August’s blistering temperatures brought gelato

August’s blistering temperatures brought gelato

by Marie Frances Sossi

With more years than I care to remember, August’s brutal heat spells brought a request for orange ice. I recall those August evenings as neighbors gathered toward our front stoop to share stories of the day, along with a relief the orange ice gave from apartments void of air conditioners and fans.

Late evening hours brought a call from self-appointed men, “Who would like Italian orange ice?” Within a short period, the men returned with white paper cups overflowing with frozen orange juice, to the glee of the young and gratitude of the old.

Decades later, I wandered the streets of Rome and Florence in search of Michelangelo’s paintings, architecture and sculptures. While attempting to bring relief from Italy’s August humidity, I recalled the summers in my Italian neighborhood. I searched for orange ice, only to discovered orange gelato, an Italian ice cream. Intertwining August’s temperatures along with the thought of my grandson’s return to college, this grandmother decided to bring a little Italia into her grandson’s life.

Looking through my collection of recipes saved, yet often never tried, I discovered a recipe for lemon gelato dated August 2014, currently found on www.mangiabenepasta.com/gelato.html. To replicate the gelato from my days in Italy, I selected a large navel orange resting in my fruit bin and included its juice and zest. Due to the sweetness of the orange, I decreased the sugar to 3/4 of a cup. I decided not to strain the mixture since I wanted the orange zest to permeate throughout the gelato.

This recipe called for a mixture of milk, sugar, juice and zest. Once warmed, the mixture joined the whisked egg yolks and heavy cream. Then an overnight chill prepared the custard for my ice cream maker. By the way, recipes to make a variety of gelatos and other Italian dishes can easily be found on the previously mentioned website. 

Another Google search stated that during the 16th century, a member of the Medici family commissioned Bernardo Buontalenti, an artist and architect, to use his culinary skills to impress a visiting King of Spain. Buontalenti presented the King with a frozen dessert, known today as gelato. According to the writings of Silvia Donati during the 19th century, a Neapolitan doctor named Filippo Baldini stated that eating gelato was good for the mind and body.

 Now each of us can enjoy a generous serving of gelato, don’t you agree?

Finally, my plans do not include a return to Rome and Florence. However, I will seek armchair readings of Michelangelo’s artistic contributions through the literary works by Irving Stone’s, “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” along with William E. Wallace’s, “Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting, Architecture.” As for my grandson, when his anticipated travel plans take him to Rome and Florence, perhaps he will search out a gelateria shop and recall a blistering August Sunday afternoon in the Midwest, when this grandmother prepared an orange gelato for him.  

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