It wouldn’t be summer without gelato. But apart from traditional flavours like pistachio, fior di latte, chocolate, strawberry and lemon, what new ideas are appearing in this exceptionally hot summer?

There are more and more flavours with an alcoholic twist, with the use of spirits, liqueurs or even beer. So-called affogato, where gelato is “drowned”, for example in coffee, also seems to be making a big comeback. Another variety that the sweet-toothed will find hard to resist is gelato with zabaglione and specialty coffee. Peck dispayed its flair for innovation when it presented three ice-cream cocktails by chef Galileo Reposo: a highly original coming together of pastry art and mixology. Almond stracciatella with candied lemon and white chocolate, crème de menthe and chocolate combined with white rum and Brancamenta; pistachio-flavoured gelato and the sweet aroma of Chartreuse and of meringue combined with vodka and – in a revisitation of frozen Daiquiri – Rum and Bénédectine combined with lemon and saffron gelato (another big hit of summer 2022).

The demand for local, genuine ingredients in season continues unabated, even better if organic or bio-dynamic. Cherry, strawberry, peach, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, mint and basil-lemon are among the flavours offered by the historic gelateria La Pasqualina in Almenno San Bartolomeo (near Bergamo) for summer 2022. With one special feature: “Long before we get to work with the machines, we start the gelato-making process by putting pen to paper, having done our research into the highest quality ingredients,” explains Riccardo Schiavi, of the fourth generation running the pasticceria-gelateria, who decided to set up a two-hectare farm close to the historic establishment: not so much zero miles, then, as “zero yards”.

But apart from sustainability, the search for genuine ingredients and zero miles, the other driver of choice this summer is the novelty idea. Innovation seems to know no bounds, and a whole range of weird and wonderful flavours has appeared, for example, in Lithuania, where chefs and gelato makers are experimenting with various new and traditional recipes, featuring such unusual things as cloves and saffron, much loved by the Lithuanian nobility as long ago as the 18th century. New flavours include quince, dill and nettle, pine needles and even crickets (with black sesame and vanilla, at the Central restaurant in Marijampolė). As for gastronomic gelato, mackerel ice cream with breadcrumbs is served at the Apvalaus Stalo Klubas restaurant, in the medieval town of Trakai and seaweed (with lobster caramel crunch, hazelnut oil and black sturgeon roe, the creation of Vila Komoda in the popular seaside resort of Palanga).