What's the deal with Gelato anyway?
- amy_rc Aug 13, 2008 08:41 PM
Why is it the best thing since sliced bread...err, ice cream?
Texture, in part. Gelato has less butterfat but also less air, so it's at once lighter and creamier.
Context, in part. Eat some from a fresh batch in Italy and change your life.
On that note, for me, flavor, in part: you don't find the likes of fiordilatte or licorice in your local dairy case. The standard range of flavors in Italy is different from the standard range here.
I love the texture. But as it's also generally less fat than their ice cream counterparts, I find that I can taste it more. High fat item like cream tend to coat my tongue, obscuring the flavors. And because the texture is softer than the ice cream, the flavor explosion happens at a faster rate. This is why I'm not as crazy about Il Labatorio del Gelato (in NYC) as much as the other posters on this board. I find they serve their gelato much colder and harder than the pastes of other places like Grom, and I don't get the same hit of flavor.
That's not to say that I don't love ice cream. But my preference is for gelato.
It's usually more fresh since gelato isn't something that can sit around for awhile. It's thinner and meltier and made in all sorts of interesting flavors! Yum gelato!
Truthfully, I don't know or care, but there is a bakery by me that makes the most amazing cannoli flavored gelato. I go out of my way to avoid the place so I don't go off my diet.
There is a place in the Greenwich Village called Yolato, frozen yogurt made like gelato. It's not half bad either, I tried the pistachio and really enjoyed it.
Gelato is made with milk not cream, it has a creamy texture because they don't pump it up with air. Gelato has a fresh clean taste.