For the tenth edition of Gelato Day, the Flavour of the Year will be called “Dolce Sinfonia”, a variant of chocolate and hazelnut gelato, the recipe for which will be decided by the new European-wide competition run by Artglace, in association with Longarone Fiere Dolomiti and Italian Exhibition Group (IEG).
Chocolate
In the sixteenth century Seville was the venue of the Royal Council of the Indies, the epicenter of the commercial traffic of the Spanish colonies overseas. It was here that the first documented shipment of chocolate landed in Europe. And the Spanish monks were the first to enhance all its sweetness, adding vanilla and sugar: the result was so delicious, that chocolate became the most popular drink in Spanish society, almost a "national symbol", like tea for the English.
Hazelnut
The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree, cultivated by Man since time immemorial and one of Europe’s most popular gelato flavours. Apart from almonds, they are the nuts with the highest vitamin E content and a source of phytosterols, a group of substances regarded as important for preventing cardiovascular diseases. Hazelnuts also contain monounsaturated fats that can lower LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The main European producer countries are Italy, France and Spain.
