04/27/2021
This month's flavor is very late, but for (somewhat) good reason. It's with great pleasure that I bring to you a strawberry basil sorbet!
April has been busy-busy. My job search ramped up, and I started taking a government-mandated food establishment manager course to ensure I am giving you fine folks the best quality gelato I can be! I got a little lost in these two, and hit a bit of a creative block in thinking of a flavor for April. Until about a week ago.
This story begins as many have been recently: with a stroll and a friend I hadn't seen since before the pandemic. We were somewhere near the Jacques-Cartier, on one of those blissfully early summer days we got last week, and we were hot and hungry. Luckily, as civilization crept back from the construction graveyard that is south Papineau, we saw a whole-in-the-wall gelato/deppaneur/donutterie plastered wall-to-wall with a jarring mix of 50s wine mom slogans and Disney paraphernalia. Despite these decor decisions, La Cochonnet's gelato looked divine and more than that—the tubs were half-filled. This implied to me a level of customer satisfaction which even tricked out downtown ice cream shops couldn't manage. In the top-left corner, tucked behind myriad richer and creamier flavors, was a semi-filled tub of a flavor labelled strawberry basil. I had, of course, heard of this combination before, but it had been locked behind CV tweaks and rote memorization of common-sense food safety laws. As I had tried it, my block cleared, I knew that I had to make it for you all as a refreshing token of new beginnings, spring, and apologies.
I'm sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy my take on such a classic and eclectic pairing 🍓