As you’re walking around a normal ordinary Italian town, you’ll no doubt encounter folks wandering past carrying cones full of what looks like ice-cream. Eureka! But wait, you’re not at home anymore and this stuff isn’t precisely the same thing. Even though it’s the Italian word for ice cream, gelato is a bit different from the treat found in North America.
Image Credit: Stu_spivack via Flickr and CC 2.0
The main difference between gelato and ice cream is what goes into them. Gelato is traditionally made with slow-churned milk and ice cream recipes often call for eggs and cream that are quickly whipped together. You easily can guess which one is lower in calories!
Local laws even go so far as to regulate the fat content of both treats. American ice cream must contain at least 10% fat and Italian gelato must contain at least 3% but both nations tend to go over this amount by a great deal. Strangely enough, gelato is said to be creamier and more flavorful than its North American counterpart.
Science supports these theories. Gelato is denser in texture because ice cream is churned at a higher speed that causes it to be full of whipped air. The ingredients used in gelato are also not as heavy as those found in ice cream, which means that gelato doesn’t take as long to freeze. Due to this fact, gelato makers are far less likely to end up with crunchy chunks of ice in their product.
Gelato probably has more flavor because it usually isn’t kept as cold as ice cream. Therefore, your taste buds are not as numbed and the product has more flavor. The final difference between the two desserts is that gelato is served with a spatula-like device rather than a scoop since it tends to form fluffy piles rather than rounded shapes when placed in a cup or cone.
Image Credit: Ksantome via Flickr and CC 2.0
Even in Italy the trick is to find high quality gelato. As any smart consumer knows, just because a place claims that it has got hand-crafted products doesn’t mean this is so. The first sign that a geletaria isn’t authentic is, in fact, a huge advertisement screaming its presence. After all, the locals know their town well enough to find the good desserts without being pointed in the any direction.
Once you step inside a geletaria, there are other signs that can help you avoid poor quality gelato. The most obvious one is the presence of artificial dyes, which indicates a lackluster product. Everything should be its natural color. If the banana is a lurid shade of yellow rather than dingy grey or the mint is screaming green rather than white, the place is probably best avoided.
Travelers should also avoid any stores that have heaping mounds of gelato (unless it’s just been brought out) because the good stuff melts down as the day goes on. Instead, look for places that have replaceable metal bins to put the desert into so it can stay cool. The availability of seasonal produce likewise indicates that a place is the real deal but keep in mind the brightly-colored dye rule still applies.
Image Credit: Jen via Flickr and CC 2.0
Good gelatarias are able to be judged by their flavor selection. For instance, seeing bubblegum (puffo) on the menu is probably a definite sign to stay away. On the other hand, milk or cream gelatos are indicative of a good shop since low-quality versions of these flavors are hard to disguise. Be wary of even these flavors if they’re combined with chocolate chips or syrup. Another popular way to disguise lesser quality gelato is to cover it with attractive toppings such as fruit slices or mint leaves. However, this isn’t always the case so use your own judgment in such instances.
If you get a chance to sample the product and you’re not allergic to nuts, start with the hazelnut first. If it’s a strong flavor, it means that pretty much everything else in the store is going to be top-quality as well. Even if you can’t read Italian, you also want to take a glance at the ingredients’ list and note how many of them start with an ‘E’ because the letter denotes additives. (Keep in mind that not all of these are bad). Not being able to find the ingredient list, which legally must be displayed in the shops, is a very bad sign.
Image Credit: _e.t. via Flickr and CC 2.0
So, on your next trip to Italy, definitely have a couple of scoops. After all, gelato probably has less calories than your average pasta dinner does!
Sources: Wikipedia; Serious Eats; NPR; Exurbe; Travel Dudes; Almost Never Clever; Kate Parla
