Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Spending three months in a small town, one of the things you should do is try to get to know people.  Especially people that are in the same industry as yourself.  Sometimes it's easy, sometimes not so much.  I did try, I really did.   I had one real problem though, my addiction to gelato.  This brought me to L'Officina del Gelatohttp://www.lofficinadelgelatoorvieto.com and Tommaso Parodi.

Tommaso, originally from Palermo, has been making gelato for over 20 years.  And like my chef, Lorenzo Polegri is passionate about, well, everything he is involved with, Tommaso is very passionate about not only life, but his gelato.  The passion that he has is revealed in the flavors and quality of his gelato.

L'Officina del Gelato is located on Corso Cavour in Orvieto.  I believe he told me he has only been in Orvieto for a year now.  Prior to this, he ran a gelateria in Rome, but he wanted to slow down, just a bit and get away from the hustle bustle of the big city.  Even though his turn over for gelato was larger in Rome, he never let the quality be compromised.  He has always used only fresh, seasonal ingredients.  He makes his base as opposed to using an industrial made base and what he uses is posted on a board above the case of gelato - milk, eggs, cream, sugar, fruit, fruit juice, chocolate, and coffee.

Tommaso's beliefs are quoted -" ..... The use of raw materials of high quality allows the gelato ice-cream production exclusively from natural ingredients, with no additives because emulsifiers, artificial flavorings, vegetable fats, dyes and preservatives, replaced by vegetable fibers, fatty and milk proteins. At one time the production of ice cream was obtained using a machine called a sorbet, cooled with ice and salt, and through the freezing "manual", by means of a long stick with a spatula. Today, fortunately, something has changed ..


The basic steps of the preparation (hot) are:

Recipe / formula and dosage
mixing
pasteurization
Emulsification (if any)
maturation
freezing
Hardening (if any)
Conservation / Exposure
The preparation of a good ice cream from the study of the recipe (or formula) with the subsequent assay of raw materials and ingredients of quality."

You can taste a difference in gelato's.  Once you have a gelato with a base made from scratch, using fresh, quality, and seasonal ingredients, you'll be able to detect the machine made, mass produced bases.  But the big thing, knowing that there is no passion making that industrial base, no true quality control, just the press of a button, that's where the true test shines through.  Knowing that Tommaso experiments and uses not only himself, but his employees and a few lucky passers by to test his new flavors before he puts them on offer for the public, shows that he will not sell his product, just because.  No, he truly cares about what he sells and serves to us.

Tommaso Parodi and myself.

The other person I was able to get to know, just a bit is Antoni at Blue Bar on Via Garibaldi in Orvieto.  Antoni is not like your average Italian, probably because he is French.  Why or how did he end up in Italy, let alone a small town like Orvieto?  He did it for his wife, Romina, who is from Orvieto.

Antoni, like Tommaso and Lorenzo, has this personality that you can't escape.  He is warm and welcoming to all who enter.  How you react to his hospitality determines how the rest of your night will go.  But truth be told, even the coldest visitor he treats with respect and he will continue to try to get you to warm up to Blue Bar up to the point of you walking out the door.

Come in for a cafe' or cappuccino, one of the best in Orvieto.  Or you can stop in, during evening apertivo.  You will not be disappointed.  However, like many places in Orvieto and Italy, during the afternoon, do not expect them to be open, because it is time for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.

Antoni and Blue Bar

I met other fascinating people, but didn't really get to know them, but they stick out in my memory.  There was Slavic at Montanucci http://www.barmontanucci.it/main.php, Jimmy at Clandestino, Tiziano -"The porchetta guy" from Baschi, Palmiro -"The cheese guy", and Silviano - "The Sicilian lady killer".  And if I would've spent more time at Nando(another and possibly the best bar/pasticceria around) http://www.barpasticcerianando.it, I would have gladly been able to get to know everyone there.

This is Loreonzo Polegri and Silviano - The Sicilian lady killer.  I promise you girls, he's a keeper.  He had the best arrancia, pera, and carciofi(with volcanic ash still on it), in the market.

Some folks in Orvieto, as I said before, can be kind of cold and unwelcoming to visitors, but I think most small towns, whether you are in Europe or the US, or anywhere in the world can have those people.  This is something that you should never let throw you off or make you not want to visit, because for everyone one of those people, there are 5 people that want to know about you, where you are from, what you do, and possibly the biggest connection-WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO EAT!