Gelato
TypeIce cream
CourseDessert
Place of originItaly
Serving temperature−14 to −11 °C
7 to 12 °F[1][2][3][4][5]
Main ingredients
Ingredients generally usedFlavorings (fruit, nut, chocolate, etc.)[8][9]
VariationsFrozen custard
Other information Usually served with a spade instead of ice cream scooper[15]

Gelato (Italian: [dʒeˈlaːto]; lit. 'frozen') refers to a specific type of ice cream of Italian origin. In Italian, gelato is the common word for all types of ice cream. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of frozen dessert.[16][17] Gelato typically contains 35% air (substantially less than American-style ice cream) and more flavoring than other types of frozen desserts, giving it an intense flavor with creamy, smooth texture, density and richness that distinguishes it from other ice creams.[18][19][20]

Name

In Italian, gelato means simply 'frozen' and is the generic word for any type or style of ice cream.[21] In English, however, the term has come to be used to refer to a specific style of ice cream derived from the Italian artisanal tradition.[22]

History

Cosimo Ruggeri and Bernardo Buontalenti were 16th-century contemporaries who are credited by some sources with the invention of gelato,[23] while other sources claims that Sicilian cooks gradually modified the sherbet recipe over time, giving birth to the earliest form of gelato.[24]

In Florence, Cosimo Ruggeri is credited with creating one of the first gelati, fior di latte , at the court of Catherine de' Medici, in a competition with the theme "il piatto più singolare che si fosse mai visto" (lit. 'the most singular dish that had ever been seen').[25][26][27][28]

In the 1530s, Catherine de' Medici took gelato to Paris.[29]

Around 1565, Bernardo Buontalenti, an innovator in ice conservation, made a sorbet with ice, salt, lemon, wine, milk, sugar, egg, and honey, "plus orange and bergamot flavouring".[30]

In 1686,[27] Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian,[31] brought his grandfather Francesco's[32] gelato-making machine to Paris, opened Café Procope and introduced the dessert.[33] Procopio obtained French citizenship, and a royal license from Louis XIV, making him the sole producer of the frozen dessert in the kingdom.[34][35][36] Being one of the first to sell gelato directly to the public[37] (prior to then it was reserved only for nobles),[38] and making it known in the rest of Europe, Procopio is sometimes referred to as "the father of Italian gelato".[39]

In 1945, in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Bruto Carpigiani began selling gelato-making equipment,[40][41] and created Motogelatiera, the first automated gelato machine.[42] The batch freezer made it easier to store frozen desserts.[42] Carpigiani is a big manufacturer of gelato machinery.[41]

The largest ice cream cone in the world was created in 2011 in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, during the 32nd edition of the International Exhibition of Handcrafted Gelato, Pastry, and Bakery. The cone, made with over 2,000 wafers, was 2.81 meters (9 ft 3 in) tall and weighed 70 kilograms (150 lb). Leading the team of seven artisans who accomplished the feat was the chocolatier Mirco Della Vecchia.[43]

Flavors

The original fior di latte is a plain, base ice cream with no flavor and no eggs added. Stracciatella is fior di latte gelato with chocolate chunks. Traditional flavors of gelato include crema ('custard'), vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, almond, and pistachio.[44] Modern flavors include a variety of fruit flavors.

Commercial production

The process of making gelato is complex, starting with a custard base, mixed with milk and sugar, heating the ingredients to 85 °C (185 °F) for pasteurization. Then, it is lowered to 5 °C (41 °F) and mixed to the desired texture. The mixed gelato is then batched in the freezer.[45]

As with other ice creams, the sugar in gelato prevents it from freezing solid by binding to the water and interfering with the normal formation of ice crystals. This creates smaller ice crystals and results in the smooth texture of gelato.[46] Commercial gelati are often sweetened with inverted sugar, sucrose, dextrose or xylitol,[47] and may include a stabilizer such as guar gum.[48]

