Tour del Gelato: Oasi del Gelato, Roccamonfina

Oasi del Gelato is located on a main street in Roccamonfina, in walking distance from the wonderfully green Piazza Nicola Amore. In all of Italy, this is my favorite gelateria, and I would not be surprised if N felt the same way. As I mentioned in my previous post, Roccamonfina is known for its chestnuts, and it is the castagna (chestnut) gelato at Oasi delGelato that keeps us going back for more. Oasi del Gelato also showcases a few other nut flavors: the rare noce (walnut,) mandorla (almond,) pralinone (praline,) and the ubiquitous nocciola (hazelnut.)

I took me a while to try the chestnut gelato. I was never a fan of nut flavors, preferring fruit flavors like melone (melon,) limone (lemon,) and mela verde (green apple) in hot weather, and the range of chocolate flavors when it's cooler. The first nut flavor I tried at Oasi del Gelato was almond, because I thought it would make a happy abbinamento with chocolate. Well, it did, and I liked it even better than chocolate (blasphemy, I know.) Almond was my favorite until N coaxed me into trying some chestnut. Since then, I have not gone back to Roccamonfina without ordering it. I even had it with green apple one very hot summer day. That is not a combination I recommend to anyone.

Last Wednesday, I ordered chestnut and chocolate tartufo, while N chose chestnut and liquirizia (licorice.) He realized this was a strange combination, but he likes chestnut almost as much as I do. We like the chestnut gelato because it strikes the perfect balance of nutty and sweet. It is exceptionally creamy and has bits of soft, candied chestnut. If you are fortunate, and arrive just as they place a new tub behind the counter, you may get some chestnut syrup in your cup or cone. The chocolate tartufo wasn't bad, but it had more of an alcohol taste than I like in my gelato. It suffered too much from being next to chestnut, I fear. N's licorice was quite delicious. It was creamy, sweet and delightfully sharp.

Of the other flavors available, walnut may be the most interesting. N actually prefers it to chestnut. It's also creamy, not too sweet, and has bits of walnut throughout. Almond tends to have a more regular consistency than either walnut or chestnut, and a pleasant, if mild, almond taste. Praline is the sweetest and crunchiest of the nut flavors. Of the fruit flavors, I like green apple best. It's more like an ice here, very light, and it has just the right amount of tartness. Other flavors available at Oasi del Gelato include the typical amarena, lampone, fragola, limone, melone, strasciatella, baci, the usual chocolate flavors, and the intriguing sapori di sicilia (flavors of Sicily) which we've never tried, but certainly will do on a future visit.

Here's a close-up of my cone. Yes, I did lick the half with the chestnut gelato before taking the photo. No, it would not have been possible to wait until after taking the photo. This is a view of the interior of the gelateria. As you can see, there are plenty of comfortable places to sit while enjoying your gelato. There's additional seating outside. On warm, sunny days, it's even better to take your gelato with you as you walk to the piazza, where there's a terrace with a nice view of the countryside. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a photo of the gelato counter because there were too many customers, which is always a good sign. You can see some of them anxiously waiting to order in the background of the photo.

Oasi del Gelato
Via Napoli 21, Roccamonfina (CE)
Tel: 0823 921760

For more information on the Tour del Gelato, visit Ms. Adventures in Italy.