Gelato or ice cream? This is an entirely different debate with many fair arguments. But have you ever wondered what gelato is? What it means, and whether or not you are pronouncing it right? Gelato may seem like a fancy word for ice cream, a European one perhaps, but it is its own thing. From its ingredients and how it’s made to its flavor and where it originated from, we can see their differences and why some people have forgotten about ice cream altogether.
“Gelato” is the word the Italians use for ice cream. The ingredients are the same as regular ice cream, but it lacks egg yolks. Alternatively, “gelati” can be the plural for “gelato,” and it is a mixture of Italian ice and ice cream custard. They differ in their lightness and depth of flavor.
“Gelato” derives from the Latin phrase “gelatus,” which was used to describe something frozen or congealed. Depending on the context, it is easy to see the correlation between these two words. You may also notice that it is not far-fetched to say that the word is a derivation of Latin since Italian has more similarities with it than any other contemporary language. Additionally, their meanings and pronunciations have remained almost untouched.
Where Is Gelato From?
Curiously enough, the dessert actually originated in Paris, France, around the 1600s in an Italian-owned cafe named Cafe Procope. Its owner, Francesco Procopio Dei Coltelli, introduced this style of ice cream and earned substantial notoriety with the local patrons before the news about how good it was traveled steadily across Europe.
The deliciousness of his product went as far as granting this Italian restaurateur French citizenship. In fact, he became so popular that King Louis XIV himself issued him a royal license to be the only producer of gelato in the whole kingdom. Needless to say, the popularity of his product went on to survive the test of time as we continue to enjoy it many centuries later. While he may not be the sole producer anymore, we can deduce that he would be proud of how far and how good his creation has come to be in this world.
What Are The Differences Between Ice Cream And Gelato?
Having said that, let’s begin by tackling the differences between these frozen treats, and, for this, we’ll start by touching base with how ice cream is made.
American ice cream is a dairy, frozen treat whose ingredients are composed of egg yolks, sugar, milk, and cream. All of these components are slowly cooked into a paste thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. This mixture is then stored and cooled for around 4 hours or more until it becomes a hard custard of bulky and velvety consistency, which is then churned at high speeds, so it takes in a lot of air and becomes the puffy and majestic treat we know it to be. You may think that air is not an ingredient, but it can compose up to 50% of the ice cream’s texture, and this is even more evident when tasting it against its Italian counterpart.
Now, gelato is composed of all of the same ingredients as regular ice cream, but it lacks egg yolks. Egg yolks are rarely used, and if they were, it would be a minuscule amount. Another distinction is that the mixture for gelato requires more milk than cream, while in ice cream, it is quite the opposite.
By adding more milk than cream, the amount of fat is reduced, and it makes a denser product. Because there are no egg yolks, there would be no custard to dilute but a thick paste. This paste is stored somewhere cool overnight and then churned at lower speeds and shorter amounts of time to limit the amount of air entering the mix, thus giving it a silkier and smoother finish. The ideal air intake should be within 30%.
Which One Has Better Flavor?
It’s time to talk about flavors, and here we can start getting a little scientific to get our point across. Gelato has creamier qualities, and it can be stored and served at higher temperatures than ice cream. This, in turn, lets us taste its flavor a little bit more by reducing the level of coldness on our tongues.
Another fun fact is that the fat in ice cream can coat the tongue and form a layer between your tastebuds and the food. So, by having more milk than cream, gelato has less fat and can take flavors further and deeper into our mouths. By being at a warmer temperature, having a denser texture, and having less fat, gelato will beat ice cream in the flavor race.
We’d like to add that we are confident, sans scientific foundation, that having less air inside also means more flavor.
What Is Gelati?
Now that we know what “gelato” is, we must address what “gelati” is. We touched on how it can simply mean plural for “gelato,” and as curious as I am to use it in a sentence, I would rather we explained its alternative meaning of “another frozen dessert.”
Gelati is a mixture of Italian ice and ice cream custard. Italian ice is very much like the water ice refreshment that originated in Philadelphia, popularized as a summertime treat and a staple in the city. Additionally, Italy has a dessert called granita that shares many similarities, but its texture is coarser in nature.
Italian ice is made with ice, fruit, granulated sugar, honey, and sometimes lemon and its preparation is fairly simple. It required putting all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and mixing until chunky. You can add more ice while it’s blending to make it smoother.
This mixture is then placed in a freezer for 30 minutes, and then we proceed to scrape it with a fork to give it a snow-like consistency, no different than that of a slushie. Once we have given it the desired frothy texture, we put it back in the freezer for another 2 hours until completely frozen and serve it in cones. We can repeat the scraping process while it’s freezing many times as a way to maximize the fluffiness.
The custard element comes from mixing eggs, milk, and cream, just like in ice cream, but it is not churned, and it is scooped on top of the Italian ice or layered within it to make gelati.
As you can see, gelati is very different from gelato despite both being Italian styles of dessert. Gelati is a much fruitier and lighter delicacy than gelato and even ice cream. It is basically chewable and fruity ice mixed with creamy, unhardened custard to make a pleasant treat that melts in your mouth.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve had either of them or not, you cannot deny that we must have a cool refreshment steady in the fridge and close at hand on these hot summer days. Ice cream, gelato, and gelati are all appropriate ways to counteract heat, and when it comes to choosing one, there are no wrong answers.
If you are looking for something creamier and flavorful, you can have some gelato, and if you are looking for something fruity that melts in your mouth, you can go for some gelati. Since we know how they’re made, we can start making our own. If you already have water ice in your fridge, then you are only a custard away from making your own gelati at home.
Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of The Content Authority. He’s one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. You don’t even want to know what he calls pancakes.