See also

Dairy
Non-dairy

References

  1. "Story". Herne Hill railway station: Minus 12˚ Craft Ice Cream.
  2. "Ice Cream vs. Gelato vs. Sherbet vs. Sorbet: What's the Difference?". MasterClass. September 28, 2021.
  3. "Gelato FAQs". ecco un poco.
  4. "Gelato vs. Ice Cream". sweetcycle. July 19, 2017. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022.
  5. Mullan, Michael. "Plotting freezing point curves for ice cream and gelato mixes". dairyscience.info.
  6. Druckman, Charlotte (May 30, 2017). "Why You Haven't Heard of America's Greatest Gelato Maker". Eater.
  7. This, Hervé (May 11, 2019). "Conservation de sorbets et glaces". Hervé This vo Kientza.
  8. "Olive Oil Gelato". Warner Bros. Archived from the original on March 10, 2026.
  9. "Il gelato artigianale" (in Italian). Pasticceria Mosaico di Aquileia. July 31, 2017.
  10. "Traditional Frozen Treats". Molecular Recipes. KQ2 Ventures LLC. June 28, 2015.
  11. "I grassi in gelateria: perché utilizzare la panna e quando è possibile sostituirla". Frascheri Professionale S.p.A (in Italian). May 20, 2021. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022.
  12. Quirk, Mary Beth (July 14, 2017). "What's The Difference Between Ice Cream, Frozen Custard, and Gelato?". Consumer Reports.
  13. D'Ulivo, Lucia (May 15, 2018). "Come fare il gelato in casa: 3 trucchi per risultati da gelateria". Edible Molecules.
  14. Davis, Bea. "May is Artisan Gelato Month". Paris Gourmet. Carlstadt, New Jersey. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022.
  15. "Gelato v Ice Cream: Temperature & Method". Bravo Gelato. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022.
  16. "Calorie e valori nutrizionali del gelato", Paginemediche [1]
  17. M. T. Wroblewski (December 6, 2018). "Nutrition Facts on Gelato Compared to Ice Cream". San Francisco Gate. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
  18. Poggioli, Sylvia (June 17, 2013). "Italian University Spreads the 'Gelato Gospel'". NPR.
  19. Goff, H. Douglas (June 1997). "Colloidal aspects of ice cream—A review" (PDF). International Dairy Journal. 7 (6–7): 363–373. doi:10.1016/S0958-6946(97)00040-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2022.
  20. Goff, H.D.; Caldwell, K.B.; Stanley, D.W.; Maurice, T.J. (May 1993). "The Influence of Polysaccharides on the Glass Transition in Frozen Sucrose Solutions and Ice Cream" (PDF). Journal of Dairy Science. 76 (5): 1268–1277. doi:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(93)77456-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2017.
  21. "Gelato in the Italian-English dictionary". Cambridge Dictionary.
  22. "Gelato in the English dictionary". Cambridge Dictionary.
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  24. Goldstein, Darra (2015). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199313396.
  25. "Storia del gelato e della crema fiorentina Buontalenti". About Florence (in Italian).
  26. Caviezel, Luca (2016). Scienza e tecnologia del gelato artigianale [Science and technology of artisanal ice cream] (in Italian). Pinerolo: Chiriotti. ISBN 9788896027271. OCLC 104596040.
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  28. "Buontalenti, l'artista che inventò il gelato fiorentino". FirenzeToday (in Italian). August 15, 2016.
  29. Jewkes, Stephen (October 1, 2012). "Italy opens world's first gelato culture museum". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022.
  30. Steadman, Philip (April 13, 2021). "The 'garden of marvels' at Pratolino". Renaissance Fun: The Machines Behind the Scenes. Vol. 7. UCL Press. pp. 279–327. doi:10.2307/j.ctv18msqmt.16. ISBN 9781787359161. JSTOR j.ctv18msqmt.16. S2CID 241909486. Giovanni Battista della Porta describes a method by which 'Wine may freeze in glasses' using saltpetre (Natural Magick, English edition, 1658, p. 324
  31. "Francesco Procopio Cutò" (PDF). Comune di Palermo (in Italian).
  32. Sorini, Alex Revelli; Cutini, Susanna. "Procopio Cutò e il gelato". enciclopedia digitale di culture e politiche alimentari. Accademia Italiana Gastronomia e Gastrosofia.
  33. Polliotti, Luciana (2017). Il genio del gelato. Francesco Procopio Cutò. Storie d'amore, di talento e di alchimia tra Palermo e Parigi (in Italian). Bologna, Italy: Fausto Lupetti Editore. ISBN 9788868741860.
  34. Stornello, Olga (November 1, 2018). "Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli: the man who invented gelato". Sicilian Post. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019.
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  38. Rex-Johnson, Braiden (2003). Pike Place Market Cookbook: Recipes, Anecdotes, and Personalities from Seattle's Renowned Public Market. Sasquatch Books. p. 152. ISBN 9781570613197.
  39. Moramarco, p. 208. The father of Italian gelato is Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian aristocrat who established a chain of coffee houses throughout Europe in the late seventeenth century.
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  45. "Ice Cream Hardness". Ice Cream Calculator. May 31, 2021.
  46. Omran, A. Monem (July 1974). "Kinetics of ice crystallization in sugar solutions and fruit juices". AIChE Journal. 20 (4): 795–803. Bibcode:1974AIChE..20..795O. doi:10.1002/aic.690200422.
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  48. "Cosa è la bilanciatura?" [What is Balancing?]. Gelato Per Passione (in Italian). August 12, 2021.
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