Gelato Village bring anchovy gelato to the Italians!

Gelato Village made their bi-annual pilgrimage to one of the biggest celebrations of cheese and dairy in the world this September. Simply entitled Cheese, the festival is run by Slow Food International in Bra, Italy. Bra was the town where the Slow Food movement was born, founded by Carlo Petrini. The goals of the movement are to prevent the disappearance of local food culture and ingredients, fight the rise of fast food and help everyone have access to food that is Good, Clean and Fair.

The theme of Cheese in 2019 was ‘natural is possible’ so there was a focus on natural production methods and raw milk cheese. All of these ideas are linked to ethical and sustainable produce, animal welfare and environmental responsibility.

Anchovy Gelato

Gelato Village were invited to present at the Inalpi Freehouse. Inalpi is a Piemontese butter manufacturer who use 100% local milk of the region. We developed two very special gelato to present to the crowds at the festival. The first was an anchovy and butter gelato, which we served on a turmeric and fennel sourdough made by Bisbrooke Artisans in Rutland. This gave the impression of eating the simple Italian snack, anchovy fillet on buttered bread. A unique mix of salty, sweet, rich and creamy, the audience really enjoyed the journey in flavour that we took them on.

Shropshire Prune Damson Gelato

Second, we introduced our Shropshire Prune Damson and butter gelato which had first been showcased at the Ludlow Food Festival, earlier in September. The Shropshire Prune Damson is an ingredient that is recognised by a Slow Food Arc of Taste – a status that is designed to help protect and promote this increasingly scarce local Midlands ingredient. The sharp sweetness of the fruit set against the extra creamy buttery notes made an excellent pairing and were served with a slice of Bisbrooke Artisan’s key product, the Village sourdough loaf. This sourdough bread added an extra note of sourness and a real chew in the crust which helped the serving to balance beautifully.

It was a great experience, developing these new recipes and sharing a taste of some of our local ingredients with our Italian friends and colleagues. Creating a butter themed gelato really tested our creative skills to the limits, but we’re really happy with what we produced!

Gelato Village hits Nottingham

The UK’s leading makers of artisan Italian gelato, Gelato Village, will be bringing a pop up cabinet to No 8 Delicatessen in West Bridgford this weekend.

Gelato Village are passionate about producing all natural gelato using the very best seasonal ingredients. For a number of years they have done this with the support of Nottingham’s The Fruit Basket, who supply them with the very best in flavourful, in season British produce as well as delicious fruit from further afield. When combined with other local Midlands ingredients, like fresh unhomogenized milk from Vine Farm Dairy in Great Dalby, Leicestershire, Gelato Village’s gelato has proved irresistible – picking up national and even international awards for its quality year upon year.

Now they are bringing their unique flavours to the Fruit Basket’s sister company, the No 8 Deli. Co-owner of Gelato Village Daniele Taverna said “as Slow Food Supporters, we couldn’t think of anywhere better for us to visit in Nottingham. No 8 have been dedicated to food of the highest quality for over 16 years so we know their customers will value the care we take over our gelato and our showcase of the very best produce The Fruit Basket has to offer.”

Gelato Village’s mobile ‘Gelato on Wheels’ cabinet will be at No 8 Deli from Thursday 25th June to Sunday 28th June. Customers will be able to enjoy up to three delicious flavours in a cup of gelato, regardless of which size they choose. The menu will include British strawberry sorbetto and British raspberry sorbetto – both made with fresh seasonal ingredients and vegan friendly. Customers will also be able to enjoy the traditional Fior di Latte gelato, or ‘Flower of the Milk’ which showcases the flavour of the Vine Farm Dairy milk that is the basis of all Gelato Village’s dairy offerings.

A Statement from Gelato Village

Last night around 7.30pm one of our co-owners, Daniele Taverna, was physically assaulted in an unprovoked attack out the front of our gelateria. He was fortunate to come away from the violent incident only shaken and bruised. This was in no small part due to the timely intervention of our near neighbours from 33 Cank Street and Bodega and we would like to thank those individuals for stepping in to help with no thought for their own personal safety.

Years of underfunding have left Leicester without decent provision for destitute people in our city that can also struggle with drug and alcohol problems. They are not being helped and this is making the city feel increasingly unsafe in the evenings. This has become even more noticeable since lockdown.

Similarly, reductions in funding are limiting the response times of our police. After taking detailed information over the phone, the police first went to the wrong address and when they finally arrived, Daniele’s assailant had managed to flee the scene.

We are disappointed that we are not able to feel safe in our own shop. Gelato only exists to make people happy, and Gelato Village only exists to allow us to bring a little bit of joy into our customers’ lives. But we will not put ourselves and our staff at risk to do that.

Next Steps

Having discussed the incident with our team this morning, we realise that none of us feel safe opening in the evening anymore. There needs to be changes in the city to make the night time economy more welcoming for workers and for customers. There needs to be better infrastructure in place for us to feel safe running our business. Until there is change we will not be able to open Gelato Village past 7pm in the evening.

We know this will be disappointing for customers who enjoy visiting us for gelato late at night, after a comedy show or as a follow up to a dinner date. We know a lot of people like to come to Gelato Village because it opens late but does not serve alcohol. We hope that all of these customers will understand and respect our decision. We will continue to open in the daytime, to offer Click & Collect and delivery services, and we hope that you will all continue to support Gelato Village. We will continue to regularly post updates about our opening hours on here and on our Facebook page.

