Italian Gelato is one of the most surprising and celebrated Italian culinary creation. While many people think of it as Italian ice-cream, it’s not to be confused with it, as Italian ice-cream doesn’t actually exist.
When you think of artisanal Italian ice-cream, Gelato is actually what you’re looking for.
Gelato is a velvety and intense frozen treat made with seasonal ingredients (mostly fruits), generally consumed by Italian as an afternoon snack. Compared to the common ice-cream, Italian Gelato contains a far higher proportion of milk and less fat. Since it’s churned at a lower rate, it also contains far less air, leaving it denser than its less artisanal sibling.
The history of Italian Gelato is uncertain and shrouded in mystery.
Legend says that, in Ancient Rome, it was common to consume a fruit salad with honey and ice or snow during banquets.
We also have written testimony of a forefather of Gelato in the ancient city of Athens in 500 BC: Apparently, ancient Greek people were in the habit of drinking refreshing beverages made with honey, lemon and pomegranate juice and mixed with snow or ice.
There are also historical records of something similar to Italian Gelato being produced in China, where it was common to leave milk and dairy products in the snow to solidify, as a way to preserve them.
Another obvious ancestor of Italian Gelato is the Arabic sherbet, which was popular in Sicily during the Arabic domination in the IX century. The original sherbet was quite similar to the modern one: a cold, distilled fruit juice made from lemon, oranges, or pomegranate.
In 1565, modern Italian Gelato was officially invented, in an interesting twist, not by a Chef or a baker, but by an architect. His name was Bernardo Buontalenti and he worked in the court of Caterina de’ Medici in Florence, the city that still today is considered the birthplace of Italian Gelato. In the recipe of his Gelato (called frozen sherbet), he used all the ingredients of modern Italian Gelato.
Gelato, though, didn’t become internationally famous until 1868, when a Sicilian chef, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, created the perfect blend to store and preserve Gelato. He moved to Paris and gifted the discovery of Italian Gelato to all of Europe.
Fun fact: even today, centuries after his death, we still have a Gelato flavour named after Buontalenti.
When you visit Italy, take a few moments to try the authentic Gelato. And remember, unless you want to offend an Italian gelataio, never call it Italian ice-cream, because Italian ice-cream doesn’t exist!