Gourmet Italian

photo credit: Ash-rly

Italian desserts are ALL wonderful, but the cool, silky, melt-in-your-mouth Gelato is in a class by itself.  Gelato actually IS an art form!  The technique was actually perfected by a Sicilian in Paris back in the 1600′s.

So what is the difference between ice cream and gelato?  One difference is that gelati (the plural) are made at a much slower pace than ice cream.  It is all of the air that is whipped into ice cream that makes it so fluffy.  Gelato is churned slowly so very little air is incorporated into the final product.  Gelato usually contains about 25% air, while ice cream can have as much as 50% air!  Since the gelato is churned slowly, the air bubbles are tiny, thus creating the soft, creamy texture.  No stabilizers or thickeners are used in the process. This addictive Italian dessert also includes more milk and less cream than ice cream, and often contains more egg yolks.
So you see that surprisingly, gelato has less fat than ice cream, despite its remarkable intense flavor!

photo credit: tee.kay
If you visit the city of Florence, you will notice that the people there rarely eat in the streets.  They do, however, make one exception to the “rule”.  You guessed it!  Gelato is everywhere!

Gelato comes in dozens of flavors.  Since hazelnuts are so popular in Tuscany, you will find Gelato de Nocciola very popular in that region.  Other popular flavors include Stracciatella (chocolate chip), Cioccolato (deep, dark chocolate), Crema (vanilla), Pistacchio and Foro Di Latte (plain).

One of the nice things about the Gelato Experience is that you can get lots of tastes in one serving!  Even a small cup or cone can have three flavors and the larger ones often have five different flavors to tingle your taste buds.

Do not think that you are going to be able to conquer this Italian dessert and come out with results equivalent to an Italian gelateria.  That won’t be happening.  Like I said, it is an art form.  You can actually buy gelato makers for home use, although they are a little on the pricey side.  The word “gelato” actually means frozen, and these machines need to be at a minimum of -4 degrees to produce good results.

I did, however, find a cute site where the person claims he made a pretty darned good gelato with his ice cream maker.  If you would like to see how he did it, click here!

If you would like to see gelato being made professionally in New York, click here!

Mangia Bene!