Invented in Italy, stracciatella is the essence of modern, yet classic gelato. In Italy, stracciatella is referred to as vanilla gelato with crunchy chocolate pieces on top or throughout the gelato.
Gelato in Italy is a broad category that includes creams (flavors with milk) and sorbets, “sorbetti” (usually fruit flavors without milk). Since they are mainly water, sugar, and fruit, sorbetti are great gelato flavors to order on a hot summer day and they also melt less fast than creams and milk-based flavors.
Neapolitan ice cream, also sometimes called Harlequin ice cream, is a type of ice cream composed of three separate flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry) arranged side by side in the same container, usually without any packaging in between.
Perfect Gelato® is a proprietary synergistic blend of hydrocolloids and sucrose. It is the perfect stabilizer for gelato products. Use Perfect Gelato® to prevent the formation of ice crystals and ensure a smooth texture.
The best body for gelato is consistent, homogeneous, harmonious and looks even. It should not have a consistency that is too watery, gelatinous or floury. This corresponds to the “texture” of the product sold to consumers.
Authentic Italian Gelato is a frozen creamy dessert made with milk, heavy cream and sugar. With or without eggs (depending on the taste), you can make dense creamy gelato at home, following a slow freezing/creaming process, usually with the help of an ice cream maker.
Traditional flavors of gelato include custard, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, hazelnut, pistachio, lemon, raspberry and peach. More modern flavors have developed including pineapple, tiramisu, banana, mango, yogurt, stracciatella, zabajone and amarena.
Made using less air and more milk, gelato is much silkier in texture and richer in flavor. Because of the way gelato is made, it also contains less butterfat and fewer calories overall.
Marco Venturino of I Giardini di Marzo gelato shop (located in the town of Varazze in the province of Savona, Liguria) was named the best gelato artisan of 2022, awarded three crowns for his Bocca di Rosa gelato. The maestro's winning frozen dessert is made with milk, white chocolate and a handmade rosewater base.
Gelato, Italy
Pasta aside, gelato is considered to be Italy's culinary symbol. In fact, visiting the local gelateria is a way of life for Italians.
If you're a fan of gelato, you know that it has a denser and richer texture, and a milkier taste than ice cream. This is because its authentic ingredients contain more milk and less cream, and is churned at a much slower speed, resulting in a lower fat content and a creamier texture.
If the gelato is shining it means its melting or it has melted and refreeze many times and getting old. It also might mean there was too many sugars used.
The best gelato is flat and dense with muted colors, a sure sign that there are only fresh, natural, and raw ingredients.
Here's how you can spot authentic gelato: To start off, gelato is made by using less fat compared to ice cream and is churned at a slower speed in order to ensure less air gets mixed in. This is why gelato is more dense and rich in flavor and ice cream has a whipped and fluffy consistency.
Gelato is healthier for you.
SFGate reports that while ice cream has 14 to 17 percent milkfat, gelato contains just 3 to 8 percent. That's because ice cream uses lots of heavy cream, while gelato uses milk. Gelato also uses far fewer egg yolks than ice cream—in some cases none at all.
But if fat is what makes the frozen treat creamy, how can gelato be creamier? "There is a lot less air churned into gelato than into American ice cream, [a process] known as overrun," Morano says. American ice cream can be up to 50 percent air. Air makes it soft and fluffy.
EVOO is the secret ingredient to better gelato.
The key feature that really makes the difference between Italian gelato and ice cream is the use of fresh raw materials. For the ice cream, in fact, milk powder is rehydrated on the spot. The Italian gelato, instead, is made with milk and fresh cream. It therefore represents a more genuine food.
Gelato is generally creamier, denser, and richer-tasting than regular ice cream. That's down to how it's made, says Rizzo.
The egg yolks lend a pale-yellow color to French vanilla ice cream and also gives it a richer, smoother consistency and mouthfeel.