Gelato, Truth and Churches

I always like to take a class to learn a local custom while traveling and what better to learn than how to make than gelato when in Italy!  So off LuLu and I went to meet with Carlos to learn the skill he has been perfecting for more than 15 years.  Carlos moved to Italy from Peru 30 years ago with his parents (mother is Italian and father is Peruvian) and they work in the store with him.  Over the course of the two hours we spent with Carlos and two other travelers, we learned the difference between ice cream and gelato, the importance of fresh and natural ingredients and most importantly, we got to taste as many of the flavors in his cooler as we wanted!  For our lesson, we made Tartufo Truffle which is layered with sponge cake (also made in house by Carlos).  This will come as no surprise to anyone but LuLu was his favorite and he called on her to do a lot of the work...the rest of us were her sous chefs!

While the milk is already pasteurized, Italian law requires additional pasteurization so after we mixed all the ingredients, they were poured into the top part of the machine (Carlos said that while in general Italy is pretty relaxed, when it comes to food and wine, they have a lot of laws).  It takes 8 minutes for the pasteurization process and depending on the ingredients, it depends on the temperature required.  For chocolate, it needs to be 82 celsius (~180 fahrenheit) which also melts the chocolate.  Once pasteurization is complete, a flip of the lever takes the mixture into the freezer section where the magic happens in another 8 minutes.  When the freezing process is complete, another flip of a lever and the sweet nectar of the gods comes out and you have to spread it out in the tin. Since our gelato was layered, I took care of the gelato part and Alan took care of adding the sponge cake layer (made by LuLu).  Once the process was complete, LuLu did the finishing touch of adding the chocolate swirl.

Took all my restraint to not lick the
paddles like you do with a cake mixture!

Each gelateria does things differently but at Carlos', they use color coded handles to identify some common allergens.  Yellow means the gelato contains eggs, white means it contains dairy and blue means it is dairy-free (aka sorbet so it is just water, sugar and fruit or chocolate).  In case you are wondering what makes ice cream and gelato different, the answer is milk or cream.  Ice cream is always made with cream which makes it heavier.  Gelato is always made with milk but can have cream added but never cream only.  Another important thing to be on the look out for when going to a gelateria is whether or not the gelato is in a small tin not piled high and the colors look like what it claims to be.  While the gelatos that are piled high with lots of bright colors may be attractive, they are generally not made with natural ingredients as natural ingredients melt quicker and are actually the color of the flavor's name.

Not too far from our gelato class was the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) and I could not resist the opportunity to do another "then and now" photo...plus needed to make sure LuLu could pass the test 🤣  I was telling LuLu that back in 2007 I had to hang out for almost 30 minutes before another person came by so I could get my photo (no selfies on cell phones then...just old school turning a camera around and hoping it actually got the picture!).  Fast forward to 2024 and we had to wait 15 minutes to get our photo.  Most people know about the Mouth of Truth from "Roman Holiday" but it has been around since the 15th century.  Legend has it that it was used to test if someone was telling the truth by placing their hand inside the mouth.  If they were lying, the mouth would bite off their hand. Spoiler alert: LuLu and I were able to pull our hand out of the mouth!

The Mouth of Truth is at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, a Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

In the Catholic Church, there are designations for the types of churches.  One of the designations is a Papal (or major) Basilica and there are only four in the world...no surprise all four of them are located in Rome.  They are St. Peter's Basilica, Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of St. Mary Major), San Giovanni in Lateran (Basilica of St. John Lateran) and  Papal Basilica St. Paul Outside-the-Walls.  We have visited St. Peter's, St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran and will try to visit St. Paul if time permits...if not, next trip.  

Santa Maria Maggiore has two beautiful facades so it was hard to decide our favorite but the front does face the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore and has a Christmas tree.  

A few photos from around town...

You just never know when you will see a column
or statue from ancient Rome while wandering the streets.

We stopped at our bar to get some pastries
for our place and this is how they package to-go.

We made our way to the third of the Papal Basilicas...San Giovanni in Lateran.  Renovations to the piazza in front of the church for the Jubilee were still taking place so we entered through the back of the door which put us right at the altar.

Major basilicas have the privilege of being able to carry the ombrellino (a red and gold umbrella used to shade the pope) and the tintinnabulum (a bell on a pole that would signify the approach of the pope). 

Across from San Giovanni is the Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs).  These are the steps from Pontius Pilate's palace and brought to Rome by the mother of Constantine (the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity).  Jesus climbed these steps on the day he was sentenced to death.  You can climb these steps but you must do it on your knees (given we both have terrible knees, we just could not do it).  Given the spiritual significance of the space, photos are not allowed but they do sell a little card with a photo.

LuLu has been a trooper with the cold and wind

When we walked through the Piazza Navona with Julian, we were not able to check out the Christmas Market so we thought we would head back over...it was nice to see the piazza but would not recommend the Christmas Market there as it was mostly low quality items and souvenirs versus what you would typically see in Christmas Markets in Northern Italy and other parts of Europe.  The visit did give us another chance to see the newly refurbished Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) and Fontana del Nettuno (Found of Neptune).  This Four Rivers fountain represented the major rivers of the four continents of the time (1651).  For the Americas, Rio de la Pata.  For Africa, the Nile.  For Europe, the Danube.  For Asia, the Ganges.

Another unexpected find at Piazza Navona was Santuario di Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore di Gesù (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus).  While not a large church, it was very lovely and not going to a lie, a nice respite from the cold and wind...no matter your faith (or lack there of) you can always find sanctuary (literally and figuratively) in Catholic churches worldwide.  Of course, we found our old friend St. Anthony.

LuLu has been such a trooper, as always, as we wander our way through the streets, get lost especially when I get turned around with Google Maps, the cold, the crowds, the wind, the miles upon miles we have walked (we will tally them all up on our last day) and the daily discoveries (or adventures as she calls them) of daily living in a foreign country.  On a day when we logged over 14,000 steps, I looked over at her and just had to take a picture (and of course laugh) as the crooked hat, scarf wrapped over most her face and tired eyes pretty much said she was done for the day!