What exactly is gellato?
 

I will be in Rome, Florence and Tuscany soon and am curious. I hear about gellato quite a bit at this site, but what exactly is it. I know it's some kind of ice cream like sweet. What's it made of, and where in your opinion will I find real outstanding gellato?

It is ice cream, but fresh homemade ice cream. Its soft and creamy (I want some just writing about it!)<BR>Just about anywhere you can find gelato, and its usually very good as most places are small family run affairs. There was a really good one near the uffizi gallery in Florence.<BR><BR>Make sure to try pistachio! Its to die for!

Mary, gelato is ice cream without the air whipped into it. It is more dense and creamier and has more flavor because it doesn't have air whipped into it. You will find it all over Italy. In Florence, I counted 14 gelato shops in just 2 blocks of downtown counting both sides of the street! And it's all good. My favorite flavor is Fruitti de bosco - mixed berries.<BR><BR>I hope you enjoy your trip!<BR><BR>Jim

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, period.

It is me, I am Gellato. (also it is ice cream)

I agree with Rick STeves - Vivoli's in Florence has definitely the best gelatos.<BR><BR>We had ice-cream for breakfast, lunch and tea and it was just so great. :) <BR><BR>Vivoli's has really really good rice-gelato. If you can .. try that.

It's "gelato" not "gellato." It has less cream than ice cream in the USA and I think it doesn't have the egg yolks. So it is easier to digest and not so heavily filling. When good, it is silky smooth, not fluffy, not heavy with cream, and the flavors are far more intense and pure and delicious than the ones in American ice cream.

As Simon stated, Gelato translates to "ice cream" in English. Literally, it means "frozen," the past participle of the very gelare, to freeze.<BR>Gelato in Italy ranges from that delicious stuff they scoop out for you at the counter, to the pedestrian variety you find at your grocer's freezer. It's all gelato.

When looking for gelato, here are a few tips:<BR><BR>Produtta Propia and Atiginale are good things to look for. They mean our own production or artisinal production.<BR><BR>If it looks bright and colorful, give it a pass. That mean artificial colors are being used and there is a high chance that artificial flavorings may be in there as well.<BR><BR>You get a combination of three flavors in all but the smallest sized cup.<BR><BR>When you order, you first choose the size of the cup or cone, typically by the price. Then you get three flavors to put into the cup. At most places, you get more of the first flavor you ask for and the least of the third.<BR><BR>Italians have a tradition of not mixing fruit flavors with the nut/chocolate varieties. If you have melone and noci you may get a few stares but this is one Italina food tradition I totally disagree with.<BR><BR>There are many fruit flavors of gelato and these are my favorite. Melone is melons, there are limone (lemon), arancia (orange), mandarino (tangerine), Ananas (pineapple) just for starters.<BR><BR>Here are a few of our favorite places for Gelato:<BR><BR>In Castellina in Chianti- Delezia Antica- this is the best gelato we ahve had in Toscana. Rich, dense, true flavored.<BR><BR>In Sorrento- Davide in the Centro. Spectacular fruitflavors. Try the Sapore dei Agrumi (flavors of citrus a blend of grapefruit, orange, lemon and mandarine).<BR><BR>In Venice we love Nico both for its location on the Zatterie (and close to the Guggenheim) as well as Paolin. Nico is famous for its gianduja but I prefer its melone and limone. Poalin makes incredibly decadent sundaes.<BR><BR>In Florence Vivoli makes a more old fashioned gelato with a rougher texture from the flavorings. There is a wonderful place whose name I cannot remember over by San Lorenzo. Its on Via de Faienza between San Lorenzo and Via Nazionale. The have the cones in wildly curved stacks.<BR><BR>In Modena, try Cremeria Giardini (on Via Giardini) which is not only the best gelato we ahve had in Italy but is also one of the best bars as well.<BR><BR>In Rome, int he Trastevere neighborhood, try Checco er Carretiera on Via Benedetta. Its a restaurant with a bar and gelateria attached. The gelateria offers a changing selection of 12 or so flavors. Simply spectacular!

It is a national treasure and required daily when in bella Italia.

...and don't forget to add Panna on top of your three flavours, it's a kind of cr&egrave;me chantilly but lighten and more tasteful, few americans know about it, but the italians usually always have it on their gelatos...

