Gelato Vs. Ice Cream
| October 20, 2009 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Gelato Deliciousness at Potenza
Executive Chef, Bryan Moscatello
I Know, why am I writing about frozen dessert when we are in the midst of the cooler weather of autumn? Well first it is quite warm today and second I spent my morning making, tasting and freezing gelato.
I think I am more of a gelato man. Gelato is very old world of course no short cuts so that means no fruit purees, no nut pastes, no color additives, etc. When making different flavors only fresh and natural ingredients are used. So for a classic pistachio gelato we toast the nuts then steep them in the milk overnight to infuse the flavor then the pistachios are strained out and the gelato is then frozen. The color of this gelato is light and tan, not green. As opposed to when I have made pistachio ice cream I have used nut pastes as well as some recipes even call for blanched spinach to give it a bright green color. Also there is very little egg yolk in the gelato which gives it a very different texture. When it comes to the flavor profile the main difference is that the gelato tends to have a more natural roasted nut flavor that is lighter on your tongue and a bit less sweet. As for the ice cream it has a sweeter nut flavor that tends to be less toasty and is a bit fatter on the palette.
And then there is the standard, vanilla. The vanilla gelato I just made has less vanilla beans in it as far as a ratio and contains no egg yolk. It is simply fifty percent milk and fifty percent heavy cream, a bit of sugar and the beans. My recipe for vanilla ice cream that I have been using for many years now is also fifty percent milk to fifty percent cream, a bit more sugar a few more vanilla beans and egg yolks. When these two go side by side the gelato is much lighter and has more aroma from the beans. On the other hand the ice cream is big, rich and creamy. It’s a tough one, to pick my preferred style as far as these two go. But I can tell you one thing I can certainly eat more of the gelato than I can of the ice cream.
Well that’s where I’m at right now I will let you know about the café au latte vs. the coffee ice cream another time so back to the freezer I go!
