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Italian entrepreneur Mikael Romeo smiles behind his ice cream table at the Hornbill Festival, at Kisama village in Kohima, on Mon. Dec. 3. (EM Images)[/caption]
Kohima, Dec. 3 (EMN): Ice-cream in moustache-freezing Kohima? In winter? The ice cold answer will be ‘yes.’ Only the brave can do this. And the Italians are good at this.
There is a stall by the name La Gelateria that sells—yes, hold on to your feather jackets—Italian homemade ice cream, at Kisama village in Kohima. La Gelateria (Italian literally for ‘the ice cream shop’) is one of the most unusual—and adventure-tempting—features of the ongoing annual Hornbill Festival.
The little lemonade-stand-ish La Gelateria is managed by an adventurous Italian named Mikael Romeo, who hails from Forino, a town in the province of Avellino, Campania, of southern Italy.
The 43-year old ice cream maker sells two flavours namely yogurt and mango. He has set up business outside above the Bamboo Craft Centre. The ice cream goes for INR 100 for a large scoop and INR 50 for a smaller one. Eggs, sugar, milk, and fresh fruits are the ingredients for the ice cream. The confectioner assures that there are no preservatives and artificial flavours to the product.
The ice cream is made in the Italian-style of gelato. Gelato is generally lower in fat than other styles of ice cream. Romeo said he would be selling ice cream made from fresh strawberry, pineapple, butterscotch, and chocolate in the later days of the Hornbill Festival.
High tech consultancy to sweets
During an interaction with Eastern Mirror, Romeo said to have been working as a consultant at Rare Tech Projects in Delhi before he left for Nagaland in 2015—all thanks to his Naga wife, Naomi Romeo.
Knowing that it would be difficult finding employment in Nagaland, Romeo decided to set up an ice cream parlour La Gelatiera, at Half Nagarjan in Dimapur in 2016. He said to open similar stalls during other events to beat the heat in Dimapur.
As for his business at the festival, Romeo said his sale was quite good even though it is winter season. When queried about how he feels about the Naga people, he had charming things to say: “Nagas are awesome people, they are the best!” He also said that he is found of dry meat and Naga Morich (or what most Nagaland citizens call “king chilli”).
Romeo is a cheerful guy who greets all his customers with a bring smile. As you pluck the courage to bite into the Italian ice cream and listen to him interacting with you in pure Italian accent, you will feel like you are in Italy.
Even though it is winter, there is no harm in challenging the cold winter weather by tasting the mouth-watering Italian ice cream during the Hornbill Festival. After all, a food this good is worth the risk.
