I’ve been scooping and serving gelato to people for over fifteen years. Whether pulling a shift in our gelateria, offering samples inside a sweltering tent in the asphalt parking lot of a grocery store, or catering an event at a million-dollar mansion overlooking the river, the premise is basically always the same: use a flat paddle called a “spatola” to deftly swipe gelato into a fanciful cup and then pop in a colorful spoon before handing it over to the waiting customer with a smile and a thank you.
Distinctively Italian, gelato spoons are truly wonderful creations, needlessly adorable, recklessly whimsical. They are about three inches long, shaped like little shovels, and generally come in an array of bright, cheerful colors. In Italian they are called “cucchiaini,” which is fun to say and means prosaically “little spoons.” (They can also be called “palletine,” which is less fun to say.) They...
University of California Press