The Kosher Critic: The best ice cream you're not eating

If you have spent any time at any of the self-styled gourmet grocery stores you will notice that the number of products has quadrupled. This is a result of the recent surge in consumers who consider themselves “foodies.” Because the consumer base of foodies has demanded a higher quality of goods the market has responded by providing a number of these high-end “craft” goods. Often times the need for such an array of choices is more gimmicky than it is necessary. At least that’s what I thought right before I saw the ice cream aisle of my local Fair Way.

The ice cream aisle was ten-freezers deep, each filled with a different craft frozen treat. The individual colors of each pint blended together behind the frosted glass like a rainbow of deliciousness. Okay, okay so maybe I am waxing a bit poetic, but it was pretty impressive for someone who's favorite food is ice cream.

I first discovered this magical aisle several months ago and since then I’ve sampled as many of the kosher ice creams as I could find. After this gratuitous sampling, I found that the best ice cream in the aisle was not an actual ice cream; it was a gelato.

Talenti Gelato, a small gelato and sorbet manufacture from Texas, has quickly become my preferred frozen treat. Though I have yet to winnow through their entire product catalog, I have sampled the majority of their offerings and have found four of Talenti's specific flavors that stand out above the rest.

They are:

Belgian Milk Chocolate: Imagine the best chocolate ice cream you have ever eaten. Talenti's Belgian milk chocolate is rich and delicious without being cloyingly sweet. The chocolate flavor is reminiscent of good hot cocoa but with the bonus of being creamy. For any chocolate lover this is a must.

Tahitian Vanilla Bean: What I loved about this flavor is that it actually tasted like real vanilla, not that chemically created vanilla extract that most other vanilla-flavored frozen deserts taste like. Though I am not usually a fan of vanilla, Talenti converted me.