The best way to do this is to use a family recipe from 1840 and never change it. Let's find out more about this.
This is the story of how 180 years ago, a family gave home to gelato in a small town in southern Italy. The family recipe requires only three ingredients:
Milk, sugar and eggs. However, each flavor has different proportions of ingredients. Sometimes it's about more or less eggs or sugar. However, we use the same amount of milk each time
– reveals Giuliana Paparella, co-owner of Mokambo Galateria.
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The family recipe has not changed since 1840
Gelato in Mokambo has been produced this way since 1840. It's all thanks to Uncle Luigi, who brought the art of gelato production from the royal courts of Naples to his hometown of Ruvo, which has been associated with this ice cream ever since.
To the original recipe from 1840, which is called “King's Cream“, seven flavors have joined: pistachio, almonds, chocolate, quince, nougat, gianduja and hazelnut. All ingredients are seasonal, so the winter flavor will never be, for example, strawberry, but almond. This flavor in particular is made with homemade almond butter. Almonds are being ground right before our eyes.
The family recipe requires only three ingredients
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– These are local almonds. We are in Ruvo di Puglia – the land of olive oil, wine and, above all, almonds. We use one of the best varieties – Genco. They are very aromatic. We started making the butter yesterday morning. It's been almost 24 hours, and you have to grind the almonds for almost 45 hours to get the right consistency. However, we will make gelato with slightly coarser butter. We will try gelato with a slightly more traditional consistency, which is characterized by a noticeable roughness. Experiencing the different stages of grinding is also a beautiful thing. You can see pieces of almonds. Try it and tell me what you think, says Giuliana.
-I'm trying. I love the taste, I reply.
— It's a completely natural product. You're basically tasting pure almond butter now, explains Giuliana.
Now we finally add the third and final ingredient – milk. We softened the mixture a bit. To make each flavor you need…
– Make them in a separate pot. Especially the recipe for Krem Króla contains a secret bouquet of aromas and spices. We have been passing it down in the family for 120 years. That's one of the reasons we can't do it today. However, we make a typically local flavor, using local almonds, explains the co-owner of the ice cream parlor.
But this is not the end. First we need to cook the almond butter. Why is cooking important?
— You're Italian. It's like you said, “Open the tomato sauce and add it to the pasta“. Let's just say that the loss of water promotes a better combination of flavors. You can't follow the usual recipe where you mix everything together and freeze it. It doesn't make sense, he says.
It's time to pour our cooked mixture into the gelato machine, which will freeze it and turn it into gelato. So far, all the gelato machines I've seen have been positioned horizontally, not vertically.
The family recipe has not changed since 1840
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Read also: They make the largest mozzarella in the world. It's not cheese, it's a legend
Why is the gelato machine at Mokambo Galateria unique?
— The freezing basket is placed vertically. This device uses an old method. It is about 50 years old and is very close to us. Only one company in the world has a patent for it. However, they no longer produce this machine. Remember that this type of mixture can only be made in such a machine. If I placed it in a horizontal machine, I would get a completely different effect. Our mixture would not be whipped properly. This is the best possible system. The machine does what was once done by hand. So it's a traditional machine for making traditional gelato, explains Giuliana.
You're watching this for a few minutes, but it took us five hours to make just one flavor. I feel sorry for Giuliana that she has to do this eight times a day for each flavor, but I can't wait to try the one I made today. So let's get down to business. Will these gelatos take me back to 1840?
“It looks nice, creamy and uniform,” I say
“Claudia, I could hire you,” Giuliana replies.
– You passed the exam. You have the job, laughs Vincenzo Paparella, marketing manager at Mokambo Galateria.
The original recipe from 1840, which is called “King's Cream”, has been added with seven flavors: pistachio, almond, chocolate, quince, nougat, gianduja and hazelnut
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Did I mention it takes five hours to make one flavor? The tasting part was no joke either. Giuliana and Vincenzo were very serious about making sure I tried every flavor. Giuliana kept pouring more gelato on me. A special mention goes to the taste…
— It doesn't taste like pistachio gelato, but like pistachio cream. I really thought we ended the tasting with a bang by trying the pistachio flavor, which I really enjoyed, but I may have a new favorite: King's Scepter. It takes three days to prepare and is made from Iranian saffron. Giuliana serves them in a cone filled with cream and pistachio paste. He then covers the gelato with more cream and gold leaf. I don't think I've ever had gelato with such a flavor. It's delicious. Congratulations. Unfortunately, I didn't do it. “Oops, sorry,” I say with fake sadness.
“Don't worry,” Giuliana comforts me.
Author: Claudia Romeo, journalist, Insider
