Everybody has her own way of eating ice-cream. Some sit politely and enjoy it in a plastic cup with its nice little spoon, others prefer to grab a cone and lick it in fast circles while walking. I’m the cone&walk type, which doesn’t mean I don’t savour every little lick. As a matter of fact, I noticed that I eat my gelato as if I was kissing someone I’m really in lust for. And the favorite french kiss is the one I have with whipped cream. Oh, the lovely panna montata.
Always on top of any other flavor, always at a milder temperature and softer texture, this makes the perfect opening title of any serious journey through having your gelato. Once again, taste is personal: I’m not a fan of buttery, solid whipped creams while others look exactly for them. For example my sister Manuela likes La funivia‘s panna montata while I find it really difficult to french-kiss. Also, it’s worth pointing out that excellent ice-cream makers don’t necessarily make a whipped cream that stands at the same level, and vice versa. Anyway, enough with forewords. Here are the top five french kisses whipped creams I enjoyed in Bologna, and those of a couple of girlfriends.
#1 Stefino
Extremely light and as fluffy as a cloud, Stefino‘s panna montata is my real favorite. Which is ironic, considering that most of this organic ice-cream producer’s flavors are vegan. But this is my idea of perfection in the shape of panna montata. Made out of local organic farms’ fresh cream, it disappears in a few, lustful licks, has only a moderate addition of sugar and it’s free (doesn’t count as a flavor on your bill). I could kiss it all day long.
#2 Galliera 49
Boring. This place is just excellence for everything so yeah, of course, it’s also excellent when it comes to panna montata. It’s just good, just perfectly good (and it comes for free, too). It’s the perfect kiss with the perfect boyfriend that you’d never leave and could even accept to share with others, as long as it keeps providing you that good stuff.
«I love it because it’s light and you don’t feel like sinking while you eat it» is what Mariluce has to say about it. Since this curly-haired, doe-eyed girl is one of the most stylish young creatures in town, I really cannot object. Especially because I tried it more than once and, oh yeah. Let me sink.
#4 Gelatauro
Slightly sweeter and more solid that Stefino’s, it’s still one of the best in town and makes a perfect addition to an almond granita or a fruit sorbet. Coming from the milk of organic breeding farms, it provides that nourishing kiss that helps you through the day and lets you invigorated at night.
The only time I tried it I kind of found it a bit too sweet and heavy, but I must have been mistaken. According to my friend Paola, for example, a regular of the area and a woman of excellent taste, it resembles perfection: “Welcoming but not suffocating: like an embrace” is all she has to say about it. And who am I to contradict her?
Flaneur in Bologna 