You guys are all great. I knew I'd be informed and given the best tips where to get the tastiest GELATO, and why. Thanks so much.

ttt

Vivoli's in Florence is superb! Their blackberry was the best I had and their rich chocolate was pretty wonderful too.<BR><BR>Giolitti and San Crispino in Rome are excellent too

Just to make a few things strainght and clearer.<BR>Gelato can be translated with ice-cream, right. Some other things are wrong, though.<BR><BR>In first place, although it is all known as "gelato", there are actually two kinds of ice-cream: the real gelato and sorbetto. Gelato is made of a basis of milk, cream, egg (not present in some flavors) and sugar to which several different kinds of flavoring can be added. Usually these flavoring are supposed to be natural stuff and not out-of-a-bottle chemicals, although some use the latter. Real gelato is usually creamy flavors, such as panna (cream), stracciatella (cream added with tiny pieces of chocolate), cioccolato (chocolate), vaniglia (should I translate this?), pistacchio, crema (do not confuse "crema" with cream, it is a completely different recipe involving eggs, anille and other stuff) and many more. Fruit flavors are istead sorbetto (from the arab word sherbet), made only of fruit juice and pulp, water and very little sugar. The difference in recipe is the reason for which creams and fruits (gelato and sorbetto) should not be mixed. the acids of the fruits mya cause the milk to curdle and give a sour taste to the whole stuff. If you relly want to mix gelato and sorbetto, make sure you mix the gelato with a non acid fruit such as banana or watermelon (anguria).It is not true that gelato contains less air whipped in. On the other hand, the amount of air is more or less the same that you can find in industriual products or american ice creams, the main difference is that a longer whipping makes the air bubbles much finer and requires far less fats in the recipe, therefore even a chocolate glato in italy usually has less calories than an industrial product (but if you are on a diet, stick to fruit sorbetto). The longer whipping is also the reason for which you will hardly be able to reproduce gelato at home: it hneeds to be prepared in really big amounts and to be prserved at a precise temperature that will keep it from both freezing and melting.<BR>Not all the stuff you can buy on the streets and have scooped in a cone or in a cup is acutally made on the spot, since the main industries producing industrial gelato also sell large bowls of the product to be sold in bars or, in nay case, on the street. As Dean said, also mistrust any too blatant coloring: also gelato made on the spot can be made with presitethized stuff: powders and addictives that make gelto taste like a candie intead of retaining the real taste and flavor of fruits or other ingredients. Even in this case a sigh saying "produzione propria" or containing the word "artigianale" usually indicates a better quality (not always though).<BR>Finally, if you are a strict vegetarian you can sometimes find a soy gelato at some gelateria or stick to fruit sorbetto. If you are suffer from "celiachia" (still do not know how it is spelled in English!), ask the priducer if he used any "addensante" (thickening) powder. This is often added even in quality gelato to make it smoother (if usd in the right way and amounts it is tasteless), but some of the products used can hold some gluten.<BR><BR>One very last thing. In summer also check out for granita. This is only fruit juice with a little sugar added than frozen. It is colder and rougher than gelato, but it really refreshes you and it is great when you are thirsty. it is a Sicilian product that now is made also in the whole Italy. The most traditional flavors are lemon (very easy to find), coffee (pretty hard to find outside Sicily) and almond (pretty hard to find outside Sicily).

celiachia = celiac disease = "non-tropical sprue" = Inability to tolerate gluten or wheat starch, among other symptoms.<BR><BR>Alice - you are a treasure trove of information!

<BR>Gelato: where Italian prisoners are.

MD:<BR><BR>You have no idea of how many things I have learned from you all too, both in terms of lanuage and in terms of understanding of "English speaking foreigners".<BR><BR>Skippy:<BR><BR>Itlaian prisoners are in GALERA, not in gelato.

It's simply.....yummy, goodness!

Gelato is.... a frozen taste of heaven!!<BR><BR>I think it is made with milk instead of cream. It is whipped and "lighter" (in texture) <BR><BR>There is a website called gelatone.com that probably tells more. We go to their NYC location at 28th and 3rd as much as possible! YUM<BR><BR>The key is to choose two or more flavors to make a great combo (chocolate walnut and caramel for example)