Jim, the owner of Adelaide’s Ecco Gelato, is passionate about gelati. In particular, he is passionate about top quality gelati. And how can you recognise good gelati? It is made each day from fresh milk, using premium ingredients. It is churned in the proper machine to give the wonderful elastic texture of traditional Italian gelati. And it is stored at the right temperature to keep it in top condition.
The second best part about our gelati travels – the best is, obviously, eating lots of gelati – is chatting with and learning from artisan makers like Jim. And while we enjoyed our discussion, the proof is in the gelati. Ecco Gelato’s is outstanding.
All the gelati at Ecco is made fresh each day, from Italian ingredients. Except for bananas, everything else is imported from Italy. No pre-mixes or powdered milk here. The best Italian hazelnuts and pistachios are roasted and ground in Italy – according to Jim, importing raw nuts is risky as the nuts can go stale if there are delays in transit.
Ecco supplies gelati to a number of Italian restaurants in Adelaide from its Holden Hill base, which also caters for retail customers. It doesn’t look much from the outside, but on the inside – once past the gelato cabinets – there are benches and stools along the window and one wall, which is adorned by a huge mural photograph of a Sicilian town near Palermo. Another wall is dotted with colourful Sicilian ceramics.
Ecco is a family business – Jim’s pastry chef daughter Caitlin devises the gelati flavours and creates Ecco’s gelato cakes. The gelati flavours change from time to time – when we visited there were 18 flavours in the cabinets, including both dairy and non-dairy (vegan) options. The gelati is served in cups, cones or tubs to take away. Ecco also offers a range of Italian beverages, as well as coffee and gelati sodas.
I had a cup with three flavours: lemon sorbetto, amarena and pistachio. The lemon is made in the Sicilian style, rich and creamy, with a beautiful citrus tang. The amarena is an excellent fior di latte, with gorgeous Italian sour cherries swirled through. And the pistachio – just brilliant.
Benny picked a cup of vegan chocolate paired with coconut gelato. The chocolate was outstanding – a deep, rich flavour, very smooth and with a beautiful mouth feel. Complemented perfectly by a great coconut gelato.
The texture of everything we tasted was fantastic – smooth, creamy and with the gorgeous elasticity that makes the best gelati such a pleasure to eat. And Ecco Gelato has some of the best gelati we have tasted.
Update: Sad news. Ecco Gelato closed in August 2021. But a new adventure awaits for Jim, in Townsville!
Outstanding gelati from a traditional Italian style gelateria.
Ecco Gelato
670b North East Road
Holden Hill SA 5088
T: 0468 930 601
W: eccogelato.co
Had the Gelato Kanoli with family over Christmas and were an absolute winner and loved by all , I thoroughly recommend them . Their gelato is creamy and truely delicious.
We’re also keen to sample Ecco’s sfogliatelle! Next time….