The Gelato Festival is back in London for 10 days

       The 2016 London Gelato Festival, supported by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE), is where authentic Italian gelato masters come over from Italy as part of a European tour to put on a fantastic event in Old Spitalfields Market. They are all prizewinning gelatieri and are the best of the best.The event is wildly popular in Italy and attracts millions across the country. They are now rolling out across Europe and this is the second event in London following last year’s spectacular debut.The gelatieri are experimental – there are savoury flavours, sophisticated pairings and all the classics made fresh in the specially converted gelato trucks on site. They’ll be rolling into Spitalfields to serve the gelato, host a full timetable of masterclasses in the gelato lab and bring London the real thing.       The flavours available will be hugely varied, including fruity dairy-free sorbets, chunky dried fruit concoctions, varieties of rich chocolate combinations and of course those that are simple, thick and creamy, such as last year’s festival winner ‘La Dolce Vita’, created by Florence’s Gelateria Badiani. It’s a base of rich ‘Buontalenti’ (cream, eggs, milk and sugar) with swirls of rich chocolate hazelnut sauce. They all show off the best of Italian produce, and the makers do not hold back on inventiveness.The idea of the masterclasses is to educate on the difference between real traditional Italian gelato and ice cream. So each master will teach the audience about the inspiration, the exact ingredients they use and why, people can see and taste everything. There will be different themes, like fruit, dried fruit, chocolate, sorbet etc, and will include different kinds of desserts and cocktails.