Paris Glace

Finally it's that time again to be grabbing a cone.

This morning France2.fr daily email arrived with a similar big cone sitting on the Place Tour Eiffel plastered across the front.

Irresistable! and titled, Glaces: une grande envie de fraîcheur - L'EAU A LA BOUCHE (mouth watering) I'm ready to think about ice cream and nothing else again.

 

Down the street from my 6ème studio was Amorino at #4 rue Vavin, is one of a chain of 7 gelato shops. Natch I went there my 1st day in Paris. And you could stop in at chocolatier, Jean-Paul Hévin for a take-away lunch like salmon quiche + a chocolate bar etc) at #3 rue Vavin. Then get your cone at Amorino and head for the Luco (Jardin du Luxembourg) for a picnique.
 

The Amorino gelato servers are Italian as are the terms and flavor names used here to get you into the proper frame of mind

It wouldn't hurt to bone up on French flavors. They can be a lot more exotic than straight vanilla, strawberry or chocolate chip though you will always find the classics.
Some examples - get out your dictionaires:
Thé Earl grey, pomme verte, thym citron, mûres de framboisier, litchee, thé vert matcha, Noisette praliné, Café pamplemousse, Cannelle, pêche de vigne, violette,caramel au beurre salé, macaron pistache, l'armagnac-pruneaux, After Eight, safran,fleur de rose, tomate, avocat-guacamole, betterave, citron-romarin et citron-basilic, Goyave, fraise et citron vert, Cassis, melon, pêche, abricot en juillet, framboise, cassis, myrtille en août, orange sanguine, ananas aux six épices, rhubarbe, mangue etc...
And that doesn't include the endless fruit sorbet flavors. These always taste more intense to me over in France.

I'll never forget a certain Pomme Grannie Smith sorbet I had at Brasserie Flo once...
What's your favorite French flavor? Do tell.

"Ice cream colors" tend to be pastelly. They're called tints because they're made by adding white to pure color or with watercolor by adding lots of water to dilute the color to a thin wash.

 

They connote a summery feeling, feminine, child-like or prettiness.

Some other useful French ice cream words:
artisanal = small shops with less than 50 workers using traditional methods= homemade/handcrafted
une boule / deux boules = 1 dip / 2 dips
avec Chantilly = whipped cream on top
le cornet = a cone
la crème glacée = frozen custard

les glaciers = ice cream sellers
les granités = chipped ice with flavoured syrup on top
les bâtons glacés = popsicles
nos fraîcheurs = our freshly made...
les parfums = flavours
un sorbet = fruit sherbet
Don't expect giant scoops of ice cream. The French diping scoop is about the size of a small apricot and easily 1/2 the size of US scoops. Unless you're at Amorino where they throw on as many flavors tulip-petal style as they can manage and you can eat.

BONJOUR GLACE!