What is Gelato?

Are you curious about the history of gelato? Do you want to discover a bit more about the gelato world? Do you want to know the difference between gelato and ice cream? Do you know that gelato is not ice cream or an italian ice cream but it’s a lifestyle? It means healthy, artisan frozen delicacy.

Let’s dig into a bit about gelato…

Gelato (Italian pronunciation: [dʒeˈlaːto]; plural: gelati) is an ancient Italian frozen dessert. It is a dense, smooth, creamy, and flavorful frozen product. You could think that gelato is simply the Italian translation of ice cream but in reality there are several differences. The three main differences from American ice cream are: butter fat content, air content, also called overrun and serving temperature.

Gelato has a lower butterfat content than ice cream. Gelato typically contains 4–8% butterfat, versus 14% for ice cream in the United States (by law it must be over 10%). Butterfat coats the tongue and palate. Less butterfat enables consumers to taste the gelato flavors better, making gelato a much tastier product.

Gelato, when churned during the freezing process, naturally incorporates 20-30% of air, whereas ice cream reaches 50-100% of air incorporated, also called overrun. Air can double the amount of ice cream produced in a single batch, lowering the quality. The density in gelato not only creates a smoother and richer product, but ensures higher quality in each batch produced praising its intense flavors.

Gelato is served between 5 – 15 °F compared to the 4 °F of that of the ice cream. The warmer temperature of the gelato reinforces its soft texture and bold flavor, as it melts more quickly in your mouth.

U.S. ice cream, with a higher fat content, can be stored in a freezer for months. High-quality artisan gelato holds its peak flavor and smooth texture only for several days. That is only when it is stored carefully at consistent, low temperatures.

Traditional process

In Italy, the mixture for gelato is typically prepared using a hot process, which includes pasteurization. The white base is heated to 185 °F (85 °C). Heating the mix to 194 °F (90 °C) is essential for chocolate gelato, which is traditionally flavored with cocoa powder.

Yellow custard base, which contains egg yolks, is heated to 149 °F (65 °C). The gelato mix must age for several hours after pasteurization is complete for the milk proteins to hydrate, or bind, with water in the mix. This hydration helps prevent ice crystals and graininess, making a smoother texture in the final product. Nowadays, a modern cold mix process is becoming more popular among some gelato makers in the United States.

Unlike most commercial ice cream in the United States, which is frozen with a continuous assembly line freezer, gelato is frozen very quickly in individual small batches in a batch freezer.

Gelato is typically flavored with fresh fruit purees, cocoa and/or nut pastes. If other ingredients such as small confections, chocolate flakes, nuts, cookies, or biscuits are added, they are added after the gelato is frozen. Gelato made with fresh fruit, sugar, and water and without dairy ingredients is a sorbet.

History of Gelato

The history of gelato in Italy dates back to the time period of Ancient Rome where a frozen dessert was made from snow and ice, carried down from the mountains, and topped with fruit or juice. Since the labor involved in transporting and preserving this frozen dessert was high, it was reserved only for those who could afford it- the elites. These chilled delicacies began to vary as the trend to ending meals and spread from region to region. In Sicily, Arab influence inspired their modern day ‘Granita’ – flavored shaved ice. Over time, some began to add milk to the ice but it wasn’t until the 16th century, according to Italians, that true gelato was born.

Gelato appeared during banquets at the Medici court in Florence. In fact, the Florentine cook Bernardo Buontalenti is said to have invented modern ice cream in 1565, as he presented his recipe and his innovative refrigerating techniques to Catherine de' Medici. She in turn brought the novelty to France, where in 1686 the Sicilian fisherman Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli perfected the first ice cream machine.

The popularity of gelato among larger shares of the population however only increased in the 1920s–1930s as in the northern Italian city of Varese, where the first mobile gelato cart was developed.

Nowadays gelato is well established in Europe, particularly in Italy & Germany, and its popularity is steadily growing across all the USA.

Thanks for the reading and….Enjoy this delicious, creamy goodness!