We consider ourselves something of gelato experts, after many years of American and international experience. When we were in Florence this summer, we had gelato at least once a day, trying samples from all over the city. After four days of trials, we settled upon one gelateria in Florence that was head and shoulders above the rest: Gelateria La Sorbettiera. Gelateria La Sorbettiera’s principal location is at Piazza T. Tasso, 11/r – 50124, a little off the tourist track, on the southern bank of the Arno river, which bisects Florence. The store is blink and you’ll miss it small, only a small walk up counter on the side of a compact but busy city square ringed with shops and restaurants.
Over time, we have developed a few rules to find the best gelato. The absolute best gelato is usually found in stainless steel tins as it is at La Sorbettiera, meaning you cannot see the gelato itself. While perhaps not as visually appealing, this will insure that the gelato is being stored at relatively even and stable temperatures, meaning the texture will be better preserved. There is some good gelato to be found outside tins, but avoid place that have super whipped-up gelato. The more the gelato is piled up, the worse it will probably be, because there is mostly air! Secondly, some flavors will clue you in to the quality of the gelateria. Our go-to favorite flavors – both for taste and assessment – are pistachio and chocolate (both pictured below, along with caramel). Pistachio in particular, lets you know how skillful the gelato-makers are, since there is a vast difference in flavor and colors between the best quality pistachios and poor quality/artificial flavors or colors (bright green color, in particular, is a bad sign).
Both the chocolate and the pistachio at La Sorbettiera are excellent: creamy and smooth with pure flavors and no artificial colors. The fruit flavors in particular were bursting with flavor – a perfect distillation of fresh fruit. Along with our go-tos, La Sorbettiera has some great, more unusual flavors, including chai, cheesecake, coffee cardamom, and fig; along with old favorites like lemon, hazelnut, and cream (fiore di latte). Beyond the pistachio and chocolate, other flavors we liked there were salted caramel, raspberry, and mascarpone. Of course, the flavor offering will vary by day and season. The prices are very reasonable, and a large cup or cone with 3 flavors is only 3 euros. A small cup is only 2 euros, and 50 cents extra for whipped cream. You can also get the Sicilian specialty of gelato in a warm brioche for only 4 euros. Talk about a decadent way to start (or finish) your day. If you are in Florence and are looking for some delicious gelato beloved by tourists and locals alike, take a trip to La Sorbettiera.
For a long while we thought that giant chocolate Easter eggs wrapped in bright metallic paper were 
On our trip to Sicily, we took a visit to Modica to see this piece of chocolate history for ourselves, and stopped at the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto (Corso Umberto I, 159, 97015 Modica RG, Italy), one of the more famous chocolatiers, in operation since 1880. This shop in particular is known for their wide variety of Modica chocolates made on the premises. The chocolate bars here come in almost every cacao percentage, plus unique flavors like lime, marjoram, almond and orange peel. Fortunately they let you sample, so we were happy to taste a bunch of varieties before we arrive on our two favorite picks: sea salt and hot chili.
While you can find good traditional Mexican chocolate in Oaxaca and other places in Mexico itself, what Sicily has to offer is on par with these treats. And truth to be told – we could see that this chocolate and that found in Oaxaca were cousins, maybe even siblings. If you are unable to visit Modica itself, you can get the Modica-made 
One of the big events in town this Spring is the Ancient Egypt exhibition, 
Who doesn’t love flourless chocolate cake? We certainly love it, and apparently the Swedish do as well. One of the more popular cakes in Sweden is 
At snack shops and convenience stores around Portugal, you will often see a perplexing yellow and red box with punch holes near the cash register. We learned that it is in fact an awesome game-of-chance involving chocolate candy, called a “Caixa de Furos,” literally a “box of holes” in Portuguese. The boxes are branded by the chocolate brand Regina, so the surprise you receive will be chocolate. So what happens is you use a little pick to punch a hole in the white circle board and then a color-coded ball falls to the bottom of the box. Depending on the color of the ball, you get a different kind of chocolate candy from behind the counter. We tried our hand at a box and got a yellow ball, which got us a 
One of our favorite things to do in a country is to sample their typical iconic breakfast foods. We have found some of our most favorite foods this way – yogurt and honey from Greece, helva from Turkey, Torta Caprese from Italy, etc. – and we find it quite a lot more enjoyable than taking a bland continental breakfast. In Spain, the breakfast treat of choice is hot chocolate and churros. In the US, churros have something of a dubious reputation. While, of course, you can find some excellent renditions of churros in the US, the sugar-coated, soggy churro is often the purview of school lunches and amusement parks. I had personally sworn off churros after they were the only dessert offered in our junior high cafeteria. However, I am open to an opinion change.
As much as cupcakes and the myriad permutations thereof are popular in the USA, brigadeiros are the primary bite-sized dessert in Brazil. 
Eating The World 