Habitats, History, and Reputation: New England Gelato in Perspective
The best season for viewing and examining gelato is now in full swing, and I have finally been able to take a view trips into the field to explore hitherto unfamiliar (to me) territory. In just the past week I was able to visit four different gelato colonies in two very distinct ecosystems. The preliminary results from my new data are interesting, promising, counterintuitive, and in broad terms entirely unexpected.
My first explorations took me to Boston's North End, well known among amateur and professional gelatologists alike as an area rich in both variety and quality of the local gelati. My expectations were high, and initial impressions were promising: it took very little searching to uncover several independent colonies in close proximity to one another, and superficial examination of the various family groups within each colony revealed generally healthy coloring and an impressive rate of reproduction, apparently in response to heavy and unregulated hunting by humans in the area. I would be remiss not to note, however, that my initial impression was of relatively small colonies, possibly indicating inbreeding and an unhealthily low level of genetic variation.
I next ventured north to Portland, Maine, a city not historically associated with gelati of any stripe. Indeed, I had originally not expected to conduct any gelato research while in Portland—I had made the trip for unrelated reasons—but when unexpectedly confronted with several healthy, thriving, vibrant colonies (with some fascinating local adaptations which I regret that I was unable to examine in any detail) I made it a point to put on my researcher’s hat and conduct a couple of impromptu studies. Initial results from the Portland colonies are beyond promising; this is a potentially rich area for future research and I fully expect to return to conduct more studies of my own, both revisiting the two colonies already sampled and searching for new colonies to investigate.
The North End
I went to Boston’s North End fully expecting to find a broad selection of impressive gelati in the many sub-habitats available in cities, especially older cities. On one hand, as indicated, I was not disappointed: there were numerous colonies on display, and all seemed to be doing well despite the evidently competitive environment one would expect from so many gelati in such close proximity to each other as well as to the humans that hunt them. I have noted before that gelato seems to have a sort of symbiotic relationship with its human predators, and I can only surmise that the apparent contradiction has to do with that symbiosis. As their natural predators increase, the gelati seem to increase as well. This at least is a working hypothesis consistent both with evidence from the original gelato breeding grounds in Italy as well as my recent field work in Boston’s north end.
On the other hand, the two North End colonies examined proved to be disappointing. The first colony visited, not far from the famed Old North Church, looked impressive. There were not many families, as noted, but they all displayed uniformly creamy complexions and rich coloring. I selected a small, two-color individual for in-depth examination—I should reiterate the point from previous posts that gelato specimens selected for examination never survive the process—and proceeded to study it in detail. Its texture was suitably smooth, matching its exterior, but as it turned out it had little substance to back up that impression. Indeed, it was a bit on the fatty side, which was perhaps to be expected given the creamy smoothness just noted. More problematic, however, it turned out to be simply uninteresting. Even the decorative waffle plume that extended vertically from its body, which in and of itself suggested an interesting adaptation, added nothing of interest. I would not purposefully seek out that particular colony (I am leaving colonies unnamed in order to avoid injecting unconscious bias into other researchers’ work) for further examination.
The second colony appeared at first instance to be poorer in all respects but the number of observable families. Instead of the silky-smooth complexions evident in the first colony, the specimens observed here were decidedly rough, almost mealy, and their coloration was both dull and seemingly unnatural. On first analysis, the visible evidence definitely suggested that the colony’s breeding stock had been heavily manipulated by humans to provide ready stock for the gelato-tourism industry. (I leave questions about the ethics of breeding for hunting and consumption for another day.)
Sadly, more in-depth study of the two specimens I and my team examined—one individual with moderate fat and yellow and green coloring (as can be seen in the figure) and another, yellowish-white individual with a hard shell and no fat—yielded little useful insight beyond what we had gathered from simple observation. The specimens were indeed mealy and, in keeping with their heavily tended appearance, they offered little of interest beyond a much higher sugar content than the specimen from the first colony we visited. I did not examine the hard-shelled individual directly, though I am told it was less disappointing than the two-toned gelato I looked at.
Portland, Maine
As noted above, my team and I visited Portland for reasons unrelated to gelato research. We discovered two colonies, clearly distinct even though existing within sight of each other in the city’s Old Port district, and quickly added gelato field work to our itinerary. The discovery and subsequent data collection was both surprising and highly satisfying.
Both colonies displayed a healthy variety and number of families, all with healthy, smooth exteriors and vibrant, natural colorings. The first colony visited displayed many superficial characteristics that underscored its antecedents on the Italian peninsula. Further in-depth examination indicated that this first impression was accurate, as the specimens selected—both a two-toned individual with commonly observed coloring and a more acerbic character with light-lemon color—proved impressive.
The second colony, located only about 100 feet to the west-northwest of the first was superficially very different. Rather than clearly showing multiple characteristics tying them to their ancestors across the Atlantic, these gelati had clearly evolved local adaptations suitable to their northern New England environment. While we were unable to study some of the more interesting adaptations in detail due to researcher-specific toxicology issues as well as resource constraints (this was, after all, an unplanned research exploration), what we did find was fascinating and straightforward. To put it simply, the evolutionary process had produced some impressive individuals that combined some of the necessary attributes of the Italianate gelati with local genetic characteristics in surprising and ultimately advantageous ways.
Discussion and Afterword
A few days after conducting our field work I discovered that both colonies we visited in Portland had branches elsewhere. This is not surprising given the quality of the specimens we were able to study, and while we do not know whether the Portland colonies are original or branches we are most pleased to note how well they have taken root in southern Maine.
Finally, while it is beyond the scope of this current research, we feel it important to note how seriously looking at these four colonies has upset our preexisting expectations of gelato quality and viability. By reputation, Boston’s North End should have some of the best gelato available north of New York City. But the data show something quite different. And while it is true that our sample size was small and we should by all accounts gather more data, available evidence suggests that the area’s reputation for impressive gelato colonies does not hold. Portland, Maine, by contrast, proved to have at least two strong colonies (and at least one more that we were unable to study as it had gone dormant for the night when we found it) against all expectations. Confirmation of these results awaits further research.
