Italians serve this dessert at the end of a meal for its refreshing effect, and its versatility allows it to substitute for fruit. Gelato is a satisfying and delicious example of the creativity and artisanal ingenuity of Italian cuisine.
Preserving in snow
Ancient Greeks made an early type of gelato by mixing the juices of lemon, pomegranate, honey, and the snow that would fall in the winter on Mount Olympus.
During the Arab domination in Sicily, gelato surfaces again; the Arabs made the sherbet, or sorbet, by mixing citrus juices with honey, cane sugar, candied fruit and the snow of the Etna volcano. That snow was available year-round, and was kept in the so called nivere, natural grottos by the volcano where the snow was compressed in blocks of hard ice. They could then be cut and transported in to the city, when necessary.
In the 16th century, the chefs working for the Medici family in Florence added egg yolk and milk to the recipe. For the Medicis, the architect Bernardo Buontalenti worked diligently to create several icehouses accessorized with wells, stairs and pulleys that would allow the quick transportation of the ice up to the kitchens. The purpose of the was two-fold: keep food from spoiling, and of course, to make gelato.
Miss Johnson’s genius
Gelato came to America from the second half of the 18th century thanks to the influx of Italian immigrants. Initially, it was a rare delicacy reserved only for a few people. Dolly Madison, the wife of the fifth U.S. president James Madison, made it the staple of her dinners at the White House.
But it was a New Jersey housewife, Nancy Johnson, who helped accelerate the production of this dish in 1846. She invented the first ice cream maker by putting an iron cylinder containing fruit, sugar, milk, eggs and various syrups into an iced, salted wooden tub. By moving the cylinder, she would mix the ingredients, making a uniform cream.
The right wine
Fruit-flavored gelato can be paired with dessert wines such as Vin Santo from Tuscany: Moscato, Passito di Pantelleria, and Marsala from Sicily, or with a cup of cool Moscato d’Asti from Piedmont.
