“Filipinos are not settling anymore for the commercialized, not-so-yummy, imported brands [of ice cream]” according to Filipino blogger Anton Diaz in his popular blog ‘Our Awesome Planet’. And indeed I have watched with fascination as local entrepreneurs create their own artisan ice creams: Pinkerton’s, Merry Moo’s, Carmen’s Best and Sebastian’s to name just a few. While ice cream has become the addiction of choice in Metro Manila, its invention goes much further back than a recent Filipino food fad, and half way round the world to Renaissance Italy.
Gelato is Italian for ice cream, and American travel writer Rick Steve describes gelato as ‘an edible art form’ and ‘one souvenir that can’t break and won’t clutter your luggage.’
Gelato became a daily craving as we wandered through Italy, especially in Florence where it is touted as the best in all Italy. Pistachio, bacci, mandarle, limone, the variety seemed endless. Every gelateria displayed mountainous troughs of rainbow-coloured ice creams, usually topped with its fruit or flavouring in case you didn’t understand the Italian labels.
And it tasted so much better than the ice cream we buy at the supermarket. Was it thanks the added atmosphere of strolling down cobbled lanes bathed in centuries of history? Or was it due the joy and childish light-heartedness of being on holiday?
Apparently there are several scientific reasons why gelato tastes better, not just due to the location (though I am convinced that helps) but to the quality of production.
Firstly, gelato is lighter than factory made ice cream due to a lower butterfat content and a greater proportion of whole milk to cream.
Secondly, it is denser, heavier on the tongue, because it is churned at a slower speed than ice cream, and less air is whipped into the mixture.
Thirdly, while ice cream is frozen at a much lower temperature, gelato is softer, typically stored and served at a slightly warmer temperature, which allows for greater intensity of flavour on the tongue.
Finally, a good quality gelato is flavoured with fresh ingredients not syrups.
The history of gelato has become legend. Some say it dates back to ancient Rome and Egypt when frozen desserts were made from snow and ice harvested from the mountaintops and preserved in underground caves or brick icehouses. Other rumours claim that Marco Polo found both the secrets of gelato and spaghetti in China. Even Elizabeth David, in the first edition of ‘Italian Food’ told an apocryphal tale of a gelatiere accompanying Catherine de Medici to the French Court and producing a spectacular dessert of frozen fruit for the Royal Wedding.
In fact, artificial freezing was not developed until the early seventeenth century. Metal boxes were placed in wooden buckets filled with ice mixed with salt and saltpetre (potassium or sodium nitrate) to extend the life of the ice and lower the temperature for keeping produce cold as long as possible.
Despite the lack of proof, as to the genesis of gelato, there seems to be no argument against it being of Italian origin. Nor is anyone arguing that the Italians generously spread the art of ice cream making across Europe.
By the late seventeenth century, sorbette or “sugar and snow” as it was described by the Spanish Prime Minister’s steward, was a popular street food in Naples and in 1775 Filippo Baldini had produced a book on creating frozen desserts: citrus or milky sorbette. Favourite flavours included strawberry, bitter cherry, lemon, pine nuts, candied fruit, cinnamon and a frozen chocolate mousse.
Three centuries ago, northern and southern Italy created two separate and distinct gelato recipes. In the north, the people of Dolomite made gelato with fresh milk, cream and sugar. In Sicily, the southern Italians used a predominantly water-based ice cream, or sorbet with fresh fruit.
Gelato is made with egg yolks and sugar mixed together until thick. Milk and cream are added, and the flavourings come later, after the mixture has frozen. Until the invention of an electric churn in the 1980s, (not surprisingly invented in Italy!) ice cream was always a labour intensive, time consuming task. The churn not only sped the process up, but ensured a creamier, smoother consistency, no longer full of ice particles or grainy patches.
Experts advise that we shouldn’t be distracted by brightly coloured gelati: the connoisseurs prefer natural colours, and those back street gelaterias with only a handful of flavours, but the process of testing every available flavour you see in the main thoroughfares of Firenze could fuel a life-long addiction!
Returning to the Philippines, there is a parallel universe of ice cream flavours, where the innovative imaginations of the Filipino chef has created some unexpected flavours. You are kindly invited to test your taste buds on some of the following: sapin sapin ice cream (a layered glutinous rice and coconut dessert); brown bread ice cream; salted caramel; mango sans rival (another Filipino dessert in ice cream form); bananutella; tibok tibok a kapampangan recipe made with carabau milk; queso de bola (Edam Cheese); Earl Grey Tea, and candied bacon!