Tartufo

Tartufo is a delightful Italian ice cream dessert originating from Pizzo, a picturesque town in Calabria. This treat typically boasts a combination of two or more ice cream flavors, with a surprise center of fruit syrup or frozen fruit such as raspberry, strawberry, or cherry. It is all enveloped in a delectable shell made from chocolate, cocoa, cinnamon, or nuts. In Italy, Tartufo di Pizzo is so esteemed that it has been granted Protected Geographical Indication status.

The story of tartufo begins in 1946 when master confectioner Dante Veronelli took over the Gran Bar Excelsior in Pizzo. In 1952, he collaborated with Giuseppe De Maria, and together, they serendipitously created the iconic tartufo dessert. After Veronelli's passing, De Maria continued the tradition, ensuring the original recipe remained within the family.

Crafting tartufo is an art. It involves hand-sculpting two flavors of ice cream together. The center is then filled with fruit syrup or a piece of frozen fruit, either by carving out a space in the ice cream or by adding it directly. The final touch is a coating of chocolate, cinnamon, cocoa, or nuts before the dessert is frozen to perfection. Sometimes, circular molds are used to give the tartufo its distinctive shape.

The tartufo legacy lives on through family-run establishments such as Bar Dante and Bar Ercole, where the secret recipe is lovingly passed down from one generation to the next.