Roseberry-Rhubarb Gelato

The synagogue in Pitigliano, Italy, was bursting with roses and the sweet voices of the children’s chorus filled the air. It was Shavuot, June 1938, and Edda Servi Machlin, author of the evocative cookbook-memoir, The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews, was celebrating her bat mitzvah in a magnificent service employing the rich Pitigliano liturgy reserved for special occasions.

Persecution of Italy’s Jews had already begun, yet here, as in America, ancient Hebrew traditions were st