Tartufo! (And in my cucina)

Each day I walked quickly through Piazza Navona on my way to Cantina del Vecchio.  From my building, I turned left from the door. Walked about 30 yards to the corner. Turned left. Crossed Corso dei Rinascimento and diagonally crossed Piazza Navona (from south to north) and turned left at the corner of the restuaruant Tre Scalini. 

Tre Scalini means "three steps" and that's exactly what greets  you at the door, three shallow steps into the eatery. Outside, even in inclement weather, is outdoor seating. Diners will always, when possible, dine facing the piazza (not the building). 

Waiters outdoors will invite folks walking by to eat at the restaurant (as they do at all tourist spots). I always just rushed by on my way to-and-from work -- 4 times a day. Never did the waiters begin to recognize me. I was just another American. 

I knew from Lisa that this was a famous spot -- especially for the Tartufo. What is tartufo? The word itself translates into "truffle." Here tartufo is a dessert, chocolate gelato that's molded into a rough sphere and dredged in cocoa powder (to resemble the gourmet funghi). Imbedded in tartufo is a surprise -- a maraschino cherry and bits of chocolate. It's served with whipped cream and a sweet crunchy pirouette cookie.

My last afternoon, before the evening shift, I met my new friend Wendy (an amazing and lovely singer from Indiana, now living in Rome) for coffee and tartufo at Tre Scalini. I ordered. It came. I studied it. I poked it. I used a knife to cut into it. I gingerly inserted my spoon and scooped up a morsel. I tasted. Rich. Chocolate. Cold. 

In short, Tartufo starts with deep chocolate gelato. Keep in mind that I had, for the last several weeks, eaten gelato daily -- often twice a day. I became an expert in gelato consumption and a whiz at flavor identification (much like I became a Jelly Belly pro during a certain jelly-bean phase).  The tartufo was delicious. And eating it there, at that restaurant in that piazza in that city in that country was a "bucket list" experience. But it was gelato. So, it was good, but it was gelato for 9-euro (about $13 or so).  Wendy graciously treated.

As with any great memory (especially of food), gestalt came into play in my enjoyment of tartufo. Here it wasn't just the tartufo -- it was Wendy, it was my last day in Rome, it was Piazza Navona, it was a changed and improved Annabel, wiser and more fulfilled in my new life. It was one small dessert for me, one giant leap for Annabelkind. 

Here is my version of Tartufo.

Tartufo

In a pinch, use very good quality dark chocolate ice cream as a stand-in for the gelato.

1 pint dark chocolate gelato

1/4 cup finely chopped good quality bittersweet chocolate

2-3 maraschino cherries

1 cup cocoa powder

Fresh lightly sweeteened whipped cream

Pirouette cookies (or sweet wafers)

Soften the gelato slightly and stir in the chopped chocolate. Form the gelato into spheres (2 to 3 spheres per pint). Use your fingers to insert one maraschino cherry per sphere. Transfer the spheres into a dish and freeze until hard. Remove from freezer and use your hands to form the tartufo into a slightly flattened sphere (see photo above). Just before serving, roll the tarfufo in cocoa powder and serve with whipped cream and wafer. Makes 2-3 servings.