Gelato comes to Covent Garden

Always around this time of year, my mind turns to ice cream. I like eating the stuff when I'm out and about; I'm not the kind of ice cream eater who sits at home in front of the TV nursing a tub on his lap (although I have been known to do that too). Until recently, however, there has always been a rather large cloud on the horizon of my spring-time ice cream delight: the knowledge that, in order to get a proper Italian gelato—which must surely be acknowledged to be the supreme type of ice cream—I would have to wait until my next trip to Italy, which might not come around for...I don't know, years!

However, I'm pleased to say that such gloomy reflections no longer trouble me, because these days London's Covent Garden boasts an ice cream parlour serving Italian gelato that is the equal of what you might find in the best parlours of Florence or Venice (well, perhaps not quite that good, but really not far off). Scoop, on Shorts Garden, is an excellent addition to the capital's food scene, and must be visited and supported by as many ice cream enthusiasts as possible, as often as possible. (Handily, it's not far away from the Prospect office.) Gelato, incidentally, is a very different thing from the ice cream you usually find in this country. It is usually made with milk rather than cream, and doesn't tend to be stabilized with egg (so it's lighter and healthier). It needs to be stored in a special gelato freezer that keeps it at a higher temperature than a conventional freezer—which means that it is semi-soft when it is served, and melts quicker.

By the way, if you are in Florence any time soon, I suggest a visit to Vivoli's, near Santa Croce, for what may well be the ultimate ultimate ice cream.