Thank you,

Antonio & Daniele

Gelato in the Square event heralded as an incredible success!

The UK’s first celebration of artisan Italian gelato saw ten of the world’s finest Maestri Gelatieri descend on Gelato Village in Leicester last weekend. As well as bringing incredible new tastes to the people of the city – including Chocolate & Tuscan Cigar – the event provided an opportunity for visitors to learn more about the craft behind traditional gelato making and the careful sourcing of ingredients that goes into its creation.

Supported by a range of small local producers, the team at Gelato Village and their VIP guests crafted sixteen unique gelato and sorbetto creations which showcased the best produce of the season, and their home region. At the centre of this was the rare breed milk and cream from Belvoir Ridge Creamery, Leicestershire, whose single herd of Red Poll cattle supply all of the dairy used by Gelato Village. The visiting gelatieri were delighted to take this excellent local product as the basis for all of their creations, particularly having tried a blind taste test of the milk against the supermarket equivalent at the event’s launch on Friday. All of the gelatieri at the event are committed to Slow Food principles of producing food which is Good, Clean and Fair.


The launch saw another unique event, a gelato inspired colour transformation by local salon group, Barrie Stephen. They sponsored the Fig, Almond & Bay gelato, and were so inspired by the rich colours of the white fig of Cilento, a delicacy of the Campanian region, that they created a bespoke look for their model who was presented to the gelatieri, much to their amazement and delight. Also at the event, local vintner Liz Robson of Rothley Wine Estate provided some refreshing English sparkling wine to toast the event’s success.

 

Throughout the weekend, hungry guests visited the gelateria to enjoy their customary free tastes of gelato, before choosing which of the special flavours they wanted to enjoy.

Antonio De Vecchi, Maestro Gelatiere at Gelato Village was delighted with their response:
“Between us, we made half a tonne of gelato over three days for Leicester to enjoy. We’ve loved the enthusiasm with which our customers have embraced the skill and expertise of our visiting gelatieri colleagues. 
I am also proud to repot that our own creation, The Gelato in the Square, using Marron Glacé from our home region of Piemonte has also been a runaway success!”

As well as enjoying the delicious treats, visitors were treated to an extensive programme of free events throughout the weekend, based around the theme of ‘getting to know gelato’. As well as each of the award winning gelatieri presenting their flavours and their inspiration (along with a delicious free tasting), this programme included a range of local food and drink specialists, including The Bee Farmer giving daily talks about his work and Aperitivo Hour demonstrations from Charlotte Wood of renowned local bar Manhattan34.

 

Award winning chef, Andrea Scarpati of Sapori Restaurant and Bar made a showstopping pairing of Quince & Franciacorta sorbetto with a stunning dish of Scottish salmon tataki with panko bread,soy sauce and balsamic vinegar emulsion served with quince variation. Gelato sponsors Everards also delighted with a pairing of their Tiger bitter with ‘Bacio’ gelato and Planet Leicester Bakers challenged the Masters to a Flavour Off – where interpretations of Spiced Pear in bread and sorbetto were found to complement each other perfectly, rather than being bitter rivals as intended!

Gelato Village would like to extend its thanks to all of the visiting gelatieri, many of whom closed their own award winning independent gelaterias in Italy to participate in the event. Also thanks go to the Compagnia Gelatieri, a professional association of gelato makers, who supported the organisation of the event, as well as Agrimontana and Antonelli Brothers for their sponsorship.

“I found Gelato in the Square to be a great experience. 
Our hosts did a fantastic job, and personally I hope they repeat the event in the future! 
I also found all of the visitors were very interested in the making of the gelato. 
As there is so much work to be done so that people can understand more about good quality ingredients, and therefore good gelato, I’d love to see more events like this.”
Vera Castrovilli, Nevedarance – Caluso, Piemonte

Notes for Editors
An extensive gallery of images by Matt Glover Photography is available to support coverage of this event.
For more information, interview requests or supplementary information, please contact Laura Hadland.

 

Gelato Village is an independent gelateria in the heart of Leicester which is dedicated to make high quality fresh products without the use of any artificial flavourings, stabilisers or preservatives. It was opened in 2014 by Antonio De Vecchi and Daniele Taverna and has received numerous local, national and international accolades for the quality of its gelato.

Suffragette hero Alice Hawkins celebrated by Gelato Village

 

 

In the centenary year of the Representation of the People Act, Leicester’s Gelato Village have joined in with the celebration of Alice Hawkins’ dedication to women’s rights and the improvement of working conditions.

“Alice was a local working class hero who campaigned tirelessly in Leicester to improve working conditions in the Boot & Shoe Industry and to gain women’s suffrage” said Daniele Taverna, co-owner of the Leicester gelateria. “The least we can do is name a gelato for her”.  Gelato Village have selected a white chocolate and lavender gelato to simply name ‘Alice Hawkins’.

“The colours of the gelato – purple, green and white – are the same as the colours used by the Women’s Social and Political Union” said Daniele. “These would have been the colours of the sash shown on the newly unveiled status of Ms Hawkins in Market Square”.

 

 

This is not the first time that Gelato Village have immortalised significant local figures in gelato.  A Richard III gelato, made with rose blossom and fruits of the forest ripple has been available since the gelateria opened in August 2014.  The Gelato dei Campioni, which celebrated the historic Premier League victory of Leicester City Football Club in 2016, was ‘retired’ in February 2017 when Claudio Ranieri was sacked by the club.

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