An afternoon of nothing but gelato

The fairly cold and rainy Tuesday afternoon didn't hinder us from enjoying the galore of gelato specially prepared for us at Nothing but Desserts at The Avenue Complex. I've tried a number of the Mokkilato gelato offerings at Coffeebreak and NBD before like kalamansi, mento, mango cheese cake, caramel and tiramisu among others.

But when Ms Arvi Sumayo Sicad, Marketing Manager of Great Foods Comcepts Inc mentioned a host of new local and exotic flavours like santol, ampalaya and my "favorite", ginger, it got me all excited. Good thing Nothing but Desserts has their own gelato machine that they can make any flavours under the sun, anytime.

Ampalaya gelato

So, lets start with one of the most intriguing - AMPALAYA. No problem with me, I guess since I eat amargoso as a vegetable and I've tasted dishes having this gourd in all its bitterness. The first taste impression I had with the gelato version of bittergourd was it had hints of guava skin taste.

A confusing taste test but I liked it since it had no traces of the bitterness everyone dreads. Its the novelty of the flavour plus being curious on the actual taste would be the selling factor of this flavour which at that time was almost halfway sold.

Ginger gelato

If possible, I'd stay away from ginger especially from local cooking even though I know the health benefits one can get. But now, there's one ginger specialty I am eagerly looking forward to - GINGER GELATO. It smells like ginger and really tastes like one - so how come I liked it? I don't know, all I know is that I almost finished a whole serving of it yesterday. I didn't have to remind my self that its gigner as it comes with the natural ginger spice in every spoonful!

Carrot gelato

An almost safe, tried and tested flavor is CARROT which I find more refreshing. Basically, there's no overpowering taste and aroma, just the color and the hints of "carroty" taste makes you feel like a rabbit in every bite. Its also a god way of enticing kids and those who don't like carrots to finally have a taste. And who knows they will like it and eventually the actual carrot itself.

Turmeric

Another exotic flavour (and another ginger variant) is the TURMERIC GELATO. Locally referred to as kalawag or luyang dilaw, this spice is mostly associated with the Ilonggo dish valenciana, with the spice giving the rice dish its signature yellowish hue. As a Mokkilato gelato, this one is less overwhelming than the regular ginger flavour in taste and aroma but knowing its one exotic flavour on its own, it can entice those with adventurous taste.

Unto the fruit selection of Mokkilato, let's start with something exotic - SANTOL. The color alone is exotic enough as one ay not usually find a dark orange gelato or ice cream for that matter. And it just follows that it is not only the pulp from the santol seeds that made it as gelato but also that orange inside peel of the fruit that made it into the Italian ice cream.

The PASSION FRUIT flavour has one of the most overwhelming and lingering flavour. It was more on the sour side on the first bite then "passion" comes in. The nice aroma and flavour but the hints of exoticness will certainly entice gelato fans to try out this flavour.

Now unto something sweet - LANGKA. Unmistakably, this ripe jackfruit flavour could be one of the best sellers as it presents the real taste and aroma of the fruit. You could almost smell and taste it just by looking at the photo!This flavour really for those having a sweet tooth for every spoonful is a burst of langka sweetness!

But one of the top notch flavours, well just among us then, was GUYABANO. Locally known as babana or soursop in English, it was a perfect blend of sweet and sour flavours. Depending on the sensitivity of your taste buds, you can ewither taste the sweetness or the sourness first then it changes into sour and sweet respectively. But it had the taste of the real fruit which a very generous amount I guess was used. It was almost like eating an icy fresh guyabano in every bite.

And this PEANUT BUTTER variant also shared the top spot in our gelato afternoon at Nothing But Desserts. Of course, what can go wrong with peanut butter except maybe having too much. A spoonful is like a having a spoonful of peanut butter right of the bottle. And the flavour appeals to both young and old, and its an almost universal flavour to begin with thus it has the makings of a best seller!

With nine new flavours, both familiar and exotic, it was indeed a great Mokkilato gelato afternoon at Nothing But Desserts. But still, one flavour eveaded us yesterday as the fruit wasn't available that time. Its among their best sellers in the exotic fruit category - TIESA. Oh well, its a perfect reason for me to go back at NBD anytime soon, for all the desserts my eyes and feast one and of course all the sweets I can gorge on. Now i wonder how did we finish all of those gelato above? Hmmm...

Nothing But Desserts is located at The Avenue Complex in Smallville, Mandurriao, Iloilo City. It is open daily around 12nn until 12midnight.

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FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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