Make it bacon with chocolate-bacon gelato at Bella Gelateria

I didn't realize that it was International Bacon Day this past Saturday (September 3) until about midway through the day. As a lifetime bacon lover and self-proclaimed connoisseur of all things pork-related, I was slightly disappointed in myself, having not had even a speck of bacon yet that day, so I decided to console myself that evening by heading to Bella Gelateria (1001 West Cordova Street) for a fancy scoop of gelato.

It was my second visit to the award-winning gelato shop, and much to my delight, one of the 24 flavours available that day was chocolate-bacon gelato. Bella Gelateria owner and gelato master James Coleridge makes 18 different gelato flavours and six dairy-free sorbettos fresh each day. The gelatos are made with Avalon dairy organic whole milk, and Coleridge uses a 12-hour infusion process to create his intense all-natural flavours.

If the thought of having meat in your gelato sounds unappetizing, the result is more of a salty-sweet combo, like having salted chocolate or honey-dipped ham. Actually, if you weren't told that the icy concoction you were about to taste was, in fact, chocolate-bacon gelato, you may not even detect the bacon until after a few bites. The gelato looks like plain chocolate gelato, as the slivers of bacon are well-hidden, and the taste is also much more chocolaty, with a rich milk chocolate flavour first, followed by a slight smoky flavour from the bacon. For a true bacon lover, chocolate-bacon gelato is heaven in a cup.

Hawaiian pineapple sorbetto.

My gelato-eating companion is lactose-intolerant, so he opted for one of the dairy-free sorbettos: the Hawaiian pineapple. While the sorbetto wasn't nearly as creamy as the gelato, it was still velvety, and the sweet pineapple flavour really came through. I would actually probably opt for a sorbetto, which comes in fruit flavours as well as chocolate, and coffee, if I wanted a lighter snack or dessert. Even though a single scoop of gelato ($4.95) looks deceptively small, it's surprisingly rich, and the original flavours will satisfy tastebuds—bacon-craving, or not.

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