Gelato Festival America 2018 comes to a close in Tucson
The Tucson winner is:
Bagigi Peanut
by Nazario Melchionda of Frost, a Gelato Shoppe in Tucson, Arizona
Second Place: Haute Churros, by Savannah G. Lee
of Savannah’s Gelato Kitchen in San Francisco, California
Third Place: Mint To Be, by Rebecca Mann
of Blue Ice Gelato in Tucson, Arizona
Please find photographs of the Tucson Gelato Chefs and Gelato Festival America Team from this weekend: link and generic photographs of Gelato Festival America: link
Monday, October 29, 2018 — Gelato Festival America, now in its second year, celebrated the second Tucson edition this weekend at La Encantada. The mission of Gelato Festival America is to spread the culture of artisanal Italian gelato throughout the United States by visiting seven cities this summer. The winner of the contest for best flavor at this Festival was Bagigi Peanut, presented by Nazario Melchionda from Frost, a Gelato Shoppe in Tucson, Arizona. Another chef also hailed from Tucson: Rebecca Mann of Blue Ice Gelato.
– 1st place winner of the Tucson festival, Nazario Melchionda received a beautiful medal by Florentine goldsmith Paolo Penko, presented by PreGel, the official supplier of gelato ingredients for Gelato Festival America. This win makes Melchionda eligible to compete in the North American Semi-Finals in 2019 for a chance to be one of three to represent America at the Gelato Festival World Masters in 2021 in Italy. The Bagigi Peanut flavor was a hit with the Public Jury, composed of ticket-holding guests, as well as the Technical Jury of nine professional judges. Nazario Melchionda describes his winning flavor, “Literally means peanut in the Venetian region. A base of peanut butter infused with salted caramel roasted peanut ribbon. Then sprinkled with a semi sweet chocolate and finished with a chocolate hazelnut crunch ganache.”
– Second place went to Haute Churros, featuring a cinnamon and brown sugar light cheesecake gelato mixed with morsels of churros dipped in espresso sauce, topped with dark chocolate fudge, and drizzled with fleur de sel salted caramel and dulce de leche. By Savannah G. Lee of Savannah’s Gelato Kitchen in San Francisco, California.
– Third place went to Mint To Be, described as a delightful combination of taste and texture. Their freshly pasteurized white base is infused with spearmint leaves, blended with a chocolate base made with the finest French chocolate, and layered with a decadent chocolate crunch. By Rebecca Mann of Blue Ice Gelato in Tucson, Arizona.