Delicious Gluten-Free Gelato and Sorbet

Last year, I reviewed a coconut gelato by Talenti, a Texas based company that makes gelato reminiscent of what you’ll find in Italy. The only place I’ve seen the product line is Publix. The products I’ve tried so far are exceptional and also frightfully expensive. One pint is $4.99 at Publix and more than that online. In my opinion, you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to sorbet and gelato. The gelatos from Talenti are the only versions I’ve found in the U.S. that taste like they came from Italy. I’ve not tried all brands of gelato sold here,  of course.

Talenti products are not made with high fructose corn syrup and don’t contain artificial ingredients. The gelatos are blended with hormone free milk. The chocolate flavors are made with chocolate from Belgium – not chocolate flavored syrup. When I first started reading labels, I was shocked to see how much fake food was in many well known ice cream brands. Finally, I found a couple of options that only contained cream, sugar and vanilla bean but those are still few and far between today.

Talenti products are made with quality ingredients from around the world. The taste is simply incredible and the flavors are very intense. The Caribbean Coconut gelato is excellent, but Lisbon Lemon is my new favorite sorbet. It’s also the best lemon version I’ve had to date. The next time I feel like treating myself, I’ll pick up the Roman Raspberry sorbet – or rather sorbetto.

From the Talenti website –

We are dedicated to the strict principle of authenticity by committing ourselves to the 500 year old tradition of handcrafted gelato e sorbetto created with unparalleled artisanship.  We make everything from scratch using the finest ingredients available regardless of cost.  We combine these ingredients by hand in small batches using classical Italian gelato making equipment.  To this we add our innovative spirit and passion in order to offer our customers a myriad of flavors from which to choose.  This wonderful gelato e sorbetto selection is available either by the pint or by the scoop.  The end result is an amazingly tasty treat to be enjoyed as one of life’s greatest “simple pleasures”.

Products made with pure, real ingredients really do taste best – no matter what the food is. If there is an upside to having to constantly read food labels, it’s the fact that those of us that do it are much more educated about what we’re eating than the average consumer is. Talenti uses a symbol system to indicate what items are gluten-free. The website still does not seem to have a list of the gluten-free varieties, but the containers generally have several symbols on the back. The symbols indicate if the item is gluten-free, dairy-free, fat free, etc.  Most of the products are in fact, gluten-free except for the obvious flavors with “cookie” or “crunch” in the name.

It’s already air conditioner season in much of the South. We usually get a month long break when the heat or a/c isn’t need to make the house comfortable.  This year that break never came. It went from being quite chilly to flat out hot in a flash. With what is expected to be an unseasonably warm summer in “Hotlanta” on the way, Talenti gelatos and sorbets are the perfect gluten-free treat to cool things down!