Tartufo di Pizzo Calabrese al Cioccolato

Calabria

The ice cream speciality of Pizzo, Calabria — a ball of dark chocolate gelato with a hidden molten core of hazelnut cream (or chocolate sauce), rolled in cocoa powder to look like a truffle mushroom. Created in 1952 and now internationally recognised, it is made by hand-forming each tartufo around a frozen scoop of sauce, sealing it with gelato, pressing into shape and rolling in cocoa. The molten centre is achieved by a second, less-frozen interior.

• Layered ice cream mould with different frozen components — the French version uses a mould; Pizzo uses hand-forming → Bombe glacée French
• Ice cream encased in a soft, pliable outer layer with a different texture interior — same concept of contrasting textures in a frozen confection → Mochi ice cream Japanese
• Ice cream enclosed within a different material — the British version uses sponge cake; Pizzo uses gelato around a softer gelato → Arctic roll British

Bitter dark chocolate, intensely cocoa-dusted exterior; the molten centre is sweeter and more fluid; cutting reveals the two-tone interior — a gelato preparation that is more a confection than dessert; simple theatre at its finest