Gelato

One of the things I must have is the daily Gelato...I absolutely became addicted to it in 2005. Telling my friends they were going to need to do an intervention when I came home...lol It has a different texture than American ice cream (smoother) and you can find it on many street corners in Italian towns. The flavors I enjoyed the most was cherry and pistachios, though the lemon cello was good too...every location has their own receipe. You can eat it either in a cone or cup. Our travel agent has pointed out to us her favorite place for Gelato in Florence -- so we will definitely be checking it out!

Gelato, or the plural Gelati, is the Italian regional variant of ice cream. As such, gelato is made with similar ingredients as most ice-creams around the world, with milk (and cream), sugar (and other sweeteners), flavorings (fruits, nuts, essences, etc.) and air as the main ingredients. Other ingredients that stabilize or emulsify may be used to improve the shelf-life or "ice-cream-case-life" of the product. Gelato can be made using the hot process, which includes pasteurization or as a cold process which doesn't require pasteurization. Both processes require a gelato batch freezer, which makes the end product by mixing the ingredients and incorporating air. Like high-end ice cream, gelato generally has less than 55% air, resulting in a denser product.

Gelato is typically made with fresh fruit or other ingredients such as chocolate (pure chocolate, flakes, chips, etc.), nuts, small confections or cookies, or biscuits. Gelato made with water and without dairy ingredients is known as sorbetto (also known as sorbet). Traditionally, milk-based gelato originated in northern Italy, while the fruit and water based sorbetto came from the warmer parts of southern Italy.

The History of Gelato dates back to the 16th century. There is some confusion in the origin as to where or who really invented gelato. As most stories go, it is credited to Bernardo Buontalenti, a native of Florence, who delighted the court of Caterina dei Medici with his creation. Italians are certainly credited with introducing gelato to the rest of Europe; with Sicilian born Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli who undoubtedly was one of the most influential individuals in the history of gelato, as one of the first to sell it to the public. Summoned to Paris in 1686, he opened a café named after himself called “Café Procope”, which quickly became one of the most celebrated haunts of the literary establishment in France. In Italy meanwhile, the art of traditional gelato making was passed on from father to son, improved and perfected right up to the 20th century, when many gelato makers began to emigrate, taking their know-how to the rest of Europe.