A savory kosher gelato flavor has cause to rejoice—in line with its name that plays off the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila.”
Noi Due Gelato’s “Halva Nagila” was named best flavor at the North American semifinals of the Gelato Festival World Masters, held in Hollywood, Calif., on Sept. 2-3. It is now the “top North American finalist.”
Noi Due Gelato and four other finalists will compete in September 2025 against five more finalists, who earn distinction in another semi-final to be held in September 2024. The three best at the 2025 finals will then compete in the world finals that December.
In April, the song-themed flavor won a place in the semifinals in a competition in New York, where it was the only kosher variety.
“We are the champions,” the shop on Manhattan’s Upper West Side posted on Instagram of its victory this past Labor Day weekend.
Golan Chetrit, an Israeli native and owner of Noi Due Gelato, previously told JNS that the store opted to represent “our style Italian with a Mediterranean twist.”
The winning flavor combines tahini, black sesame seeds and date syrup.