How delicious ice cream is made - and what you should watch out for when buying!

It is slowly but surely becoming spring. The first rays of sunshine stay visible a little longer than just five minutes and start to warm us up. This is probably the time when some of the ice cream parlors think about opening again. But why exactly does the ice cream at Pedro's on the corner taste better than the ice cream from the supermarket? 

The answer is actually obvious: one ice cream is made on an assembly line and just comes unkindly in the package. The other ice cream is handmade and handed over in a loving ball in the wafer or cup.

One thing in particular is important here: choosing the right ingredients. This does not mean that you meet everyone's taste, but that you always know where your ingredients come from, that you take natural and as far as possible unprocessed products. No additives, no cheap sugars and fats, no flavor enhancers and especially no flavorings. All this is exactly what the food industry indulges in its mass production. Without this amount of ice cream, after all, somehow does not work.

But back to our ice cream: The milk and also the cream should not come from factory farming. Even if it all becomes a little more expensive then, the milk from the farmer next door still tastes a lot better than the already processed, pasteurized milk from the refrigerated shelf that comes from unhappy barn cows.

In addition, of course, the loving processing of the ingredients is crucial for the insanely good taste. Of course, you have to admit that in large (family) businesses, production is no longer really done by hand, but the machines that produce the ice cream here, produce according to grandmother's recipe and the products are only allowed out of the house and into the ice cream parlors after inspection by the grandson.

Reggio Calabria is considered the capital for our artisan ice cream, but even in Germany you can find some small ice cream parlors that emulate the Italian model and definitely offer competition.

There are then of course all sorts: starting with strawberry ice cream over a delicate vanilla  to chocolate. Coffee, tiramisu, raspberry, pistachio ... If I were to list all the varieties that can be found there, I would still be busy tomorrow. Whether as a ball, as a cup, with cream, with sauce, with waffle or as a milkshake - not only in terms of taste, the full range is exploited here, also in terms of consistency and the trappings!

Not everywhere there is an ice cream parlor, there is really homemade ice cream behind it. You can even find cheat packs with too much milk and too little fruit or chocolate. This may be faster, bring more profit and be less effort, but that's not what we customers expect from a nice gelato!