Only knowing two out of the three words in the description, I took the plunge and tossed this Talenti treat into my cart. Before checking out, I had contemplated cruising back through the freezer isle and making another selection, but stuck with my initial instinct. The fact that I was even having second thoughts should have been my first red flag. Despite not knowing what stracciatella meant, I still had strong intuition of exactly how this was going to taste.
After doing some of my own research, I discovered stracciatella is just a standard chocolate chip gelato. In order to obtain that crunchy like consistency, also found in Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip, they add a small stream of melted chocolate during the final churning process. According to Talenti, "We take a cue from a traditional Italian gelato flavor by adding delicate, crunchy pieces of dark chocolate to sweet, creamy gelato with a hint of vanilla." Twisting off the top to this pint, I encounter a rather tame-looking top layer.
Talenti usually allows their incredible ingredients to do their talking for them. Judging by the lack of complexity in the description, that's definitely their intentions here. The consistency of the gelato was soft and gentle. It peeled back with passivity without the impedance of large chunks of chocolate. The chalky colored gelato had received only trivial hints of vanilla, really allowing the creaminess to control the commute. The small chips of chocolate careen throughout the entire pint, but do little for my overall feelings on this flavor. I appreciate what Talenti is doing with their chocolate chips in creating a crunchy consistency to their ice cream. It really is a nice change of pace to other chocolate chip offerings from other manufacturers. But in this bland base, it creates the taste and feel of a fancy version of the classic chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bar we all enjoyed as kids. Unfortunately for Talenti, if I wanted that, I'd buy one instead of throwing down five dollars on a pint of gelato.
I can appreciate simplicity. In fact, I respect companies that strive for no-frills flavors executed with excellence. But these two components just can't carry the load of an entire flavor on their own. Some of Talenti's tremendous ingredients have the capability to control an entire pint, but this barely there vanilla gelato with flecks of chocolate isn't one of them. Although it roped me in with it's recently released status, this stracciatella secured it's place at the bottom of the Talenti totem pole.
Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: D
