Gelato

Maria Fernanda Jasso Rubi (2022)

I had so much trouble with this dish, because I feel that people are too cautious with gelato, but hopefully, it makes sense.

I noticed that many of these recipes are thoroughly multicultural, not to my surprise, but it is a  theme that I find pretty exciting and awakes tons of questions. 

To begin with, ice cream was created by Arabs which was turned into Gelato by an Italian man and served in a French Cafe. I just love how everything went from one place to another and I just keep trying to figure out what it means with some of today’s talk about cultural appropriation and what happens next. But let’s explore this in a different blog. 

I have been imagining having a delicious Gelato sitting outside on a hot day while looking at people walking by. I have asked also some Italian people and tourists that have had gelato all the way in Italy; apparently, it is not the same when you’re far away. Some of them come to you with tips such as how to spot actual gelato from a tourist trap. And some come with amazing stories while eating gelato and how it makes them feel after a tiring or sad day, or how it reminds them when they were kids.  

In Gelato history, once they were able to take it outside, something like that is what it meant to every worker out there that ended their work day. Just a highlight full of emotions and intense flavors, that get them to relax in a summer afternoon. 

What is the plate/container doing in this situation? 

Holding the ice cream of course. It serves as an extra help to allow the commensal to swipe their spoon through the melted part. It won’t let the liquid run away, so it will stay contained.

We do have multiple ways to contain and enjoy gelato, such as a cup, a cone, the whole container that goes in the fridge for when you’re home and directly with a spoon. And they all are great doing their tasks, actually a greta way of describing it is “ Gelato presents as the best way to share a moment, because it’s unique presentations help to create an atmosphere that closes those happy instances.” 

So what I’m trying to accomplish here is to give an homage to the original place that served gelato, as well as sending the reminder of to what it was to have gelato served from a cart outside. While also keeping the classy look for it to be served in the Le Procope Cafe. 

My first instinct was to create a dish that showed the gelato on the table but facing the consumer, it would be aluminum so it conserves the cold and it would have a handle to allow it to keep the angle, as well as a help to hold the plate when eating the gelato. 

The material would remind of the carts that used to go around serving gelato and with a polished finish will held the standard of a high end cousin.

After a lot of thinking as to a complex shape for this container, I went straight to the basics and in a literal way copied the shape of the cover of the big containers in carts where it was made. Same material, different shape, different view and it would allow the customers to play around with a rotating plate of gelato. 

But I have been trying to go away from literal things, and by thinking about the material a little bit more, I decided to go with glass. This will allow the users to view their gelato, appreciate their shape and colors, and help keep the cold when using a double wall. Glass gives flexibility that will allow for exciting shapes. 

As you can see, the shape is a bowl, that should fit your hand, for easy hold, at your home or walking around, as well it will have a small indent to allow the fingers to hold it more secure. 

The inner shape will look as the cap of the gelato containers, that will be more visible when filled with gelato, as well the curves will serve as roads for the gelato to go by and the spoon should fit perfectly there as an extra flavorful section when finishing the gelato.

Gelato is a huge deal for Italians, and I can see why; it shares a lot of history and feelings through every lick. I hope I will be able to try this dish soon; funny enough. Hopefully, this helps me get there sooner.

Thank you for reading me; let me know what you think!