Page 78 - #45 English

Iced
Article by: Sutdrip
Photos by: CTI Team, Sigep
Introduction to Gelato

Let’s get into the world of Gelato, The freezer kept the liquid mixture constantly in motion
shall we? According to the famous gelato and kept it cool throughout, making a product that was
book, “The gelato of Angelo Grasso”, the no longer granular or grainy, but deliciously creamy. This
word “Gelato” humbly means a delicious is where the history of industrial ice cream began, as the
dessert eaten with a spoon that must be product contained more air and was less dense.
served and consumed at a temperature Gelato Today: After the Gelato technology has
below the freezing point. To define Gelato, gotten so advanced, and people love Gelato! More flavor,
it is divided into two families, “Gelato” and more schools, more competitions, more artisans, and even
“Sorbets”. The ingredients of Gelato which museums for Gelato emerged. The foodservice industry
makes it creamier as a product are milk, tries to combine technology with experienced Italian tech-
cream, powdered milk, condensed milk, or niques – to consistently produce the creamiest, smoothest,
other derivatives. Unlike Sorbets which do most flavorful gelato.
not contain any dairy product.
Gelato History: So, who first discovered Gelato?
Gelato is an age-old delicacy that dates back thousands
of years. A common belief is that Marco Polo brought
ice cream back to Italy from his adventures in China.
However, evidence does suggest that it was, in fact, in
China that the earliest ice-cream making practices were
developed, by adding rock salt to the mixture to increase
its hardness. These first ice creams did not contain milk
or cream in it, and resembled much more sorbet or Ital-
ian Ice. The early stages of frozen desserts are recorded
in 3000 B.C. Five hundred years later, it became a norm
for Egyptian pharaohs to offer their guests a cup of ice
sweetened with fruit juices. Italians joined in and so as
the Romans and the French.
It was during the Italian Renaissance when the great
tradition of Italian gelato began. The legendary Medici
family in Florence sponsored a competition, searching for
the ultimate frozen dessert. Buontalenti sponsored by the
Medici family to prepare a beautiful feast and presented
the King of Spain with a creamy frozen dessert that we
now call gelato. Some say, Buotalenti is the Founder of
Gelato! More Flavors: amazingly, shops are really giving
Later, Gelato made its approach to the Americas for customers’ taste buds new gelato experiences by intro-
the first time in 1770, when Giovanni Basiolo brought it ducing new way of consuming Gelato as entrée or savory
to New York City. At this point, there were two types of Gelato. Countless number of flavors were introduced;
Gelato as mentioned earlier – one made by mixing water salmon, wasabi, sweet olive, funnel, artichoke, tomato-
with fruits such as lemon and strawberries (also known basil, carrot, blue cheese, and anchovy. Not only Gelato is
as Sorbetto or Sorbets), and another made by mixing milk found in “Gelateria” or Gelato shops but also in fine-dining
with cinnamon, pistachio, coffee or chocolate. By 1846, restaurants.
the hand-crank freezer technology was developed and
it has changed the way Americans made frozen dessert.

Bernardo Buontalenti photo from:
www.fantasticflorence.com

The first hand-crank ice
cream makers
Photo courtesy:
ScienceMuseum.org.uk
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