What is Gelato?
Loosely translated, gelato is the Italian word for ice-cream. So it can be said that gelato is Italian style ice-cream.
What are the differences between gelato and ice-cream?
Aside from the name there are several notable differences between gelato and ice-cream:
- Gelato is made from less fat, (<4%) and so is a healthier alternative to ice-cream (>15%). The lower fat content means gelato is not only healthier but also proves to be tastier. The lower fat content of gelato facilitates a greater transfer of flavors because a thicker coating of fat on palate causes the taste buds to loose their sensitivity to flavor.
- Gelato can be made with either a skim milk or a water base resulting in a refreshing final product that has little as 4% fat content.
- Gelato tends to be made in smaller batches and often incorporates a higher quantity of natural and fresh ingredients, where as ice cream is commonly produced in bigger batches and is often derived from a base of fats and sugar.
- Gelato tends to represent better value than ice cream because its mass normally includes a component of only 30% of air compared with the mass of most ice creams that have an air ratio of 100% or 1:1
- Gelato is normally served at a higher temperature than ice cream. In fact, gelato is best served at -12c to -14c, where as ice cream should be served at -18c to -25c. The effect of this temperature difference is that whilst gelato is not as cold as ice cream it still retains a rich creamy consistency regardless of climatic conditions.
