Beppi's Gelato a nod to owner's Italian heritage and grandfather's sweet tooth

When Paola Chiste opened a gelato shop, she knew she wanted the name to pay homage to her maternal grandfather, Giuseppe Dallagiacoma.

"Nonno Beppi was a lovely man, who was very placid and very wise — and he loved sweets," said Chiste, owner of Beppi's Gelato, located at 616 10th St. E. just off Broadway Avenue in Saskatoon. 

If you visit Beppi's on a warm summer evening, chances are the lineup is out the door and down the block, as people wait for a scoop of artisanal gelato or sorbetto. 

Chiste said that since opening, they have made more than 150 flavours, which change day-to-day. This includes everything from Italian favourites like hazelnut and fior di latte, which is similar to vanilla, to haskap ripple — made with Saskatchewan haskap berries — and Big Dog, which is a salted caramel flavour named in honour of Chiste's dog. 

"There are the Italian classics — the ones that are just tested and true — and then I get a lot of inspiration from dessert," she said, listing the examples of key lime pie and French opera cake.

Beppi's sorbetto — made with only fruit, sugar and water — comes in flavours like coconut, mango and lemon.

A trip to Gelato University

Chiste was born in Canada to Italian immigrants and grew up immersed in her parents' culture, learning Italian as her first language. She said she embraced her heritage just as much as she did cooking and baking.

Operating an artisanal gelato shop was not her first choice of career, however. Chiste has a master's degree in applied social psychology and initially worked in research. But when the research centre where she was working closed down, her husband suggested she consider opening a gelato business.

"I thought he was crazy because it was not what I was trained to do, and while I liked to cook, I had no experience running a kitchen," Chiste said. "But then the more I thought about it, I was like, 'I don't really want another desk job, so let's do it.'"

Chiste attended a week-long course at Carpigiani Gelato University, which is located near Bologna, the food capital of Italy.

"The morning was spent on the science behind it, and then the afternoon was making gelato," she said. 

After completing the course, Chiste brought what she learned home to Saskatoon, and opened Beppi's in May 2019. 

All of the gelato and sorbetto at Beppi's is made on-site and in small batches, using whole ingredients, like fruit and milk. 

What makes gelato, gelato

The Italian word "gelato" translates in English to "ice cream," but Chiste said the two products aren't interchangeable. 

"Gelato is predominantly made with milk as the main ingredient, as opposed to cream, so it's lower in fat," Chiste said. "It's served at a warmer temperature, so it's not as hard as a ball of ice cream, and that means that we don't have to rely on the sugar as much to bring out the flavour, so it's lower in sugar than ice cream, too." 

The process of making gelato involves heating up and cooling the milk and sugar, so that the sugar melts, then incorporates properly into the mixture. Chiste said they have a machine that does this overnight, producing a large vat of the base gelato. It ages for at least 12 hours.

In the morning, they add the flavour, like strawberries. It takes another 15 to 20 minutes in the gelato machine before being scooped into its signature metal pans.

At Beppi's, Chiste puts her Italian heritage on display with much more than gelato. You'll also find a selection of Italian candies and cookies — the lemon cookies and pistacchio cookies have a devoted following — plus an espresso bar. A small Italian grocery section stocks staples like pasta, olive oil and preserves. 

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"While I love all cuisines, Italian is my favourite," Chiste said. "And I think it was a niche that needed to be filled in Saskatoon."