Gelato Messina - How I Became a Fan
I first became aware of Messina about a year ago. It was a dark winter night. I picked up a student at the University of New South Wales who wanted to go to "Messina" at Rosebery to pick up a Black Forest ice cream cake.
He asked if I could wait for him to collect the cake and then take him straight back. Naturally, I said yes.
When we arrived, I recognise this place to be one I've dropped off riders before, but I had no idea what it was!
The guy told me that they make ice cream. The cake was for his girlfriend and she loves Messina. He had not had Messina before so he had no idea if it was good or bad.
One night after dinner, my family and I were talking about going somewhere for dessert. We were trying to decide on a place when suddenly, I said "I know this place I want to try."
There wasn't much room for protest because I was the one driving.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward to today.
I picked up a rider from a hotel. He said he's an events co-ordinator and his company was providing dessert for an event at this hotel. There'll be gelato involved later tonight.
Naturally, I asked about the name of the company.
"Messina", he said.
The next 20 minutes was one of the most educational rides of my life.
Alessandro explained how traditional gelato (from Italy) is made and how their way of making gelato is not considered proper gelato making.
Cutting a long story short, every flavour they have (40 of them), are made from scratch, e.g. their Tiramisu gelato has real Tiramisu cake mixed into it. They make the Tiramisu cake themselves. They have their own pastry chefs etc. I know because I've driven one of their chefs to work once.
That means that every flavour has its own texture, its own taste.
He also said they've just purchased their own farm and will be supplying their own milk in the near future.
The paste they use, they made from scratch, instead of the more cost effective way of getting from a supplier.
I like that. I like that they make all the flavours from scratch. I like quality gelato.
I have not tried all their flavours and I can't say I like ALL the flavours I've tried but I do like the majority of those that I've tried.
I can't get past their Tiramisu gelato and Red Velvet (when it's available) but knowing what I know now, I have a new found respect for the brand.
If you haven't tried Messina, go to one of their stores and try, or visit their website.
If you have tried Messina, well, now you know how good their quality is.
I'll see you at their Rosebery store on the weekend.
My Uber adventures: @GelatoMessina - How I Became a Fan http://bit.ly/2q6OoBr #
— Bevan Ting (@aByteofThePie) April 27, 2017
