with the Sommer approaching, good to know!

Did you know that Italians eat more ice cream per head than any other nation? With over 38,000 Ice cream parlors, shops, and stands, Italy is a true mecca for all lovers of this cold, delicious stuff!

Ice Cream or Gelato

is one of the most popular items exported by Italy around the world. Most people know it comes from Italy, but not all are aware of the long history, intertwined with Italian cuisine. They say Marco Polo brought the ice cream back from China. Folks assume that China and Persia were among the first cultures that came up with a dessert made from fruit, mixed with crumbled or shaved ice or even mountain snow. I remember when I lived in the Dominican Republic, there was this mobile stand on the Malecon selling shaved ice with your choice of fruit syrups drizzled over it! it was always a refreshing treat!

Some evidence suggests that it was in China where the earliest ice-cream processing methods were developed, by adding rock salt in order to increase the firmness of the mixture. Therefore, in fact, the first ice cream was not really icecreams since there were no dairies whatsoever in it, it resembled more sorbet or granité. Roman Emperors are known to have enjoyed these desserts long before Marco Polo: the great explorer probably didn’t introduce ice cream to the country, however, Italy certainly played an important role in introducing the frozen, delicious delights to Europe.

SORBETTO, GRANITA, SHERBERT

These three are more like shaved ice with flavors rather than ice creams. These were introduced to Southern Italy by the Arabs, who brought the sugarcane to the country. The Arabs used snow and fruit juices to make Sharbat, the ancestor to Italy’s Sorbetto, Sorbet in French, or Sherbert in English. A popular drink is now Granita, it is the consistency of a Slushy. Today’s commercial Sorbetto may contain milk, but most are made of fruit juices or syrups and ice, in the US we call it “Italian Ice”.

GELATO

Gelato and Ice Cream are very similar, however, make a big difference in texture and flavor. Gelato is prepared with milk, sometimes with skim milk, therefore a much lower fat content that allows the flavors of gelato to stand out compared to blended flavors of ice cream. Gelato has less air whipped into it than ice cream, making it much denser. Gelato should be enjoyed while softer in consistency than ice cream, more like soft-serve ice cream.

Ok, so we determined that Italy most likely did not invent ice cream, but has definitely done plenty towards the evolution of the ice cream world than any other nation.