What we love about Italian gelato is the fact that is a piece of labour-intensive artisan work. In Italy, making gelato is often a skill and trade passed down through generations. There is an opportunity to easily track where the ingredients the artisan used come from. It’s here that the Italian narrative of ice cream is different to the American ice cream. American ice cream, which we love too, is mass-produced and vastly distributed around the globe as a commodity, rather than taking the artisan approach as Italians tend to do. They both have their merits.

To create a new take on ice cream here at Gelato shops, it is important for me to understand ice cream’s past. We believe that the history of ice cream stems from two significant origins – Italy and America – in what we call the first and second narrative of ice cream’s history. Today, we’re having a look at Italian ice cream and its history.

Origins of ice cream

The history of ice cream and gelato in Italy goes back further than the American history of ice cream.

Some account that Alexander the Great (336 B.C – 323 B.C) loved to mix snow and water with flavours like honey and nectar. There are some accounts in the Bible’s Old Testament too. Others believe ice cream came from China during the Shang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D). It was here that Emperor King Tang of Shang tasted flavoured ice. He enjoyed the cold treat so much he sent 90 men into the mountains to collect more ice. Over time, the Chinese mixed the ice with buffalo milk, rice, and honey. They also used rice milk with sweet syrup and salt. This dessert was served to many Chinese royals as a refresher after dinner.

It was from here that the recipes were brought to Italy. Italy is believed to have combined ancient Greek, Chinese and Arab influences of ice work to create the origins of ice cream we know today. Some accounts credit the Italian merchant Marco Polo (1254 – 1324) for bringing ice cream recipes from his travels in China. Others say it was Arabian sea voyagers looking for new land. Around the beginning of the 1700s, they had found Sicily in Italy. They showed Sicilians living around Mt. Etna how to preserve ice and make it last longer. The Arabians had been building Yakhchāl (ice pits that functioned as evaporative coolers) out of heat-resistant material in the desert to store their ice since 400 BC. In a legend credited to Procopio de Coltelli and his family of boat builders, it’s said that boat builder Maestro d’Ascia was inspired by what the Arabian voyagers were doing with their ice. He’s credited to have made the first rudimental ice cream machine out of wood used for boats. As it snowed for long periods of the year in Mt Etna, he added salt to snow in a separate chamber of his machine to lower the freezing point of the water, keeping things extra cool.

It is because of this that I believe Italy gave birth to a significant narrative of ice cream.

Ice cream inventions: The sorbet

As Italy was beginning to find ways to freeze their ice recipes, the sorbet charmed European royals. One of these royals was an Italian noblewoman Catherine de Medici, the soon-to-be wife of Henri II, the future King of France.

The Medici family had set up a contest to find “the most unusual dessert you’ve ever seen”. One of the contestants was a Florentine chicken merchant named Ruggeri. He prepared ice water with sugar and won with this frozen dessert. Ruggeri became famous for his recipe.

It is widely believed Catherine introduced the dessert to France when she took many of her servant cooks with her from Florence to France. Some say she brought them to display how much better Italian cooks were than the French! One of the chefs was Ruggeri. Apparently, he missed home too much and left France after giving his thanks to the Queen. He also left with her his recipes.

Ice cream inventions: The gelato

A native of Florence, the creation of Italy’s famous gelato is often drawn back to Bernardo Buontalenti. Buontalenti was an artist and party planner for the Medici family.

Having been tasked with organising the welcoming of Spanish guests, he served a dish made with milk, honey, eggs flavoured with lemons, oranges, and bergamotto (citrus orange). What resulted was a version of creamed ice. The milk and eggs included in the creation gave birth to a velvety and creamy version of ice cream that spread throughout the world.

Gelato recipes like these have been passed down through generations of Italian families. The English translation of gelato is ‘frozen’.

In true Italian fashion, even after the birth of gelato, the competitions didn’t stop. In 1979, another gelato competition was held by Florentine merchants to see who could make it best. The gelato store Badiani won with a recipe made in honour of Buontalenti. Their gelato included custard, cream, and a secret ingredient.

Coming up to modern times, the popularity of gelato has not waned. Popular Italian gelato flavours today include the bacio, which translates in English to ‘kiss’, made up of hazelnuts and chocolate, and the sette veli, or the seven veils. The sette veli is typically found around Italy as a cake and is commonly associated with Palermo in Sicily. It is famous for its combination of different chocolate types from dark to light, mixed with hazelnut praline and biscuits.

One of the most popular flavours we have here at  at the moment is an Italian-inspired one: the  Buono. The flavour brings together classic Italian flavours: Italian meringue, caramel ice cream, amaretti crumb, and hazelnut praline.

Beyond traditional narratives

If you were to walk into a gelato store in Auckland, or even in Italy, you’ll still be greeted by a glass display case of gelato flavours. And, once it’s all scooped up, you have your icy cold treat on top of a cone or cup. Similar to ice cream’s history in America, the Italian focus has been on changing flavours. Everything else, be it the ice cream cone or the cup, remains pretty much the same across any gelateria. Of course, this means that my favourite part of Italian gelato is that it is delicious.

The Italian influence in our ice cream at Gelato shops is undeniable. Like all children (at heart), we are  big gelato lovers. It comes without saying that our fondest memories with our grandparents and parents are around consuming a huge amount of gelato.

Italians have held competitions throughout time to see who made the best and most unique flavours of gelato. We approach competition in a different way. This is because we don’t sell gelato like Italy or creamy ice cream like America.

Our hot chips in a cone bring together ice cream and fries. Inside one of our house-made waffle cones, you’ll be served savoury fries that pair perfectly with sweet ice cream. The result? Something that we can’t quite label: is it a dessert? Is it a side dish? We’re not quite sure, but people have grown to love it.