What could be better than ice cream?
Everyone in Port Moresby have been screaming Gelato since the Italian Gelato opened on May 2, Tuesday.
Gelato is pretty much ice cream but is different from ice cream.
How?
Gelato is the Italian word for Ice cream. That’s what makes it ice cream.
But what makes it different from ice cream is what’s used to make it and how it’s made, says owner Elisa Cragnolini.
“Gelato contains a lot less fat and is produced with milk rather than cream which is what ice-cream is produced with. And the process to make Gelato is a lot slower so there’s less air which means when you taste the gelato, it’s like a straight hit of flavour.
“In normal ice cream, because of the high fat content, you get the fatty flavouring in your mouth and you don’t really get to taste the flavour that much. With gelato, you get a lot of flavour and it’s a smooth creamy texture,” she said.
Gelato is the best thing in town right now. How popular?
“We had produced a week’s worth of Gelato but Moresby ate it within the first two day,” said Craignolini.
The shop was forced to close after the first two days when the stock ran out.
“I know that Moresby people like ice cream but I wasn’t expecting it to be this crazy. Everyday has been really good. We’ve had so many people try it and then come back for more, so a lot of repeat customers,” she added.
How busy? Try talk about a line that runs from the kiosk, at the start of the new wing, all the way to the back of the stairs where the two BSP ATMs are located.
If you haven’t already tried Gelato, Craignolini says “come and try it. If you don't, you’re missing out.”
They have 16 flavours – cream based flavours and fruit based flavours. The most popular are pistachio, vanilla and espaniola.
Originated from Italy, Italian Gelato is popular all over the world. But this is the first outlet in PNG.
“Because of the high demand and so many people wanting to try gelato, we’re going to try open up more stores in Port Moresby. But of course I’d love to get the whole of PNG to try gelato so hopefully, in the future, we’ll expand to other cities as well.
“And there’s actually a whole range of flavours that we can make so in the future, we’d like to roll out maybe another 10 to 20 flavours,” Craignolini said.