I scream, you scream, we all scream… for gelato! This delicacy – considered one of the Italian dessert staples par excellence by fans all over the world, is often mistakenly associated with, or even translated to, ice cream in other countries. The truth is, though, that the two couldn’t be more different from one another! In fact, these differences are present at every level of gelato-making – from the ingredients and temperature to the texture, nutrients and air (yes, air!). Gelato in its modern form was first invented by the Sicilian chef Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli – who in the late 1600s opened his restaurant Café Procope in Paris, introducing gelato for the very first time. However, some scholars trace the origins of gelato even farther back in history – dating it all the way back to 3000 BC!
Generally speaking, when it comes to ingredients, gelato is made with a base of milk and sugar – and it’s usually lower in fat than other styles of frozen dessert. It also contains 70% less air and more flavor than other frozen desserts, giving it a particular density and richness that sets it apart from the rest.
To understand why Italian gelato is so special – and why it’s better than ice cream, plain and simple – we decided to ask the experts. “Gelato is an artisanal product, whereas ice cream is made as an industrial product,” explains Paolo Personeni, Miami-based pastry chef at Montebianco USA, a production company owned and operated by the well-known Italian liqueur company Illva Saronno. “Gelato is made with fresh and wholesome ingredients; it has less sugar; and with a few exceptions, depending on flavor, gelato is made without cream or egg yolks, so it has significantly less fat.”
“At Montebianco, we produce the ingredients and the base for the gelato used by the best gelaterias in the US, such as Sant Ambroeus in New York, to make their own gelato,” continues Alfredo Selmi, General Manager of Montebianco USA. And unlike ice cream, gelato is made in small batches, which means it’s always served fresh and not meant to last for a long time (usually up to three days in a gelateria).
Michele Sbarigia, Store Manager at Venchi in New York City, elaborates further, emphasizing the importance of quality in artisanal gelato: “In order to refer to any gelato shop as a ‘gelateria artigianale,’ there has to be a laboratorio, or a lab, where gelato is freshly made. The ingredients come from Italy – like Pistacchio di Bronte, Nocciola IGP and chocolate from Venchi – then they are mixed here with milk or water (depending on the recipe: gelato or sorbet). Ice cream, though, is heavier on the cream and typically uses egg yolks to pack the mixture together. Gelato, on the other hand, has more milk than cream.”
Broadway Venchi
But more cream means more fat. The Food and Drug Administration defines ice cream as containing no less than 10% fat, but most ice cream brands tend to range from 14-25% fat, while Italian gelato has about 4-9% fat.
Another difference is the temperature: Italian gelato is served about 10 to 15 degrees warmer (7 to 12 degrees warmer in Fahrenheit) than American ice cream, so your mouth won’t be quite as numb and you’ll be better able to taste the flavors.
“Authentic Italian gelato isn’t scooped, but served instead with a spatula,” explains Federica Cipolla, co-owner with business partner Giovanni Patti of Unico Taste of Sicily on Sullivan Street in New York City. Federica also points out that gelato from Unico is 100% Italian – it’s made in Sicily and then sent here frozen. “We don’t mix it with any other ingredients here. We simply put everything into a gelato machine and it’s ready in ten minutes.”
Gelato was first introduced in the Unites States in 1770 by Giovanni Bosio, an Italian from Genoa who decided to open New York’s very first gelateria. Since then, America’s passion for gelato has continued to grow exponentially: “In the United States, there are almost 1,000 artisanal gelaterias that sell close to $300 million USD per year with a 2.5% share of the entire frozen desserts market,” says Paolo Della Mora, Managing Director at Montebianco Worldwide, quoting Sigep – the only trade show in the world featuring the entire supply chain of artisanal gelato, which is held annually in Rimini (in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna).