Just chill
Aditi Gangavkar explores Amore - Mumbai's very
first gelateria - and returns impressed
The sun is blazing; the heat is on. It's
that time of the year again, when
woollies go back in the closet and cool
cottons rule your dressing style; tresses
shorten and shades are back in action. Talk
about food and the 'eat it before it melts'
dessert becomes haute stuff. Interestingly, this
summer, Mumbaikars have a chance to beat
the heat in style, or shall we say the Italian
style? Adding a twist to the usual ice cream, is
'gelato', the latest to hit the city's dessert
menu and the hot spot is 'Amore' - Mumbai's
very first gelateria (gelato parlour) tucked
away in the bylanes of Carter Road, Bandra.
Offering a variety of exotic flavours of gelato,
the authentic Italian frozen dessert, the
parlour offers creations like Tiramisu,
Toblerone, Nocciola (hazelnut), Belgian
chocolate and Nutella.
The Amore idea
In Italy, this dessert is more than just
equivalent of ice cream; it is a culture and
way of life. But for Yasser, Nayyer and the
noted Italian Chef Costanzo Malatto (the
co-owners of Amore), it's all about 'passion
and love'. In fact, that is what Amore stands
for in Italian.
With a clear vision to give Indian a "good
ice cream", the trio decided to launch
Mumbai's first gelato parlour. But that was
way back in January 2005 and it took almost a
year for this dream to materialise. Even then,
no time was wasted - in this one year, Yasser
got himself trained in making gelato in Italy
and researched thoroughly on the Indian
frozen market, even as Nayyer discussed and
made award winning master Gelietere,
Costanzo Malatto, a part of this project. "We
would have been here six months earlier, but
getting the right property for the parlour took
time," says Yasser who strongly feels that the
cosmopolitan culture of Mumbai desperately
needs what Amore offers.
Advantages and limitations
Gelato is a rich and velvety Italian frozen
dessert crafted from a perfectly balanced
mixture of whole milk, cream, fresh fruits,
nuts and sugar and is flavoured with 100 per
cent natural ingredients. Unlike industrial ice
cream, gelato is made on a daily basis in
micro-batches to ensure quality and freshness.
Rightly so, a usual day at Amore starts with
the chef's trip to the market to buy the
choicest fruits, on which, the day's menu
particularly depends. Then again, as gelato
receives its flavours from fruits, there is
absolutely no limit on the flavours that can be
explored with. The dessert is a true treat for
health conscious people, as it doesn't have
any artificial flavours, additives or
preservatives and has significantly lower fat
content (0-8 per cent), as against industrial
ice creams (16-20 per cent). Chef Costanzo
explains the reason: "For preparing an ice
cream, one makes the base mixture in the
liquid form and pours it in a blast freezer.
Here, air is added to the mixture to make it
fluffy and creamy. In industrial ice creams the
