Facts About Gelato
Gelato is a popular frozen dessert of Italian origin. It is generally made with a base of 3.25% milk and sugar. It is generally lower in fat than other styles of frozen desserts. Gelato typically contains 70% less air and more flavouring than other kinds of frozen desserts, giving it a density and richness that distinguishes it from other ice creams.
Gelato in its modern form is credited to the Italian chef Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli who in the late 1600s opened his “Café Procope” in Paris and introduced gelato at his café, earning notability first in Paris and then in the rest of Europe. Thanks to his gelato, Procopio not only obtained French citizenship, but also got an exclusive royal licence issued by the Sun King Louis XIV, making him at the time the sole producer of the frozen dessert in the kingdom.
Nowadays, gelato is known worldwide and Italy is the only country where the market share of artisanal gelato versus mass-produced gelato is over 55%, with more than 5,000 modern Italian ice cream parlors employing over 15,000 people. Outside of Italy the higher numbers of gelaterie are located in the UK, France, Germany and north Europe in general.
Flavours
The traditional flavours of gelato consist of vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, cream (also known as custard) and stracciatella (fior di latte gelato with chocolate chunks). Fior di latte ("milk flower") is plain, base ice cream with no flavour and no eggs added.
More modern flavours consist of fruity flavours such as raspberry, strawberry, apple, lemon and pineapple.
Production
The process consists of heating the ingredients to 85°C (185 °F) for pasteurisation. Then, it is lowered to 5°C (41°F) and mixed to the desired texture.
The cold process mixes the ingredients and is batched in the freezer.
In the "sprint" process, milk or water is added to a package of ingredients which is then mixed and batched.
As with other ice creams, the sugar in gelato prevents it from freezing solid by binding to the water and interfering with the normal formation of ice crystals. This creates smaller ice crystals and results in the smooth texture of gelato. American commercial gelati are typically sweetened with sucrose, dextrose, or inverted sugar, and include a stabilizer such as guar gum.
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