Ice cream, in Italian gelato, is one of the most famous Summer desserts in Italy.
If you go to Italy during Summer you’ll see plenty of people walking down the streets while eating gelato.
It’s a tradition and it’s also one of the most delicious sweets you can taste in Italy – surely, if you enter the right gelateria, ice-cream parlor.
Today I’d like to talk about the origins of ice-cream in Italy and about how to order an ice-cream in Italy.
ITALIAN ICE-CREAM: ORIGINS
As for many other famous Italian foods, also the origins of ice-cream in Italy are still unclear.
Some researchers say that the precursor of gelato was a combination of rice, spices, and milk solidified in the snow in China in 2000 BC.
Some of these Chinese preparations were then introduced to Italy thanks to the famous Italian explorer Marco Polo.
Some other researchers, instead, say that the precursor of gelato was born in Arabia. Indeed, it seems that Arabs prepared some infusions made of water, sugar, herbs and spices. Then these preparations were solidified with the help of ice and salt.
When Sicily was conquered by Arabs this tradition was imported.
Anyway, whichever the precursor of gelato is, what is known is that Italians modified these old recipes and invented gelato.
In particular, it seems that it was Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian cook from Catania, that after various attempts managed to create the actual recipe of Italian gelato in 1686.
He brought this recipe with him in Paris, where he opened a café, the Café Procope, and started to sell Italian gelato to rich people like actors, philosophers, intellectuals, and so on.
Procopio soon became very famous in France and Italian gelato started to spread in other countries too.
Then, in 1903 the Italian Italo Marchioni improved the recipe inventing the cone, the dry cone-shaped pastry that we all love.
Nowadays in Italy there are two type of gelato, gelato artigianale and gelato industriale.
Gelato artigianale is the best ice cream you can ever eat. It’s made of fresh ingredients and has less fats and air than gelato industriale. Obviously, for this reason, if put in the freezer, it should be eaten in a few days.
Gelato industriale, instead is made with preservatives and additives which allow it to be preserved in a freezer for a long time.
HOW TO ORDER AN ICE-CREAM IN ITALY
If you want to eat a good ice-cream in Italy, first be sure to choose a gelato artigianale. And be sure to stay away from gelati that have colors so strong to almost seem phosphorescent, whether they are artigianali or not.
Once you’ve chosen your ice-cream parlor, you can order:
UN CONO – A cone
UNA COPPETTA – A cup
UNA COPPA GELATO – A sundae
You can then specify how many scoops you’d like so, you can say:
UN CONO/UNA COPPETTA DA UN GUSTO – Single scoop
UN CONO/UNA COPPETTA DA DUE GUSTI – Double scoop
UN CONO/UNA COPPETTA DA TRE GUSTI – Triple scoop
Finally, you can choose the flavors. The most common Italian flavors are:
PANNA – cream
VANIGLIA – Vanilla
CIOCCOLATO – Chocolate
NOCCIOLA – Hazelnut
PISTACCHIO – Pistachio
FRAGOLA – Strawberry
LIMONE – Lemon
STRACCIATELLA – Vanilla flavoured Ice cream with choco chips
If you’re really into gelato, don’t forget to visit the only Italian museum dedicated to gelato: Gelato museum Carpigiani in Anzola Emilia, Bologna.
Did you already know what the origins of ice-cream in Italy were? What are your favourite flavors of Italian gelato? Do you prefer cones, cups or sandaes?
Credits
Original image by Gellinger
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