Event // Gelato Festival

On October 27, She Forks PHX was honored to be judges at The Gelato Festival! The contest had ten flavors competing from across the country. With contestants hailing as far as Michigan, Texas, and New Mexico competing with locals in Mesa, Phoenix, and Scottsdale, each of the ten flavors expressed genius and culinary flair. For instance, there was a bubblegum lemon gelato, and one with candied chicarron, flavors that were inspired by childhood and spontaneity, respectively. Many chefs hailed from Italy and said that they wanted to bring the “simple flavors” home – and did so from pear with cream cheese, to wild cherries with nuts and chocolate. There were fall flavored gelatos that tasted just like apple pie, and spicy gelato that used fresh home grown peppers. Was this a tough competition to judge? Absolutely! If you’re one of the few thousands who got to go this past weekend, suffice it to say, consider yourselves lucky. The Gelato Tour is only in 4 cities in the US, and Scottsdale is one of them! Also, consider yourself as part of a very old tradition, as the first gelato was made in 1559 when the Medicini family commissioned an artist to create a feast.This new frozen dessert of eggs, milk, and honey was created by Buontalenti, the father of gelato. We already can’t wait until next year!