups of that. I got to taste some amazing stuff. Next summers flavor list is really going to grow.

By now I was starting to feel stuffed so I ventured into another part of the expo. Large scale production equipment caught my eye. I have been thinking about the next way to grow my business and pint production seems like a good idea. I spent some time looking around and dreaming of future possibilities. I kept wandering through sections of packaging, presentation, signage, display and everything you could imagine that had to do with being in the gelato business. Hard to believe but there was more to see. There was a bread section, pizza, pastry and chocolate equipment. Every type of pretty packaging you could imagine. Several types of competitions including sugar sculpture, bread baking and the under 25 chocolate competitions.

Dinner that night was Fabbri’s Gala Dinner. As you might expect, the food was fabulous. At the end of the evening, a toast was made and in the bottom of the champagne glass were two Amarena cherries. It was so good. A new flavor idea came to me…..Amarena Champagne sorbet…..look for it next summer.

By day 4, after all this food, I was not feeling my best but I was determined not to go dow! On the last night, Fabbri North America went out to dinner for more spectacular food. Afterward we headed back to the hotel to finish the evening smoking cigars and drinking champagne on a balcony overlooking the Adriatic.

The next days trip home was incredibly long but it was worth every second. I met some amazing people, saw a future vision for my business and overall, had a blast.

I look forward to writing future articles and I hope you all will enjoy reading them.

Ciao for now,

Michelle Jaffe